|
Title: On this day - state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill 30 January 1965 Post by: eightonedee on January 30, 2025, 09:37:12 Unusually, our local Reach group paper (the Reading Chronicle) has been useful today, drawing to my attention an anniversary today with Railway connections.
Churchill's funeral took place 60 years ago today. His coffin was taken by train (hauled by a Bulleid pacific bearing his name) to its burial at Bladon in Oxfordshire. I can still recall standing (as an 8 year old) by the railway near the New Hill railway bridge in Purley and watching the train go past. Are there any other forum members with similar memories? Edited to correct spelling of Bladon - thanks Chris Title: Re: On this day - state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill 30 January 1965 Post by: broadgage on January 30, 2025, 10:53:43 I remember hearing of the death of Sir Winston Churchill on the radio, and then watching the funeral on TV at a relatives home.
I presume that the funeral train passed through my local station, New Malden, but do not recall watching it. ANOTHER event the recollection of which that makes me feel very old. I recall a now late relative saying that "without Winston, we would all be speaking german now" They used to send Christmas cards with the wording "if you are reading this in English, give thanks to a soldier" Title: Re: On this day - state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill 30 January 1965 Post by: ChrisB on January 30, 2025, 11:45:26 Yes, I watched the whole thing on TV with my parents.
H's buried in Bladon churchyard, taken there from Hanborough station in a hurse. Bladon was the local estate church to his birthplace at Blenheim. Title: Re: On this day - state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill 30 January 1965 Post by: chuffed on January 30, 2025, 15:41:43 Love the typo spelling of hurse. I look forward to reading about hurse drawn horses.....for clarification the spelling of hurse is hearse.
Title: Re: On this day - state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill 30 January 1965 Post by: Chris from Nailsea on January 30, 2025, 17:09:03 Edited to correct spelling of Bladon - thanks Chris Not me. :-X Title: Re: On this day - state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill 30 January 1965 Post by: ChrisB on January 30, 2025, 18:33:49 Love the typo spelling of hurse. I look forward to reading about hurse drawn horses.....for clarification the spelling of hurse is hearse. That was my mistake....oops! :-[ Title: Re: On this day - state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill 30 January 1965 Post by: GBM on January 31, 2025, 10:56:59 I recall reading (an extract?) about one of the loco drivers account that day.
Very poignant. I also watched most of the day on TV. Title: Re: On this day - state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill 30 January 1965 Post by: Western Pathfinder on January 31, 2025, 12:45:20 If memory serves me well the return funeral train was hauled by Class 52
D1015 Western Champion. Title: Re: On this day - state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill 30 January 1965 Post by: GBM on January 31, 2025, 15:27:44 If memory serves me well the return funeral train was hauled by Class 52 Oh, I didn't watch that part :(D1015 Western Champion. Title: Re: On this day - state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill 30 January 1965 Post by: Western Pathfinder on January 31, 2025, 17:44:02 Neither did I ...
Title: Re: On this day - state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill 30 January 1965 Post by: johnneyw on January 31, 2025, 18:05:58 Astonishing what something like this can spark. While I don't really remember the funeral on TV....apart from perhaps a brief few moments on our old B&W set....I do now recall my parents explaining to us a little about who and what it was for.
I don't think that memory had resurfaced since then. Title: Re: On this day - state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill 30 January 1965 Post by: Chris from Nailsea on January 31, 2025, 18:15:33 I do remember watching coverage from the BBC on a black and white television set, in a flat high on a multi-storey residential building in Plymouth, with other family members.
However, being only 6 years old at the time, I don't think I really understood the historic context. :-\ This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |