This Day in History: 2012-06-04

On 4th June 2012, Pontefract Castle and Castle Hill, Huddersfield were among more than 4,000 places around the world where beacons were lit in sequence, to mark the Queen becoming the second monarch in British history to celebrate a sixty years’ reign. Originally used for communication or as warnings, beacon chains have come to be used for celebrations. They were lit for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver and Golden Jubilees in 1977 and 2002. In the evening of 4th June, during a special Bank Holiday celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the first ‘Proms at the Castle’ took place, where an evening of classical music was performed by the West Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra, followed by a firework display.