A Service of Thanksgiving at the Royal British Legion heralded the start of the celebrations of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on the date, 70 years on, of her accession to the throne in 1952.

The Mayor of Blandford Cllr Lee Hitchings and newly appointed President of the Royal British Legion, Byron Quayle, both of whom addressed the gathering, led a parade of standards into the grounds of Legion House, where the service and prayers were led by Mayor’s Chaplain Emma Carmichael of the Blandford Evangelical Church.

Other participants included Freeman of the Town Dave Butler who read a poem in tribute, and RBL member John Dallinson who read poet laureate Carole Ann Duffy’s ‘St George’s Chapel, Beside the Coronation Chair’.

Mr Hitchings described the events preceding the formal accession when the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip were in Kenya at the start of a tour of the Commonwealth and, because of the time difference and difficulty in communications at that time, learnt 24 hours after the event of the death of her father, George IV.

Mrs Carmichael gave thanks for Her Majesty’s key Christian faith, and there was recognition of her courage, determination and service to the nation, the realms and the Commonwealth for the past 70 years. The Union and Royal British Legion flags, which had been lowered at the start of the service, were raised during the singing of the National Anthem.

There were similar acknowledgements of the Queen’s accession at churches across the area, and in the afternoon, bell ringers rang a quarter peel on the Spetisbury church bells which lasted nearly an hour to mark the anniversary.

By Nicci Brown