THE Queen has enjoyed many visits to Dorset and the New Forest through the years.
As the country prepares to celebrate Her Majesty’s 70 years of service, we look back at the times Queen Elizabeth II has visited the area.
In 1948, Princess Elizabeth made her first recorded public visit to Dorset, making her way through Wimborne, Lytchett Minster and Holme Bridge on her way to inspect the 16th/15th Lancers at Lulworth.
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In 1949, she opened Avon Tyrrell, the holiday centre in the New Forest for the National Association of Girls Clubs and Mixed Clubs.
Elizabeth came to Dorset as Queen in July 1952 just months after the death of her father, George VI, visiting Shaftesbury, Poundbury, Maiden Castle and a factory near Gillingham.
It was then not until 1966 the Queen returned to the county when she and the Duke of Edinburgh spent seven hours touring Bournemouth, Christchurch and Lymington.
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In July 1969, the Queen and the Duke were in Poole to open its new general hospital and chat to patients in the children’s ward. The royal party then travelled through Wimborne and Wareham to Winfrith.
In July 1979, Bournemouth and Poole shared a royal visit. The day started with the Queen and the Duke visiting Poole Arts Centre before they moved on to the Quay, where they were presented with some specially commissioned Poole Pottery.
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The tour then took in Dorset Institute of Higher Education at Wallisdown before heading via the Lansdowne to Madeira Road in Bournemouth, where the Queen and the Duke toured Bournemouth Central Police Station.
The royal couple were back in the New Forest later the same year, travelling in an open landau through Rhinefield Ornamental Drive.
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Smaller visits followed to the Royal Marines at Hamworthy in June 1984; to ward Poole’s Ryvita factory the Royal Warrant in January 1995; and to watch the Tank Regiment at Bovington in July that year.
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In February 1997, the Queen and the Duke saw their grandchildren Peter and Zara Phillips in sports displays at Port Regis School at Shaftesbury, where they also opened a new gym. That May, the Queen watched another tank display at Bovington.
In 1998, the Queen visited Queen Elizabeth’s School in Wimborne.
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July 2004 saw the Queen and Prince Philip greeted at Kings Park by a party including Cherries captain Steve Fletcher before they were met with a crowd of 5,000 people at Bournemouth’s Pier Approach.
They then attended Poole’s Lighthouse and the new RNLI training college, where coxswains from all 233 lifeboat stations were gathered.
Another trip to Bovington followed in 2009.
In 2012, the Queen attended the New Forest Show as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour.
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