Costumed villagers crown King and Queen of Caldbeck parish in fake coronation

Villagers in the north Lake District staged a fake coronation to run alongside the real one over the weekend, crowning the King and Queen of Caldbeck and Hesket Newmarket parish.

Dressed in homemade costumes, locals acted out the scene at Hesket Newmarket market cross which was decked out in royal regalia.

The carriage procession began in the nearby hamlet of Millhouse and continued through to Caldbeck. Credit: ITV Border

Norman and Karen Atkinson were crowned on thrones after being driven across the parish in a horse drawn cart.

As part of the ceremony, the royal couple were presented with gifts from an all manner of officials from the community.

The Keeper of the Cattle offered cream of cow while the landlady of the local pub gave some beer from Hesket Newmarket brewery.

Instead of the stone of scone, this King had to make do with a regular scone baked by a lady in the village. They declined the offer of clotted cream to accompany it.

Characters included the great shepherd of the fells, keeper of the cattle and the master of the horse. Credit: ITV Border

Finally, the couple were awarded a scepter made from a toilet brush and crowned before returning to their carriage for a trip to Caldbeck pub.

Local vicar Geoff Hine played the archbishop and said: "The idea is that this is a wonderful occasion for celebration of community coming together. There's been so much sad news over the last couple of years and something like this lifts everybody's spirits."

Over a hundred villagers turned out to watch the fake coronation in Hesket Newmarket. Credit: ITV Border

He added that he thought the Archbishop of Canterbury would be jealous of his hat.

He said: "My wife made it and it's far bigger than his."

Tim Cartmell played the Clerk of the Caldbeck closet and said: "It's fun. We don't aim to be disrespectful to the monarchy, far from it. It's just fun."

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