Mr Howard Boyd of Horkstow stepped in at very short notice to give us a very interesting and informative talk on the building of the new Queen's Coach. He told us how it was the brainchild of Mr Jim Frecklington, who had once worked for Prince Philip at the Royal Mews but now lived in Australia. He had built the Australian State Coach for the Sydney Olympics in 1988.
The coach is a living time capsule celebrating hundreds of years of the nation's history and incorporating material from Britain's historic buildings, ships and other artefacts. The coach took 8 years to make and was used for the first time at the State Opening of Parliament on 4 June 2014. It weighs almost 3 tons and is pulled by 6 horses in the postilion style.
Howard had been responsible for carving the crown, which forms the centrepiece of the roof's decorations. |t was carved in oak from Nelsons flagship HMS Victory. Howard told how the wood was weighed out in grams and weighed back in when he had finished. It is covered in Australian gold as there was insufficient Welsh gold.
The handrails inside the coach are made from timber reclaimed from the Royal Yacht Britannia.. Segments from various iconic national buildings such as The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Henry V111's flagship Mary Rose, Sir Isaac Newton's apple tree are inlaid into the interior lining of the coach. The two door handles are individually decorated with 24 diamonds and 130 sapphires. The lamps were handmade by Edinburgh Crystal and depicts the tudor rose on one side, the Scottish thistle on another, the Welsh leak and a flax for Ireland.
The coach is very comfortable having stabilisers and heaters. It has electric windows and armoured, toughened glass. Howard is very proud of the part he played and has been made a Freeman of the City of London.
The coach is a living time capsule celebrating hundreds of years of the nation's history and incorporating material from Britain's historic buildings, ships and other artefacts. The coach took 8 years to make and was used for the first time at the State Opening of Parliament on 4 June 2014. It weighs almost 3 tons and is pulled by 6 horses in the postilion style.
Howard had been responsible for carving the crown, which forms the centrepiece of the roof's decorations. |t was carved in oak from Nelsons flagship HMS Victory. Howard told how the wood was weighed out in grams and weighed back in when he had finished. It is covered in Australian gold as there was insufficient Welsh gold.
The handrails inside the coach are made from timber reclaimed from the Royal Yacht Britannia.. Segments from various iconic national buildings such as The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Henry V111's flagship Mary Rose, Sir Isaac Newton's apple tree are inlaid into the interior lining of the coach. The two door handles are individually decorated with 24 diamonds and 130 sapphires. The lamps were handmade by Edinburgh Crystal and depicts the tudor rose on one side, the Scottish thistle on another, the Welsh leak and a flax for Ireland.
The coach is very comfortable having stabilisers and heaters. It has electric windows and armoured, toughened glass. Howard is very proud of the part he played and has been made a Freeman of the City of London.