Platinum Jubilee: Coronation Day musician's 'exhilarating' memories

Roy Green, now 88, still plays euphonium - most recently for the Band of the Yorkshire Volunteers

A euphonium player who was a member of the military band which played at the Queen's Coronation has said his memory of the day was one of "exhilaration".

As final preparations are made for the Platinum Jubilee, Roy Green, 88, from Barnsley, said he remembered the big day in 1953 was "very, very tiring".

Mr Green had started playing aged 12 and had gone on to play for RAF Music Services before his Coronation call-up.

"I was 19, whisked out of a mining town. It was very exciting," he said.

Roy Green said playing euphonium in the Coronation procession was a "great honour"

Mr Green, from Darfield, said recent preparations for the Platinum Jubilee, marking the Queen's 70 years of service, had "brought back so many memories" from Coronation Day in 1953.

The procession band on the day of the Coronation in London must have walked "at least 10 miles, stopping and starting, playing then not playing", he said.

"The whole atmosphere was very exciting. There were crowds of thousands and thousands lining the procession route.

"A packed lunch was brought to us where we had stopped, so we didn't move. Then we were off again. It was a long, long, tiring day. "

Roy Green and the other musicians who played for the Queen's Coronation in June 1953 were awarded a medal

However, Mr Green said it was "a great honour" to participate in such a major event in the life of the nation.

"It was quite a revelation and an awakening for me.

"The cacophony of the various bands playing at different times on the Coronation procession route was so exciting."

Roy Green started playing the euphonium aged 12 and has played in bands all his life

Seventy years on from the Coronation, Mr Green said he was still making music.

Most recently he has played with the Band of the Yorkshire Volunteers.

"It's beyond my wildest dreams to think I'm still playing an instrument at my age," he said.

"But I must say, I'm on the verge of retirement."