'Proud to be British' - How our pubs marked The Queen's funeral

While the streets of Fakenham and Dereham were quiet, as many shops and businesses closed their doors to mark the state funeral of Her Majesty, pubs opened their doors to be together on September 19.

One of those to open its doors was Catherine Baker, landlady at the Rampant Horse in Fakenham.

The pub on Queen’s Road opened at 10am for people to come in and watch the funeral.

Mrs Baker said a small group of 20 regulars watched the funeral together, and more people came out following the end of the state funeral in London.

“It was really good, a respectful day,” she said.

“We are a bit of a pub family, so we thought it would be nice to be together for it

“it was not sad, it was full of admiration for The Queen, everyone paying their respects together, which was brilliant.

“Everyone made the most of being with one another, I think people wanted to be together for it.

“It was an amazing send-off, it made us all proud to be British.

“You could see people were very overwhelmed by it, we had never seen anything like that before.”

Another place to open was the Cherry Tree in Dereham.

The Cherry Tree pub in Dereham (Image: Archant © 2013)

The pub on Theatre Street opened at 10am and served free tea, coffee and biscuits, in addition to its usual selection of drinks.

Sarah Godsoe, who runs the pub with her sister, Morgana Hale, said the showing for Dereham was incredible - with 20 people in the pub for the service, with some wearing suits.

“It gave me goosebumps, not just watching it, but all the people there, with the volume up on the TV it was emotional and everyone was so respectful,” she said.

"Most of the people stood up for the service as well, it was an incredible atmosphere.

“Afterwards, more people came and we had about 40 people in and it almost felt like a wake.

“The two-minute silence was incredible, just before 12 the town stood still, you could feel it.

“It was a day we will never forget.”