IN 1953 there was a widespread panic in Abergavenny when the Ministry of Defence announced we were under attack by Martians.

Consequently, the military brought in the big guns to shoot any UFOS out of the sky within a 20-mile radius before they could corrupt the natives with their alien ways.

Of course, that’s poppycock! The picture is of a gun that was brought in especially to mark “The joyous occasion” of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. At the designated time it provided a reverberating salute to the merry peals of bells from St. Mary’s.

And when this big boy went off it went off with the sort of boom that would make the ground shake and cause an outraged gent or two to spill his celebratory pint.

It’s four old pics for the price of one this week folks and the theme is royalty.

Here’s one of the Queen of Tudor Street and her ladies-in-waiting!

“Is that a rug the young monarch is wearing for a gown?” You may well ask. The young girls in the photo were dressing up to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne and celebrate Coronation Day in style.

As you can see from the looks of the enthusiastic fella in the background, it was time to roll out the barrel and have a right old royal knees up.

The Chronicle reported that both Tudor Street and Mill Street rose to the occasion magnificently and presented a beautiful sight. The two streets were apparently a blaze of colour from end to end and “truly lived up to their reputation for doing things on a grand scale.”

The Town Council awarded them first and second prizes for community spirit and effort, with third place being shared by Stanhope Street and Park Lane.

As Queen Elizabeth II was being ferried from Bucks Palace to Westminster Abbey in her Gold State Coach, pulled by eight gelding horses named Cunningham, Tovey, Noah, Tedder, Eisenhower, Snow White, Tipperary and McCreery, old mother Aber was turning on the taps, pulling the pints, and popping the cork on the good stuff to make sure proceedings went with a bang.