Jubilee Souvenir Booklet - History of Watton, Norfolk

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Price: 60p where sold

CONTENTS
Page 4 Queen Elizabeth ii
Page 8 Queen’s Hall, Watton
Page 10 Diamond Jubilee Prayer
Page 11 Diamond Jubilee Weekend
Page 12 “I Remember” Memories from
the Friendship Club
Page 14 Lines on the Coronation of our
Gracious Sovereign
Page 15 Church Clubs and Groups
Page 16 Programme of Events
Page 18 Portraits of the Queen
Page 22 60 years of Pentecostalism
in Watton
Page 23 Watton Pentecostal Church 2012
Page 24 With Thanks - Local businesses &
Organisations who have supported
this event
Page 25 Advertisers
Watton Pentecostal Church would like to thank everyone who
has come along today and helped make this once in a lifetime
event such a memorable day for us all. We hope that you enjoy
our Jubilee Street Party. Photos of today's events will be put on
our web site: www.wattonchurch.org.uk
Competitions will be judged and prizewinners notified by 19.6.12.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II
©PA
Queen Elizabeth II was born Elizabeth
Alexandra Mary by caesarean section at
2:40 a.m. on April 21, 1926, the first child of
Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King
George VI) and his wife, Elizabeth. Her
father was the second son of King George
V and Queen Mary, and her mother was the
youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat
Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore
and Kinghorne. Elizabeth’s only sibling
was Princess Margaret, born in 1930.
Princess Elizabeth was third in line of succession to the throne, behind
her uncle, Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father. Although her birth
generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, as
the Prince of Wales was still young, and many assumed he would marry
and have children of his own. In 1936, when her grandfather, George V,
died and her uncle Edward succeeded, she became second in line to
the throne after her father. Later that year, Edward abdicated after his
proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a
constitutional crisis. Elizabeth’s father became king, and she became
heiress presumptive.
In 1943, at the age of 16, Elizabeth undertook her first solo public
appearance on a visit to the Grenadier Guards. Two years later
Elizabeth made her first overseas tour, when she accompanied her
parents through southern Africa. During the tour, in a broadcast to the
British Commonwealth on her 21st birthday, she pledged: “I declare
before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be
devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to
which we all belong”.
Elizabeth met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark
in 1934. After another meeting in 1939, Elizabeth - though only 13 years
old - fell in love with Philip. They married on 20 November 1947 at
Westminster Abbey. They are second cousins once removed through
King Christian IX of Denmark and third cousins through Queen Victoria.
The marriage was not without controversy: Philip had no financial
standing, was foreign-born (though a British subject), and had sisters
who had married German noblemen. He was a prince without a home
or kingdom and even Elizabeth’s mother was reported to have opposed
the union initially, though in later life she told her biographer that Philip
was “an English Gentleman”.
4

Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Prince Charles in November 1948,
and a second child, Princess Anne in 1950.
King George VI’s health declined during 1951, and in early 1952
Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by
way of Kenya. On 6th February, whilst in Kenya, Prince Phillip broke the
news to the new queen of the death of her father. When asked to
choose a regal name; she replied “Elizabeth, of course”.
Despite the death of Queen
Mary only ten weeks before, the
coronation of Queen Elizabeth
went ahead on 2 June 1953.
The ceremony in Westminster
Abbey was televised for the first
time, and the coverage was
instrumental in doubling the
number of television licences to
3 million, and many of the more
than 20 million British viewers
watched television for the first
time in the homes of their
friends or neighbours.
©Press Association
Elizabeth’s coronation gown was commissioned from Norman Hartnell
and embroidered on her instructions with the floral emblems of
Commonwealth countries. English Tudor rose, Scots thistle, Welsh leek,
Irish shamrock, Australian wattle, Canadian maple leaf, New Zealand
silver fern, South African protea, lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and
Pakistan’s wheat, cotton and jute.
Elizabeth’s pregnancies with Princes Andrew and Edward in 1959 and
1963, respectively, mark the only times she has not performed the State
Opening of the British Parliament during her reign.
Elizabeth has reigned for 60 years. In that time she has witnessed many
changes including the ongoing transformation of the British Empire into
the Commonwealth of Nations;
In 1956, French Prime Minister Guy Mollet and British Prime Minister Sir
Anthony Eden discussed the possibility of France joining the
Commonwealth. The proposal was never accepted, and the following
year France signed the Treaty of Rome, which established the European
Economic Community, the precursor of the European Union;
5

