CELEBRATIONS marking the Queen's Golden Jubilee in Ramsbottom received the royal thank-you this week.

Mr Bryan Farlow, the man behind the stained glass windows in Ramsbottom Library commemorating Queen Elizabeth's 50 years on the throne, has been invited to attend the first Royal garden party of the year.

He will be joined by Ramsbottom councillor Dorothy Gunther on July 9. She will represent the part the town played in marking the Golden Jubilee.

The four windows, two which embody commemorative plaques and two depicting Grant Tower and Peel Tower, were dedicated in December by the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, Col John Timmins.

Mr Farlow (68), of Carr Bank Avenue, designed the windows himself after completing a course during retirement.

He said: "I felt elated when the invitations came through the post. My brother Barry will be coming over from Canada and he will also be attending the garden party, together with Coun Gunther and her companion Mrs Marie Lyon."

He added: "It will be a very special occasion for Barry and I because as children we were inspired by the, then, two Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, during the years of the Second World War. We used to see them on the news at the local cinema in Eccles."

Following the garden party, Mr Farlow will be meeting up with his daughter Dawn Tyson, who lives in Hampshire, and other family members.

Mr Farlow concluded: "Princess Elizabeth has gone on to be a superb monarch and it has been an honour and delight for me to have commissioned by the Ramsbottom and Tottington Area Board to design the stained glass windows for Ramsbottom Public Library to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

"Fingers crossed I will have a chance to meet her."

Coun Gunther added: "The invitation is for the whole of Ramsbottom and an acknowledgment of the part the town played in the celebrations. The area board funded the stained glass windows. It is an honour for the town."