Kingsmead School Pigeon Project
Kingsmead's Royal Visit to Sandringham
60 Years to the day from when Queen Elizabeth II was coronated in Westminster Abbey, a group of students from Kingsmead School travelled to Sandringham Estate in Norfolk to visit the Royal Pigeon Lofts. The visit followed Her Majesty the Queen personally donating two of her own pigeons to Kingsmeads Pigeon Project and inviting the students and myself, loft manager Mr Chambers to visit her own private lofts to collect them.
The day started at 9amwith a 3 hour Journey from Hednesford to Norfolk and we were blessed with beautiful blue sunshine and temperatures rising throughout the day. We arrived at the Sandringham Estate at 12pm and were greeted by Peter Farrow, Royal Loft Manager. Peter looks after the Royal pigeons on a day to day basis. Also awaiting us was an excellent cup of tea and juice for the lads, which was much needed and enjoyed after the long car journey.
Kingsmead students Mitch and Jordan enjoyed talking to Peter about the school project and the accomplishments we have achieved over the last 2 years. A guided tour of the Royal lofts followed, during which the lads where able to hold some of the Queens many coloured pigeons that she races. We were extremely privileged to be able to do this as not many people have access to the Royal pigeons. Following their tour the boys were presented with the pigeons that Her Majesty had donated and shown the special rings that are present on all of the Queen’s birds. The reason they are special is that they are marked with her Initials ER. No other racing pigeons are issued with these rings apart from Royal birds.
Following further refreshments we left Peter and his wife to enjoy their day. We followed Peters advice and visited the local village of Wolferton, where the Royal Train Station is situated. The Station was used by the Queen when she visited Sandringham back in the mid part of the 20th century. The majority of the workforce from the Sandringham Estate also lived there and as you can see from the pictures, it is an area full of history and traditions that are still carried forward to today.
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I would like to thank Peter and Her Majesty the Queen for the kind hospitality we were shown and the fantastic opportunity to be a part of the HRH 60 Years on the Throne celebrations. It was a day myself, the lads and their families will remember for a long time.
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After visiting the village, we walked around the grounds of Sandringham Estate. We spent time in the small church, which had been used by the Royal Family for generations and also visited the Norwich Gate, a traditional entrance to the Main House. We also went on a tour of the gardens of Sandringham Palace and the Palace itself. We enjoyed lunch on the beautiful lawn of Sandringham Palace and took in the displays and artefacts in Sandringham museum before making the journey home.
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