By Lucy Caulkett
The Queen opened a new multi-million pumping station, in her second official engagement of the year. Her Royal Highness was nostalgic as she recalled where her father King George VI used to walk his corgis on Sandringham on a historic day when she opened the new pumping station on the estate.
When asked by the person who handed her the memento that she had not brought her corgis with her, to which she warmly replied: “No, not today.” The station sits within the Sandringham estate, home to the Queen’s private residence Sandringham House, on land designated by King George VI, who took a personal interest in the scheme.
The station is expected to keep large parts of West Norfolk dry for decades to come, at Wolverton today. The £5 million facility, which has been operating since last August will be used as a substitute fora station which was opened by King George VI in 1948. She met senior officials and long-serving staff members during a short visit to the site, before being invited to press the red button and start the pump.
The monarch, 93, who turned up in a green range rover officially opened Wolferton’s new pumping station almost exactly 72 years after her father, King George VI, opened the original station on February 2, 1948.
She was well dressed for the weather in a warm green coat and a fashionable scarf as her company was enjoyed by staff present. The Queen was also taken to admire the plaque unveiled by King George VI in 1948 after officially unveiling the pumping station and signing off the visitors book. She The Queen recalled where her father King George VI used to walk his corgis on Sandringham as she opened the new pumping station on the estate.
Queen ElizabethII presses the button to start the pumps
Philip Camamile, chief executive of the drainage board, who gave the Queen a tour of the new pumping station site, told the Queen how the new pumping station is twice as powerful as the old station and can shift around three million gallons of water in one hour – equivalent to seven Olympic-sized swimming pools.