TORFAEN: Queen funeral voxpops

Sharon Jobbins, 64, Pontypool 

“I watched the funeral at home, my husband was there, but he wasn’t watching it. 

It was very emotional and it was beautiful. 

I very much admire the Queen and I can remember, as a five-year-old, standing on the corner of George Street, where Stead and Simpon used to be, waiting for the Queen as she’d come to open the nylon factory, I think. All the school kids were out.” 

Shelly Fearn, 31, Bargoed 

“It was quite a nice service but it was long, I think funerals are long. We watched it with the kids sort of out of tradition. It’s quite mad that the Queen has gone, she’s all we’ve ever known and I thought she’d be there for ever more. 

“I think seeing the, the Royals, walk behind the coffin was quite sad. We had it on from 8am until about 12.30 but then had to take the kids out to play.” 

Elle and James Davies, 28, with children Arabella, seven, and Charlotte, four, Pontypool 

“It was a nice service and I couldn’t believe how many people had turned up, and how many there were from the Navy,” said James. 

“I think it was part of history like Princess Diana’s funeral, I was only three at the time, but it was a big event that everyone watched. 

“The Queen’s crown on a pillow and a globe on a stick (the Orb) on top of her coffin was the most memorable part,” said Elle. 

Arabella said: “I liked the crown and the diamonds” and sister Charlotte said “the clothes” were the best part. 

Ena Jeffs, 79, Pontypool 

“I wouldn’t have dreamed of missing it. 

“I remember when King George V died just before my ninth birthday. I remember the sadness in my village and men walking around with black armbands on, people were really sad and then I had the privilege of watching the Coronation. 

“I grew up in a rural farm cottage, in Suffolk, with no electricity and my father’s boss had a generator and invited us to his house to watch the television. It was the first time we children had seen television, I had not even been to the cinema.”