The Suez crisis in 1956, and in 1957 she opened the 23rd Canadian Parliament,
becoming the first monarch to do so;
In 1961 she toured Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Iran and Ghana. Even a
press report that extremists within the Quebec separatist movement were
plotting the Queen’s assassination did not stop her from visiting Canada;
The 1960s and 1970s saw an acceleration in the decolonisation of Africa
and the Caribbean; over 20 countries gained independence; and in 1970
she took her first royal walkabout, meeting ordinary members of the public
during a tour of Australia and New Zealand; In 1977 Elizabeth marked
the Silver Jubilee of her accession. During the 1981 Trooping the Colour
ceremony, six shots were fired at the Queen from close range as she
rode down The Mall on her horse. It was later discovered the shots were
blanks;
In July 1981 the Queen celebrated the wedding of her eldest son, Charles,
to Lady Diana Spencer. It was around this time that intense media interest
in the opinions and private lives of the royal family began to occur;
In 1991, in the wake of the Gulf War, Elizabeth became the first British
Monarch to address a joint session of the United States Congress.
In a speech on 24 November 1992, to mark the 40th anniversary of her
accession, the Queen called 1992 her annus horribilis. In March, her
second son Prince Andrew, Duke of York and his wife Sarah, separated. I
n April her daughter Anne, Princess Royal, divorced her husband Captain
Mark Phillips. In October on a state visit to Germany, angry demonstrators
in Dresden threw eggs at her, and in November, Windsor Castle suffered
severe fire damage. Finally, in December Charles and Diana formally
separated.
In 2002, Elizabeth marked her Golden
Jubilee as queen. Her sister died in
February and her mother in March, and
the media speculated as to whether the
Jubilee would be a success. As in
1977, there were street parties and
commemorative events, and monuments
were named to honour the occasion. A
million people attended each day of the
three-day main Jubilee celebration in
London, and the enthusiasm shown by
the public for Elizabeth was greater
than many predicted. ©Press Association
6

On 20th March 2008, at the Church of Ireland St Patrick’s Cathedral,
Armagh, the Queen attended the first Maundy service held outside of
England and Wales. At the invitation of Irish President Mary McAleese, in
May 2011 the Queen made the first state visit to the Republic of Ireland
by a British Monarch.
She is scheduled to open the 2012 Summer Olympics on 27th July and
the Paralympics on 29th August in London. Her father, George VI
opened the 1948 London Olympics, and her great-grandfather, Edward
VII opened the 1908 London Olympics.
She has demonstrated support for inter-faith relations, and has met with
leaders of other religions. She is the patron of over 600 charities and
other organisations. Her main leisure interests include equestrianism
and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh Corgis.
©Press Association
She is, above all, a woman who
has kept her promise when she
declared on her 21st birthday, 65
years ago: “I declare before you
all that my whole life, whether it
be long or short, shall be
devoted to your service and the
service of our great imperial
family to which we all belong”.
Article compiled by Gill Hardy
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In the 1950s, as a young
woman at the start of her reign,
Elizabeth was depicted as a
glamorous “fairytale Queen”.
On 2nd June 2012 when the
country celebrates her 60 years
on the throne she will still be
our fairytale Queen. She is the
longest-lived and secondlongest-reigning
monarch of
the United Kingdom, and does
not intend to abdicate.
© Royal Household/John Swannell

