NOWADAYS, Thornbury Carnival is a major part of the town’s summer celebrations, but back in 1935 it took on an extra special role.

The festivities that year were in celebration of the silver jubilee of King George V, with the carnival part of the official celebrations.

The theme was the British Empire and the history of our country.

This was a period when we had a different concept of racism, with decorative appearance showing no inhibitionstowards offending race, something which today would be unthinkable.

Each year a “Carnival Queen” was chosen to rule over the event, but while we don’t know how they were all selected, we do know that sometimes the Queen was chosen on the basis of how many carnival tickets she sold.

Photographs and information kindly supplied by Thornbury and District Museum and Thornbury Roots, having been donated by residents.

For more information, visit thornburyroots.co.uk.