Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visted Abergavenny on Friday May 10 1963.

The visit was part of a seven-hour tour of Monmouthshire as HM the Queen officially opened the new £500,000 Headquarters of the Welsh Brigade at Cwrt-y-Gollen in Crickhowell.

At 10.15am the Royal Train drew into Monmouth Road station, which had been decorated with dozens of yards of bunting and flowers, where they were welcomed to the town by Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire, Lord Raglan and High Sheriff of Monmouthshire Sir Godfrey Llewelyn along with their wives Lady Raglan and Lady Llewelyn.

Thousands of people flocked to the town in to see the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, who after their arrival made their way to the Town Hall where they were received by Mayor Cllr G.R. Silverthorne and met other town councillors.

The Queen was presented with a bouquet of flowers by the Mayoress before making her way to the newly-decorated council chamber. The chamber itself was a sight to remember, and the flowers – in white, salmon, pink, scarlet, purple and blue – were magnificent, despite the work of vandals in Bailey Park the previous day.

Many people later congratulated the parks superintendent, Mr Reginald Allison, on the outstanding floral decorations. The previous day he had been given a shock when vandals raided greenhouses and flower beds in Bailey Park and destroyed hundreds of blooms which were ready for the Queen’s visit.

The Royal couple also met deputy mayor and mayoress, Cllr and Mrs Stanley Clark, and ‘father’ of the council Alderman William Horsington, who had been a member of the authority for over 42 years. He said: “I have seen royalty on several occasions, but this was the first time for me to be presented to them.”

They also spoke to the only woman member of the council Cllr Mrs E.A. James. Asked by HM why she became a councillor, Mrs James replied: “I thought it was high time that there was a woman on the council”, to which the Queen repied “I quite agree”.

Her Majesty knew that there would be no traditional red carpet on the steps of the town hall and after hearing brief details of the decision to paint them with red liquid linoleum, she remarked: “I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

During their visit to the town, the Royal Couple also visited the parish church of St Mary’s where they were welcomed by vicar Reverand H.R. Sproule-Jones and met several churchwardens. The Queen was particularly impressed to hear that at one time churchwarden Mr A.J. Liquorice had worked at Sandringham in the days of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.

The bells of the church, which had been pealing out a welcome since the arrival of the Royal Train, were silent as the Queen and Duke inspected the centuries-old church. They were shown the ancient choir stalls which were occupied by the monks in pre-Reformation days, and before returning to their car spoke to several of the choirboys and the organist, Mr Graham Elliot.

As the Royal Couple left the bells began a stirring quarter-peal in honour of HM, before their way to Crickhowell for their brief visit to the town, where the Queen unveiled a commemorative plaque at the entrance to the Headquarters block of the Welsh Brigade at Cwrt-y-Gollen.

In 1983, the Queen returned to Abergavenny for a fleeting visit to the town, meeting tyhe Royal Train after visiting the Royal Welsh Show at Builth Wells.

As she made her way through the town to Abergavenny train station, hundreds of flag-waving people lined the streets to cheer her on her way.

At the station, Her Majesty was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh who had arrived earlier after piloting a helicopter of the Queen’s Flight to a landing in Bailey Park.

Before departure Lord Liuetnant of Gwent Mr Richard Hanbury Tenison introduced the official reception party of Abergavenny Mayor Cllr Ray Hill, and Mrs Gill James who presented a copy of her book ‘Nursing it cursing it’, before flowers in hand the Queen boarded the Royal Train and waved goodbye.

All photos courtesy of Tindle Newspapers - published in The Abergavenny Chronicle on Friday May 17, 1963 and Thursday July 28, 1983.

If you have any photos of the Queen’s visits to Abergavenny please feel free to drop them in to our Nevill Street office or alternatively email photos to reporter Jon Davies on [email protected]