Remembering the visits of royal record-breaker
QUEEN Elizabeth II made history by becoming the longest reigning British monarch this week.
Throughout her incredible 63 year and seven month reign, her Majesty has paid several visits to Rochdale - the first in 1954, when she appeared on the balcony at the town hall alongside the Duke of Edinburgh.
The Queen’s next visit to the borough was to Milnrow, on Thursday, 14 October, 1971, to mark the official inauguration of the final section of the M62 to be built.
On that occasion, thousands of people - including 500 schoolchildren - gathered in the autumn sunshine to give her a warm welcome.
The Queen unveiled two plaques to commemorate the motorway’s inauguration. The plaques were later mounted on markers on the motorway at the Lancashire-Yorkshire border
Her last visit to Rochdale came in 1994, when she paid a visit to the town to help commemorate the 150th anniversary of Cooperation.
During the trip, she also opened the Arts and Heritage Centre, before it was later renamed Touchstones.
Here we look back in pictures at the Queen’s time in Rochdale.