www.historyofwatton.org.uk
QUEEN’S HALL, WATTON
In October 1952 Watton Parish Council called a meeting to
consider what would form a suitable commemoration of the
Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. A large majority
favoured the erection of a Public Hall as there was a long standing
need for such an amenity in Watton. A committee was appointed
and quickly embarked on their formidable task of providing a
Public Hall and the subsidiary task of organising Coronation
Festivities in the town.
Within a year a suitable site had been purchased and the idea of
using an existing steel hangar frame as the mainstay of the
building was adopted and negotiations for such a frame
commenced, A hangar was purchased on December 29th 1953
and in three weeks was dismantled and brought to Watton for
cleaning and painting. Plans for the Hall having been approved
by all the authorities concerned, the boundary wall, fronting Norwich
Road, was breached and an entrance cut to the site on
April 5th 1954.
Work on felling 18 trees, bulldozing out roots and excavating for
building foundations preceded rapidly and by August 1954 the
hangar frame was erected. Having complied with the necessary
con ditions for obtaining a Ministry of Education grant, notification
was received from the Ministry during September that a grant of
£ 1,762 would be paid by instalments, providing that the work
was done by voluntary labour.
Electricity was installed and work proceeded under floodlights
during the winter of 1954-55 and by June 1955 the walls were up
to window level and in July the building was roofed. Work was
carried out inside the hall during the next winter and by January
the concrete roof over the entrance hall and balcony was
completed and the stage and ceiling joists fixed. A month later
the ceiling was finished, the walls plastered and plans made to
open the Hall on November 1st 1956.
8

During April, May and June the sprung dance floor, balcony and
staircase was proceeded with and connection made with the
public sewage system, thereby completing the main features of
the construction programme. From July on many smaller jobs
were carried out to ensure a reasonable state of completion by
November 1st.
In completing this exceptionally fine hall which measures 105 feet
in length by 36 feet in width, the original committee and everyone
who gave their time and money, both during its erection and in
maintaining it since, are to be congratulated and everyone in the
town and district owe them a great debt of gratitude.
So Watton's new Queen's Hall was officially opened on
1st November 1956 by Lady Bacon who was accompanied by
her husband, Sir Edmund, the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk.
9
Mr R. Durrant
speaking at the
opening of the
Queen's Hall
by Sir. Edmund
Bacon O.B.E.
Nov. 1st 1956.

