On Tuesday, April 23, 1957, The Queen and Prince Phillip came to Hagley as the starting point for their royal tour of the West Midlands.

The couple pulled into Hagley Railway Station and were met by the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, Admiral Sir William Tennant.

A report which was compiled by Don Freeth in June 2002, based on a paper read by Mrs D Nock to the Hagley Historical and Field Society on October 26 1965, stated that before the Queen’s arrival by train into Hagley, residents worked hard to give the station a makeover.

The Queen and Prince Philip pulled into Hagley Station on April 23, 1957, as the starting point of their royal tour of the West Midlands. D Ferguson. (Image: D Ferguson.)

The report quoted Mrs Nock as saying: “As the royal car drove away on the first part of the tour, fifty people in an enclosure erected in the drive by British Railways had a never-to-be-forgotten view of the visitors.

“The car, followed by others in the official procession, swung out of the drive into Station Road. Then it drove slowly up Park Road, past a crowd of several hundred schoolchildren. Sifting on the raised grass verge they had a first-class view of the royal couple.

D Ferguson. (Image: D Ferguson.)

“As a centrepiece and as a reminder that this was rural England, children from Hagley Primary School were manning a red, white and blue maypole.

“Once clear of Hagley, the procession increased speed through the green belt of Worcestershire countryside between the Hagley and the Halesowen boundaries.”

It continued: “At six o’clock that evening, my husband and I sat down to listen to the news on sound radio. We were delighted to hear from the news that in Hagley 'every building was lavishly decorated, while the eyewitness report called us ‘the smart suburban village of Hagley’."