A look back at Queen Elizabeth II's visits to Cumbria and the Scottish Borders

We mourn the passing of Her Majesty the Queen and reflect on the places she visited in the Cumbria and the Scottish Borders. Credit: PA/ British Pathe

The Queen's long association with our region goes back to a time when she was still heir to the throne.

In 1947, the then Princess Elizabeth accompanied her mother and father King George VI to the Scottish Borders.

Travelling with her was Philip Mountbatten, the man she would marry later that year.

The Queen's first visit to the Scottish Borders in 1947. Credit: British Pathe

Five years on, the now Queen started a tour of the UK following her Coronation in 1953.

Lord Inglewood said: “People up here are strong supporters of the Royal Family in general and she has always been, I’ve felt recognised, and welcomed in Cumberland.

"I can remember as a child going and standing by the side of the road and waving a flag when she came in the mid-50s”

In 1956, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived in Appleby at the start of a tour of the Lake District, where she inspected the guard of honour in the cloisters.

The Queen inspecting the guard of honour in the cloisters in Appleby, 1956. Credit: British Pathe

In the same year, the world's first industrial scale nuclear power station officially opened and the young Queen was in West Cumbria to flip the switch.

Two years later, north of Cumbria was adorned with flags, when the Queen came to celebrate 800 years of the city.

She was cheered on by a crowd of children at the market hall in Carlisle.

In 1975, had an engagement across the Border, opening the new Dumfries & Galloway Infirmary.

Built on the site of a nine-hole golf course, the state-of-the-art hospital would serve 150,000 people 

In 1988, the Queen was in the Scottish Borders where a discerning audience of school children from communities in and around Peebles, awaited her arrival.

In 1993, she and the Duke of Edinburgh were in Lockerbie nearly five years after a terrorist bombing brought a passenger plane down over the town.

It was a time to reflect and to talk to victims and survivors.

At the cemetery, Her Majesty laid a wreath in memory of those who died, her presence a comfort to townsfolk who lived through the tragedy.

Barbara Kelly said: "Her courage her tact, in dealing with so well with tragedies and catastrophes, her real interest in the voluntary and charitable sector, will go down as hugely, hugely important."

In 1996, Her Majesty visited Stranraer, arriving in the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Credit: ITV

In Spring 2002, Her Majesty was met by thousands of well-wishers when she arrived in the Borders again as part of her Golden Jubilee Tour.

At Melrose Abbey, the Queen was shown the place where Robert the Bruce's heart is buried.

The Queen enjoying the pony show at Greenyards rugby in 2002. Credit: ITV

In 2008, it was Whitehaven's chance to host the Queen and at the town's Beacon Museum a west Cumbrian welcome with a difference, gurning is well-known in this part of the world and her Majesty took it in her stride.

The Queen returned to Cumbria in 2013, travelling first to Kendal before going on to a paper mill at nearby Burneside.

At the time of this visit, the Queen was about to become a great-grandmother again when she visited a National Park visitor centre.

Clare Hensman was the Lord Lieutenant on this visit and noted the royal visitor's power of memory.

She said: "The main highlight for her was the fell pony society, of which she was patron.

"She said, and I can't remember the name of the pony but it was something like Molly- 'oh have you still got Molly?' because she'd given Molly to the pony society."

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