THE DIAMOND JUBILEE PRAYER
The following Prayer, written at The Queen's direction by the
Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral for Her Majesty's Diamond
Jubilee, will be used in the Jubilee Thanksgiving Service
at St Paul's Cathedral on Tuesday, 5th June 2012.
God of time and eternity,
Whose Son reigns as servant, not master;
We give you thanks and praise
that you have blessed this Nation, the Realms
and Territories with ELIZABETH,
Our beloved and glorious Queen.
In this year of Jubilee,
grant her your gifts of love and joy and peace
as she continues in faithful obedience to you,
her Lord and God
and in devoted service to her lands and peoples,
and those of the Commonwealth,
now and all the days of her life;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
.
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THE DIAMOND JUBILEE WEEKEND
Saturday 2nd June 2012
The Queen will attend the Epsom Derby
Sunday 3rd June 2012
The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant:
Monday 4 June, 2012
BBC Concert at Buckingham Palace.
The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Beacons: A network of 2,012
Beacons will be lit by communities and individuals throughout the
United Kingdom, as well as the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man
and the Commonwealth.
Tuesday 5th June 2012
The Diamond Jubilee weekend
will culminate with a day of
celebrations in central London,
including a service at St Paul’s
Cathedral followed by two
receptions, a lunch at
Westminster Hall, a Carriage
Procession to Buckingham
Palace and finally a Balcony
appearance and Flypast.
This event will take place on
the Thames and consist of
up to 1,000 boats assembled
from across the UK, the
Commonwealth and around
the world. The Queen and
The Duke of Edinburgh will
travel in the Royal Barge
which will form the
centrepiece of the flotilla.
The 2002 Golden Jubilee Procession ©PA
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“I REMEMBER...”
The Changing Decades
In the 1930’s we had gas mantles.
In 1940 we still had accumulators for radio.
In the 1950’s flat irons were still in use for many, we still bathed in
a galvanized bath, heating water on the gas stove!
Bunking Off to See the Queen!
I was born in Westminster and when I
was 15 years old two friends and I
bunked off work and ran to Westminster
Abbey just in time to see the Queen and
her husband leaving the Abbey after her
wedding on 20th November 1947
We then ran down to the Palace to see
her come out on the balcony. It was
something I have never forgotten, and I
didn’t even get the sack!
The First and Last Time I Saw the Queen
The first time I saw Princess
Elizabeth was in 1951,
when she visited Norwich
as the Festival of Britain
was being celebrated.
Young, beautiful, impressive
- how I cheered her. Much
of the bomb damage had
been cleared away and the
country was really looking
to a brighter future.
The last time I saw Queen Elizabeth was in 2002 at a Buckingham
Palace Garden Party. Here I saw a smaller figure - an older lady,
touched by the years. As she walked along the line of wheelchair
bound ex Grenadier Guardsmen again I was impressed - The
warmth and charm with which she spoke to each one, must have
made that man feel very special!
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Royal Celebrations
Royal celebrations have often been marked
with Street Parties. The Queens Silver
Jubilee was remembered in 1977; and in
1981 the wedding of The Prince of Wales
and Lady Diana Spencer saw communities
get together.
Chris Pye is pictured here at one such
celebration at Ovington, wearing his
specially made royal hat!
Watton’s Royal Visitor
Many in Watton remember the day we had a royal visitor. Schools
closed early, so that children and parents could make their way
down Brandon Road, enthusiastically armed with union jacks to
welcome a real Princess to Watton!
Sandringham Flower Show Surprise!
In July 1990, I was at Sandringham Flower
Show and decided to make the Queen
Mother a birthday card with her photo on
the front. I was delighted when she
stopped in front of me, I could not believe it!
On 4th August (her birthday) I received a
letter from her lady in waiting, thanking me.
I have a photo which the Press took and it
is one of my most treasured possessions.
13
The date was 20th July
1984, and HRH Princess
Margaret had come to
visit Watton factory Poll
and Withey who had
invited her, after receiving
an order from her for
doubled glazed windows,
for her Kensington
Palace home.

LINES ON THE CORONATION OF
OUR GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN
This Lady whom we crown was born
When buds were green upon the thorn
And earliest cowslips showed;
When still unseen by mortal eye
One cuckoo tolled his “Here am I,”
And over little glints of sky,
In rain-pools whence the trickles flowed,
The small snipe clattered wing.
The swallows were upon the road,
Nought but the cherry blossom snowed,
The promise was on all fields sowed
Of Earth’s beginning Spring.
©Press Association
©Press Association
Now that we crown Her as our Queen
May love keep all her pathways green,
May sunlight bless her days;
May the fair Spring of her beginning
Ripen to all things worth the winning,
The very surest of our praise
That mortal men attempt.
May this old land revive and be
Again a star set in the sea,
A Kingdom fit for such as She
With glories yet undreamt.
JOHN MASEFIELD (1878-1967).
Poet Laureate (1930-67)
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JPEG’S PHOTOGRAPHIC CLUB
Thanks to JPEG’S for organising today’s photo competition
- the place to be!
Watton Pentecostal
Church
Contact:
Scout Leader, Tasha Mee
Telephone: 01953 882986
email:
scouts@wattonchurch.org.uk
Fridays 10.00am - 12 noon
Drop in for a cuppa and a chat!
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Join the
adventure!
Watton Church Beaver Colony
SCOUTING FOR 6 to 8 YEARS
Sunday afternoons 3.30pm
Thanks to
members of the
Friendship Club
for all those fond
memories!

