Southgate Celebrates The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Southgate (1953)

Cowboys, chess and carnival queens in this wonderful colour film made to mark the “new Elizabethan age” in Southgate’s Coronation celebrations in 1953.

Southgate’s week-long Coronation celebrations, covering everything from a chess tournament to bright children’s pageants, many held in the splendid Broomfield Park. The film has numerous wonderful scenes from around Southgate – including Winchmore Hill and Palmers Green – showing shops, houses, transport, fairs, pageants, exhibitions and people as they collectively celebrate an un-cynical era of municipal togetherness that now seems strangely alien.

There are numerous highlights, from the lovely shots of the procession of decorated vehicles travelling through Southgate, to the scenes of people queueing up to watch the Coronation on TV in tents set up by the council and the two grinning men, watching the bonfire to ensure it is not lit prematurely. Includes great shots of a fairground at night, and some fascinating shots of people listening raptly to the Queen’s speech around the gramophone. The film was made for the council as a joint enterprise by the professional and amateur film producers of Southgate. Enfield Local Studies Library and Archive