Whitestake businessman looks back on his meeting with "wonderful" Queen as a 17-year-old Myerscough student

Michael Coxhead, a director of wholesale horticultural business E.N Coxhead Ltd in Whitestake, was 17 in 1969 when he was chosen to welcome Her Majesty to the official opening of Myerscough College's Bilsborrow campus.

He said: "The day the Queen came as a great day. We knew about the visit around a month in advance and we needed to sort out the displays out for on the day. Then, one person from each subject area had to be chosen to meet the Queen and my lecturer put my name forward.

‘’I demonstrated a xylograph (a wood engraving machine), we talked about my studies, and it was a very proud moment.

"It happened so fast and I was very nervous. It was a bit of a blur but I was very proud to have met her and it was a wonderful day. There was only a few of us selected and I was fortunate.”

He added: "I was the youngest student at the college and she was only young herself.

"I was very pleased to have been picked out, I have always been a great monarchist."

Mr Coxhead said: "The news of her death has been terribly sad. Even though we all knew it was coming at some point, it's been a bit of a shock.

"She was a great woman who has done a lot for the country.

"She never moaned, never showed any bias, and was a great example of how to deal with adversity."