Colyton wheelwright 'will never forget' attending Queen's funeral

Colyton wheelwright Greg Rowland MBE was one of some 2,000 people who attended the state funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, alongside 18 monarchs, 55 presidents and 25 prime ministers.

As well as being invited to the service, Colyton-based business Mike Rowland & Son Wheelwrights and Coachbuilders made an important contribution to the day's proceedings, as they had previously refurbished one of the wheels on the State Gun Carriage that carried the Queen's coffin, and then checked all of them.

Greg, who runs Mike Rowland & Son Wheelwrights and Coachbuilders - a firm started by his father in 1964 – was awarded an MBE in the Queen birthday honours list this year.

His company has held a Royal Warrant since 2005 and is one of only two firms that look after carriages for The Queen.

Speaking of his experience at the funeral for Colyton Parish Newsletter, Mr Rowland said: "I had the great honour of being invited to the state funeral of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll at Westminster Abbey, as one of the 180 ordinary people who had made a difference in their fields awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours this year.

"I missed two phone calls from an unknown number on Saturday, then on Sunday they left a message and a number to call back. I rang to go through the details and they said my official invitation would arrive in the post on Tuesday.

"By Thursday nothing had arrived and I wasn't pleasant to be with! I phoned the number I'd been given but it no longer existed, so rang some others who'd received MBEs at the same time as me and they were in the same boat.

"Finally, we received confirmation emails on Thursday from Buckingham Palace which reassured us the official invites would be received by Saturday. I immediately ordered a new suit, black tie and shoes online.

"The invitation arrived, as promised, with instructions for the postman that it had to be delivered first thing before the rest of his round or else there would be consequences and he would be held to account!

"For all of that, the invitation itself was rather disappointing, printed on bright yellow paper with a black border. As it turned out, the invites were actually colour coded and I was to sit in the Nave of the Abbey.

"I stayed overnight with friends in Finchley and caught the tube to Waterloo at 5.30am, then walked to Westminster and joined the queue waiting outside the Abbey.

"The seating arrangements didn't have a ranking system in the designated areas – it was first come, first served for everyone regardless of status. Because I'd arrived early, I managed to get an aisle seat in the Nave just before the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.

"It felt intimate in the Abbey and was just like being at a funeral service in St Andrew's Church, Colyton, except the gravity and surrealism of the occasion soon hit home as we waited.

"I'd refurbished one of the wheels of the State Gun Carriage for the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral last year, unused since Lord Mountbatten's funeral in 1979.

"There are five wheels in all, including the spare, and once I'd fixed the Duke's, I was sent the other four individually after each one had been refurbished, staggered in case the gun carriage was suddenly needed for Her Majesty the Queen.

"The pipers played as the funeral cortege approached Westminster Abbey. The bagpipes grew louder and louder through the open doors until the wheels I had refurbished came into view and halted, announcing the Queen's arrival.

"Those wheels had carried the Queen on her final journey through London and it's hard to describe the shivers I felt. It was a profound moment for me in a day I will never forget."

With thanks to Colyton Parish Newsletter