IT was the proudest moment in the teenage life of Audrey Woods when she was crowned Rose Queen of Moss Bank before a crowd of hundreds of applauding parents and youngsters.

And she was able to relive that happy memory again - 60 years later! - when she had a special visit from the reigning Moss Bank Gala Queen, Samantha McNulty, and her lady-in-waiting, Jody Partington, who succeeds to the gala crown in September.

Senior citizen Audrey (now Mrs Finch) was able to join in the sense of occasion by donning the original crown which she first wore back in 1939, just before the outbreak of the second world war. It's a treasured keepsake, created from stiff, silver-coloured cloth and glittering with sequins.

The gala event, revived in recent times is, like the Rose Queen celebration which pre-dates it, staged on the Moss Bank green. It's one of the last village traditions to survive in the borough and is a keenly-anticipated social highlight of the locality with stalls, competitions, sporty challenges and band performances.

LONG may it (and pre-war queen Audrey) reign . . .

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