Queen wears headscarf during emotional visit where she retraces King George VI’s footsteps
QUEEN ELIZABETH II retraced the steps of her beloved father today as she officially opened the new Wolferton Pumping Station in Sandringham.
Queen meets staff at the Wolferton Pumping Station
The Queen has officially opened the rebuilt Wolferton Pumping Station today, created to protect the surroundings from flooding and allow land-owners to exploit the area as much as possible. During this morning's engagement, the monarch met project staff involved in the rebuild and toured the station.
The Queen, who wore a black coat, also heard about the three pumps at Wolferton, each capable of pumping 1,600 litres of water per second or 96,000 litres per minute.
The visit to the station surely brought back to the Queen’s memory the official launch of the original pumping station, carried out by three of her most beloved relatives.
Late King George VI opened a then-groundbreaking station in Wolferton on February 2 1948.
The then-monarch was accompanied to the event by his wife, Queen Elizabeth, and his youngest daughter, Princess Margaret.
The King, who was known for his love for the Sandringham Estate, “took a personal interest” in the scheme, which took seven years to come to a completion, according to reports from 72 years ago.
In a speech delivered on the day, King George VI said the station allowed land-owners like himself and farmers to use to the best advantage every acre of agricultural land.
And, foreseeing similar station would be created in the future, he added: “It may be that this is only the forerunner of other similar schemes in the marshes.”
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The late King, who died in 1952, spoke fondly about Sandringham, and once said: “I have always been so happy here and I love the place.”
Today’s engagement is expected to be the second and last official engagement carried out in Norfolk this month by the Queen, who usually ends her winter on February 7.
Every year, the monarch remains in Sandringham until February 6 to mark the anniversary of the death of her father.
The monarch travelled to Sandringham on December 20, the day after delivering the Queen’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament.
The monarch spent the Christmas holidays in the company of her closest relatives and was spotted attending Sunday service every week.
During her stay in Norfolk, the monarch sparked health concerns after she pulled out of what was meant to be her first official engagement of the decade in late January.
Just 30 minutes before she was due to arrive at the Sandringham branch of the Women’s Institute for her yearly visit, the public was informed the Queen could no longer attend because she was suffering from a “slight cold”.
After a few days of rest, the Queen was seen heading to church with her daughter, Princess Anne, quashing any fears regarding her health state.
The Queen carried out her first official event of 2020 earlier this week.
Visiting RAF Marham on Monday, the Queen had the chance to admire from up close Britain’s pride, the new F35B Lightning jets.
Wrapped up in a peach and cream outfit with matching hat by Angela Kelly, the Queen spoke with some of the members of the staff at the base, which has more than 3600 working personnel.
The airbase provides engineering support across the RAF.
During her visit, the Queen also took a closer look at the Integrated Training Centre, which provides future pilots with thorough training and enables them to qualify as a Lightning Plane pilot.
Her Majesty, who took part in World War II, also watched a demonstration of virtual training in the Air System Maintenance Trainer Classroom.