IN THIS column two weeks ago I mentioned the time Sir Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing conquered Everest.

The signal they were “on top of the world” came on the eve of the Coronation.

Within a week, John Hunt, the expedition leader, was in London with Hilary to receive a knighthood from the Queen.

I have been reminded of another hero to receive a knighthood but he had to wait a few more years, and that was Stanley Matthews.

He had just taken part in what old timers still believe was the “cup final of the century” – a marvellous, pulsating match between Bolton and Blackpool.

Blackpool eventually won the game 4-3.

Some two months after the Coronation a miracle happened. We won the Ashes.

I was at the Oval on August 19, 1953, to see my cricketing hero, Denis Compton, hit the winning runs with a four.

It was the first time since the notorious bodyline tour of 1932-33 that we had our hands on the urn.

As that ball crossed the boundary I left my seat, leapfrogged the picket fence and ran straight across the pitch to cheer home the English batsmen.

Were you one of the 12,000 other kids who joined me on that race to the pavilion?