THE Queen's coronation was 50 years ago today. As East Lancashire celebrates her reign, reporter Ian Singleton looks at how the area heralded its new monarch in 1953...

EAST Lancashire's enthusiasm for the new Queen was such that feverish celebrations started five weeks before the Coronation.

People forgot the gloom of post-war hardships and were joyful, proud and triumphant.

Life only returned to normal a week or so after the big day. But for that six week period, people celebrated like never before.

The Seddon family home in Accrington was a typical case. Mum, daughter and son-in-law turned it into a shrine to the Royal family.

The front was covered with decorations, including mock-ups of a throne and floral crown, window-sill models of Coronation regalia and the Royal coach, coloured lights and Royal portraits.

Exuberant displays of affection such as this were repeated across the county.

Countless street parties were held across East Lancashire, with whole communities coming together, as our picture of Duke Street, Colne shows.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph columnist Margo Grimshaw enjoyed a big street party with 100 people in Green Lane, Blackburn.

She said: "All the children were in fancy dress and the adults had a few drinks. It was a big day. I can remember it well.

"We were excited about it and days before we were preparing it. If I remember, rationing was still on, so we all pooled our coupons and sorted the food.

"No-one had a television on the street, we were all outside celebrating.

"After a big event there is an element of anti-climax, but at that time we were feeling particularly optimistic.

"There was talk about the new Elizabethan age and we were told it was going to get better. We thought it was a new era, I remember feeling confident about that.

"I think there should be more celebrations for 50 years since the Coronation. It will pass quietly, but not forgotten. My age group remember it."

Some rural villages staged alternatives to the typical street party.

In Gisburn, women joined in the old custom of 'catch the pig', a traditional event that had been consigned to history until it was revived for the Coronation celebrations.

Ribblesdale and Bowland also staged events that recalled their tradition.

Even the dreary factories were brightened up. As our picture shows, Kemp Street Mill, Blackburn, was decorated with flags and bunting as the celebrations interrupted the rigorous monotony of working life.

The grand archway entrance to the Hindley Brothers' Bankfield Mills in Nelson was also impressively covered in Royal regalia.

One of the most fantastic sights was in Ellen Street, Darwen, where countless flags and buntings stretched across from one side of the terraced homes to the other.

Some people, like 84 year-old Mrs Thompson, preferred to keep things more simple. She was pictured by the Telegraph proudly erecting a flag at Waddington Hospital.

A number of East Lancashire residents headed for London on a Telegraph rail excursion. They camped overnight in Oxford Street, determined to get a good spot to watch history unfold.

One exhilarated Blackburn woman said: "We had the perfect view of the Queen in her coach and everything. We were only a few yards away.

"We saw every detail, much more than the people who had paid high prices at the top of the stands.

"An American woman, who said she had paid 100 dollars for a seat, came to stand with us. From her seat everything had been like toyland."

Meanwhile, the five winners of a Telegraph competition were announced. Readers were asked to 'state the telegram of loyal greetings they would like to send the Queen on Coronation morning'.

One of the winners, chosen from 500 entries, was JT Jackson, of Holcombe Road, Helmshore, who wrote:

"God give you wisdom, peace and strength, this day of dedication; may humble subjects, like myself, in you find inspiration."

Half-a-century later, people with Coronation memories are remembering a day when inspiration was easy to find.