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
11.00am Official opening and speech
Church Band
Crafts, Competitions & Quizzes
11.30am Puppets
12.15pm Open Mic
12.30pm Mini Olympics
12.45 - 1.30pm Lunch - Music Playing
1.30pm Army Cadets Parade
1.50pm Wayland Players
2.15pm Mini Olympics
2.30pm Air Cadets Parade & Band
2.50pm Watton’s Got Talent
3.30pm Puppets
3.40pm Church Band & Sing Song
Cut Royal Cake
Balloon Release
This programme is a guide and may change
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TUESDAY 5TH JUNE 2012
Inside
Exhibitions & Displays
Live TV Screening
Competitions & Quizzes
Refreshments
Cake & Popcorn Sale
Garden
Toys & Games
Outside
Hog Roast provided by Babaco
Throw a Pot Demonstration
Learn a new skill - drawing, needlework, knitting
Etc.
Mini Olympics
The best photo taken on
5th June 2012
2 categories:
Entries to: Under 16’s & Over 16’s
Email: photocomp@watton.org
Please state name and age if under 16
Closing date 10.6.12.
Photo Competition
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A PORTRAIT OF THE QUEEN
Patrycja
Thanks to Westfield Infant School for these lovely
pictures of the Queen. Special congratulations
to all the winners!
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Isla
Jack
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Filip Annabelle Abigail Callum
20

Kinga
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60 YEARS OF PENTECOSTALISM IN WATTON
1952: The Assemblies of God Church was meeting in the ‘Upper Room’
an attic room in Middle Street with low ceilings, lit by gas lamps and
heated with a tortoise stove, accessed only by a narrow twisty flight
of steps. The minister was Pastor J Quantril.
1974: Mr. Austin, a farmer from Threxton became Pastor.
1977: The Church moved into it’s current building in Dereham Road.
1986: In 1986 Mr. Austin retired as Pastor, and Mr. Les Bibby was
appointed in his place.
1988: On 9th April 1988 Mr. Chris Pye was inducted as Pastor, Chris, a
farmer from Ovington, was a relatively inexperienced pastor, but had a
strong call of God on his life to work in Watton.
1991: Watton Community Church held its first service in Watton as
Watton Christian Fellowship in May 1991; The services were as a result of
a prophetic word spoken by Paul Randerson, the pastor of Breckland
Christian Fellowship, Swaffham, and under his direction. Watton
Community Church eventually became completely independent under its
leader, Pastor Roger Pawsey.
1992: A portable Baptistry was put up in
the Assemblies of God Church building,
and a joint Baptism was held with Watton
Community Church, who had recently been
planted in the town and had subsequently
taken AoG status. 15 people from the two
Churches were baptised altogether,
including many young people. This was
the first baptism in the town in living
memory and also the first time that the two
Churches had worked together.
1996: Watton Community Church joined the Fellowship of Assemblies of
God, part of the world's second largest Christian movement. Also in 1996
pastor Roger Pawsey was inducted as a full status minister, with
world-wide recognition, at an ordination service during Britain's first joint
Pentecostal churches conference.
2000: On 1st January 2000, at the stroke of midnight, amidst great
celebration, the two Churches became one, a new Church for a new
Millennium! It was renamed Watton Pentecostal Church, a part of River
Ministries (Norfolk) and both memberships were invited to be part of the
new church. Pastor Chris Pye and Rev. Roger Pawsey, became the new
Pastors of Watton Pentecostal Church. The two Church Councils joined,
to make a strong ministry team, to enable the new vision to be worked out.
22

