THE Leigh area has had its a fair share of Royal visits over the years.

These two old pictures from the archives show the Queen and her father on visits 45 years apart.

The Duke of York, crowned after the shock abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, in 1936, is snapped acknowledging the miners on leaving Gibfield pit with colliery company chairman, Mrs S Ramsden, following a call on March 2, 1932.

The Queen is pictured with welcoming crowds on Leigh Civic Square, arriving on a sunny June 20, 1977, during her Silver Jubilee tour of the country.

Princess Margaret, Princess Ann and Prince Charles have also carried out duties in the area, Princess Margaret spending some time at Astley St Stephen's, when she opened the new school in the late '60s.