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The
Queen Mother was a popular royal visitor to Gloucestershire. She
first started visiting the county in the 1920s and was closely linked
with the National Hunt Festival.
Wednesday
at Cheltenham was the day of the Queen Mother Champion Chase and
was affectionately called "Queen Mum Day".
The
two-mile champion chase was named in her honour in 1980 and
she used to present the Trophy every year to the Chase winner.
She only missed the event once when she was ill with a head
cold.
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Gloucestershire |
The
two-mile champion chase was named in her honour in 1980 and she
used to present the Trophy every year to the Chase winner.
She
only missed the event twice - once when she was ill with a head
cold and the 2002 Festival less than three weeks before her death.
Despite
her enthusiasm for the National Hunt Festival in Cheltenham she
had just one winner throughout its history with Antiar who came
first in a 1965 race.
She
enjoyed four winners outside of the Festival all of whom have been
trained by Fulke Walwyn who is Cheltenham's most successful trainer
with 214 winners to date.
Local
people remember the Queen Mum
For
many years her itinerary on the way to the course included a stop
at a local grocer's store where she would be presented with a box
of her favourite chocolates by storeowner, Philip Delaney.
Mr
Delaney's shop was originally on the Old Bath Road in the centre
of Cheltenham and when he moved to Prestbury the Queen Mother insisted
on changing her route so that she could continue to visit her favourite
grocer.
The
staff and pupils of Pittville School in Cheltenham would also look
forward to her visits as she made a point of dropping in on the
school on her way to the racecourse.
Her
visit to the school in March 2001 was her first public engagement
since her hip operation the previous January.
The
Queen Mother sent Pittville School a portrait of herself as a thank
you for the hospitality they showed her during that Gold Cup week.
The
Queen Mother also enjoyed a long association with Cheltenham Ladies'
College and made her first official visit to the college in 1954.
Her
most memorable official visit was in May 1971 when it seemed the
whole town turned out to welcome her.
She
spent most of the day in Cheltenham starting at the Ladies College
where she opened the sixth form centre and new teaching wing later
the same day she also opened Cheltenham's brand new leisure complex
and swimming pool in Tommy Taylors Lane.
If
you have any pictures or videos of the events mentioned and would
like to share them then please get in touch at gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk
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