THE Queen Mother performed the opening ceremonies at two Oxford maternity units.

We recorded (Memory Lane, January 20) how, as the Duchess of York, she opened the unit at the Radcliffe Infirmary in October 1931.

Now Ann Spokes Symonds has reminded us that she also opened the unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital 42 years later.

Mrs Spokes Symonds, of Davenant Road, North Oxford, was Sheriff of Oxford that year and has sent in a colour picture of the Queen Mother saying farewell to her and other dignitaries.

She writes: “It shows her shaking hands with Sir Alan Bullock, former Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, while giving a beautiful smile to the Lord Mayor, Fred Ingram.

“She had met him in the morning when she opened Wyndham House sheltered housing scheme in North Oxford. She was sorry that he had had to stand in the rain there.”

Among those who met the Queen Mother during her visit to the John Radcliffe was one-year-old Justine Pyne. She had been invited with her parents, Mr and Mrs Robert Pyne, of Milton Road, Oxford, as she was first baby born at the unit.

But she was oblivious that she was a VIP for the second time in her life – her reaction to being introduced to the Royal visitor was to fall asleep.

Mrs Pyne said: “When the Queen Mother approached us and saw Justine had fallen asleep, she said that was just the way it should be.”

The Queen Mother was given a tour of the hospital and saw one of the latest arrivals, three-hour-old Clare Jones and her mother, Julia Jones, of Crown Road, Kidlington.

In a small ward, she spoke to four mothers, including Pamela Davis, of Toot Baldon, whose baby Nicola had been born a few days earlier. Her husband, Michael, brought their two other children to the hospital to meet the Queen Mother. One nursing sister who met her without a curtsey, was expectant mother Rosalind Higson, who volunteered to be examined on the hospital’s ultrasound machine.

The Queen Mother was able to see the outline of her baby on the machine’s screen. She told Sister Higson she was plucky to volunteer for the demonstration.

Earlier in the day, the Queen Mother opened the £250,000 British Red Cross Society flats for elderly people, known as Wyndham House, in Plantation Road, North Oxford.

When she arrived, she was greeted by a thunderstorm as well as loud cheers from the crowd.

She stood under an awning to unveil a plaque while spectators sheltered in doorways from the rain.

Before going to the John Radcliffe Hospital, she had lunch with the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough at Blenheim Palace.

Any memories of the Queen Mother’s visit? Write and let me know.