When local press got wind of the visit of the King and Queen to the Yorkshire region, the palace was anxious to impress on them that the Royal couple would not be attending glittering ceremonies or performing state functions. They would instead visit industrial works in order to gain first hand knowledge of the conditions under which their people are employed and live. To this end Earl Fitzwilliam, who had been instrumental in arranging the visit, told local reporters:

‘I am instructed by His Majesty that he wishes informality to be the watchword and it is in no sense a State visit. The King and Queen have expressed a desire to see men and women in working conditions and we have impressed upon the owners of works and establishments honoured by a Royal visit, that a great deal of whitewash is not what is required’.

Although there had been heavy rainfall for many days beforehand, thankfully the sun was shining as the Royal train pulled into Doncaster station on Monday 8 July 1912. The Royal party had that day travelled up from Kings Cross and were expected to arrive at Doncaster at 3.55 pm, however to the pleasure of the waiting crowd, they arrived a few minutes early. It was reported that:‘Her Majesty was wearing a pale green, shantung braided coat and skirt with a black trimmed hat with roses around the brim. King George was wearing grey suit a brown felt hat, brown boots and carried light grey gloves’. On the platform they were met by local dignitaries, including Earl Fitzwilliam with whom they shook hands.

The Royal couple and the Earl then seated themselves in a big powerful Daimler car, which was a closed car with both sides made of glass, allowing their Majesties to be clearly seen by the local populace. The car with the Royal Standard on the front, stood out amongst the other official cars, as it made its way from Doncaster to Conisbrough Castle. The Royal Standard flag had also been erected above the battlements, and it was said that this was the first time that a King and Queen had visited the castle since the visit of King John in March 1201. The Royal couple left the car at the entrance to the outer ward, before walking among lines of school children and boy scouts who took their place on both sides of the narrow entrance to the castle. The Queen took her place in the marquee, which had been erected on the grass of the inner ward, where Lord and Lady Yarborough would serve tea to the Royal couple. King George accompanied by Earl Fitzwilliam and other men of the party, ascended the stone steps to the wooden door leading into the keep which was 20 feet above the ground. Then the party disappeared from view before climbing up the dark and narrow steps to the top. The King then appeared and walked around the top of the castle, delighting the seven thousand colliers waiting below by raising his hat to loud cheers. King George and his party then descended and joined the Queen as tea was served in the marquee. The outer wards were filled by miners and their wives, who were allowed to watch the unusual spectacle of the King and Queen having their tea. The Royal pair appeared to enjoy the idea so much that they lingered longer than was expected.

Finally, the honoured guests returned back to the car for the drive to the Wentworth Woodhouse estate, once again accompanied by the Earl. As they passed through Hooton Roberts, the main thoroughfare was ablaze with the colours of flags, both large and small which the village had erected in honour of the Royal visit. The car moved at walking pace through the village allowing all the assembled crowds to clearly see the King and Queen, as a crimson avalanche of roses were thrown at the car. At Piccadilly, it was noted that although the assembled men and women cheered loudly, many workmen had not time to change out of the work clothes before the arrival of the Royal car. Nevertheless their Majesties waved and smiled to the assembled miners and their wives. There were more dirty faces as working men and their families assembled at Picadilly, where the reception was just as warm. As the car arrived at the top of the hill beyond Kilnhurst, the Royal couple saw schoolchildren, every one of them, wearing bonnets or ribbons decorated in red, white and blue, and many of them holding and waving miniature Union Jacks. At Hoober the car slowed to allow their Majesties to see the Stand and the Fitzwilliam Mausoleum towering above the trees. The road to the great park at Wentworth was lined with enthusiastic spectators as the car past slowly through, 20 minutes later than expected at 5.50pm. As the car entered through the north gate there was a sound of a bugle, and as the car approached the great house, there on the lawn the King and Queen saw over 4,000 servicemen and ex servicemen of the West Riding National Reserve. The Royal couple alighted from the car and the Queen, accompanied by other ladies, took her place on the balcony overlooking the parade of men below. The King inspected them as they marched past to the strains of ‘Where are the boys of the Old Brigade’ as the Sheffield Daily Telegraph reported proudly ‘they were there’. Afterwards King George, showing no urgency to leave, chatted with the men to their great delight.

At last it was time for the Royal couple to go inside and Colonel Hughes shouted for ‘three cheers for the King and Queen’. The men responded with much enthusiasm and heartiness as their Majesties finally retired inside the great house. It was reported that they had been given apartments in the old Strafford portion of the house which overlooked the beautiful lawns. The rooms contained some rare and priceless articles which had been gifts from King Charles I to the Earl of Strafford. One of the prized articles included a picture of Thomas Wentworth dictating to his secretary on the night before his execution. A private house party was then given where it was reported that an orchestral band played through dinner. It was fairly late in the evening as the crowds finally left the park, all hoping no doubt to catch a glimpse of the Royal couple once more. However in the early hours a gloom was cast over the success of the Royal visit by the terrible news that morning that a disaster had taken place at Cadeby Main Colliery, only a few miles away from Conisbrough Castle. In fact it had happened just a few hours after the Royal couple had left. It seems that there had been an explosion of accumulated gas in the southern part of the mine at about 1-2am. Thankfully the pit had less men working in it than normal due to the royal visit, but it was probably that some of the men with dirty faces who had cheered the royal couple, would have come from or been working in the Cadeby pit at the time of the catastrophe. The King and Queen were told that two men who had been working 400-500 yards away, first felt the heat from the blast and decided in consultation with the pit deputy, that an explosion had taken place. They tried to get to the place where many of their colleagues were working, but foul air meant that they had to return to the pit bottom. A rescue crew arrived, but shortly after their descent another explosion was heard. Yet a second rescue crew was sent down, which sadly included a Mr Basil Pickering the manager of the Wath Main Colliery. There he found the dead body of his father, W H Pickering the Chief Government Inspector of Mines for Yorkshire, who had gone in the first rescue team. The party had found the remains of their ill fated rescue colleagues who had been cut off by a fall of roof, shutting out the vital air that they needed, and killing all but three or four of the first rescue party. During the early hours of the following morning hundreds of local people, anxious relative and employees alike gathered at the pit head to see a continuous procession of ambulance men bringing up the bodies and placing them in the pay room. Long tables had been quickly erected and soon held the corpses, wrapped in white sheets. It was later estimated that there was 91 victims, of which thirty four were brave men who had gone to the rescue of their stricken colleagues.

Coming Next Week

More about the  Cadeby disaster and an unscheduled Royal visit

The Royal visit to Rotherham Hospital and Clifton Park

Their unexpected visit to a cottage on the Park, Woodlands

The Kings descent into Elsecar Colliery

The single protester of Furlong Road, Bolton-upon-Dearne