Crowning Glory

Coronation Year arrives in Pontywen, and the village is buzzing. This sixth installment in the series follows Fred, who has served as vicar for five years and now carries real weight in the community. Among his duties is organizing how the whole parish will watch the ceremony, a task complicated by the fact that there are only two televisions to go around.

Fred's own marriage to Eleanor, a capable doctor, stands in sharp contrast to the troubles elsewhere in the village. A young couple decides to run away together, and the strained marriage of Charles Wentworth-Baxter, Fred's former curate, causes growing concern. Controversy follows Fred throughout. He lets a Catholic priest celebrate Sunday Mass at St. Padarns, and the rural deanery takes on sex education, leaving Eleanor with the awkward job of delivering the lecture.

Fred Secombe was born in Swansea in 1918 and ordained in 1942. He served as vicar of several Welsh parishes and became a Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral. He helped found three Gilbert and Sullivan societies and won the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera Award for his 1968 production of Utopia Ltd. He is the elder brother of the late Sir Harry Secombe and now lives in Cardiff.