WATTON PENTECOSTAL CHURCH IN 2012
Worship
Sunday Services: 10.30am
Midweek Groups
Prayer Meetings
Worship meetings
Working with children:
Noah’s Ark Toddler & Baby Group
Noah’s Ark 3’s - 5’s
Puppet Group
Sunday School
Watton Church Scout Group Beavers Colony
Working with Adults:
Friendship Club
JPEG’S Photographic Club
Sanctuary Counselling Service
Women for the Kingdom
Working with the Community:
Alzheimer’s Society: The Watton Dementia Cafe
Norfolk Primary Care Trust:
Watton Child Health Clinic
Baby Massage
Watton & District Diabetes UK Group
Working in the World:
Watton on the Web - our internet presence
Emmaus Digital - internet centre of learning
Together For God - Mission based support for
churches in India and around the world.
Falconer Trust - A children’s home in Zambia
23

WITH THANKS
Watton Pentecostal Church would like to thank the following
organisations, for generously helping make our Jubilee Street
Party such a success:
Babaco
Gavin White and the Watton Army Cadets
Heather Graham
Nature’s Menu
Queen’s Hall
Watton Air Cadets
Wayland Academy
Wayland Players
Westfield Infant School
We should also like to thank the following local businesses for
generously sponsoring our competitions:
Absolute Beauty - Gift voucher for mini manicure & mini pedicure
Adcocks - Blue ray DVD
Berwick Jewellers - £50 gift voucher
Clippers - £50 voucher for ladies cut & colour and man’s hair cut
Dutch Flower Parade - £20 Gift voucher
Edwards of Watton - 2 copies of ‘Kalamata Beach 28 April 1941’ by
Ernest Edwards
Express Fish Bar - £20 donation
Grandma’s Patch - 5 x £5 Gift vouchers
Green Ventures Bikes, Thetford - child’s bike
Konect Buses - Vouchers
Little Gary’s Plaice - 2 x meal for 2 vouchers
London Bakery - Voucher for sandwich & coffee for 2
Lula’s - £20 gift voucher
Mark Bunning Photography - Voucher for a family portrait sitting
Monellies Hair & Beauty - £10 gift voucher for wash & blow dry
Old Golf House Vetinary Surgeon - A microchip for a dog or cat & a
vaccination for a dog, cat or rabbit.
Parnells Sandwich Bar - 2 x £5 vouchers
Ridgeons - £200 donation
Spoilt for Choice - Storage basket
Studio Khyber - 2 Art gift sets
Strikes, Dereham
Watton Co-op - £20 gift voucher
Watton Plaice - Fish & Chip meal for 2 voucher
Watton Tesco - £10 gift voucher
Watton Towing - £15 donation and large picture
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ADVERTISEMENTS
Adult helpers & cadets
The Diabetes UK Watton & District (Thetford) Voluntary Group
has been up and running for 6 years and was started by the late Jim
Dutton. We are an informal and friendly group, meeting on the 2nd
Monday of each month at 10.15am. We have a variety of speakers, a
raffle, refreshments and a lot of conversation!! We extend a warm
welcome to all people who have Diabetes and/or their carers,
whatever their age.
25
For further
information, please
phone Helen,
01953 884713,
leave a message
and I will get back
to you as soon as
I can.

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LONDON BAKERY

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SANCTUARY
COUNSELLING SERVICE
Professionally
trained counsellors
Watton Pentecostal Church
Old Dereham Road
Watton
Appointments Tuesday evenings
and Wednesday mornings
To request an application form
or for further information
telephone: 01953 880922

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Watton Carnival
Sunday 10th June
Watton Pentecostal
Church open
for refreshments
Why not drop in?

Watton High Street 30.5.12.
Watton Pentecostal Church
For more information contact Rev. Roger Pawsey
Tel: 01953 880920
email: roger.pawsey@watton.org
Web site: www.wattonchurch.org.uk
Watton Pentecostal Church is part of River Ministries (Norfolk)
Registered Charity number 1054419