FIFTY years on, memories of Sir Winston Churchill's State funeral are still fresh in the minds of two Cumbria county councillors.

Clad in the scarlet winter cloak and plumed helmet of the Life Guards regiment, Norman Clarkson stood on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral, London, for three hours as one of the Guard of Honour on Saturday, January 30, 1965.

"It was a very solemn occasion," said Cllr Clarkson, who was 25 at the time, and represents Gosforth on the county council.

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"I had immense pride on actually being in what you might say was the front line of the ceremony itself.

"It was a wonderful experience; something I'll never forget."

Britain's great wartime Prime Minister had died six days earlier, aged 90, and Cambridge University history graduate Roger Bingham had travelled to London by train to pay his own tribute.

The 21-year-old Roger joined the crowds watching Churchill's coffin leave his house in Hyde Park Gate for the lying-in-state, followed by Lady Churchill "wearing a long black veil, like a bride's veil". "I do remember it was a very, very dark night and the traffic jams were enormous," said Cllr Bingham, of Ackenthwaite.

He returned to London to be among the 321,000 mourners who filed silently past the catafalque at Westminster Hall to see Churchill's flag-draped coffin. Queues stretched along the River Thames, recalled Cllr Bingham, and WVS ladies served hot cups of tea as people shared memories of "good old Winnie" and his fondness for whisky, brandy, Champagne and cigars.

Cllr Bingham told the Gazette: "I always remember seeing the statue of Richard the Lionheart; his sword was bent in the Blitz. Winston said it must remain bent. I told people that at the time.

"It was only 20 years after the end of the war. I would be one of the few people in the crowd other than little children who couldn't remember the war. I was wearing my good overcoat and my jacket, a blue Cambridge scarf and a hat I wear to this day."

Meanwhile, Cllr Clarkson was stationed at Knightsbridge Barracks in 1965, part of the Household Cavalry. He recalls a 4am rehearsal on the steps of St Paul's involving BBC broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, and he described it as "an honour and a privilege to be selected" for the Guard of Honour.

"Amongst the many ceremonial occasions I took part in, Winston Churchill's funeral was the most outstanding; I think because I was a wartime baby, born in 1939," said the Lake District National Park Authority member. "He was my hero."

The young Norman and Roger did not know each other at the time, but the two past chairmen of CCC have been sharing their 50-year-old memories this week. "We were miles apart," said Cllr Clarkson, "yet here we are now, together on the Conservative side of CCC."

- See next week's Nostalgia page to find out how Westmorland marked Sir Winston Churchill's death.