On Friday, May 20, 1938, cinema-goers in Bury were flocking to see the smash hit film Holiday, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.

The football season had just ended with Bury FC finishing 10th in Division 2, but fans were still celebrating the 2-0 away victory in the final match of the season against Manchester United.

As life in our proud industrial town continued as normal, international events were preoccupying politicians in Westminster.

The House of Commons was debating the foreign policy issues of the day.

War had broken out between Japan and China the previous year and horrific levels of murder and brutality had been reported throughout the early months of 1938.

In Europe, the Spanish Civil War was ongoing and following the invasion of Austria by Adolf Hitler in March he forced a carefully supervised popular vote that favoured unification with Nazi Germany with 99.7 per cent in favour. The Anschluss was clearly an act of naked aggression.

The parallels of the latter in particular, concerning the actions of Vladimir Putin, are both striking and horrifying.

The world has changed beyond recognition since May 1938 but some things have remained constant both bad and good.

These events provided the background to the first visit by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, then Princess Elizabeth, to Bury with her father King George VI.

This was part of a Royal tour of Industrial Lancashire and the photos from the day show thousands lining the street of our town.

Industrial Bury that the Royal family witnessed all those years ago has now almost vanished but the enthusiasm and pride of Bury residents in seeing their King visit the town they loved can be felt even now, jumping out from press reports of the day.

Bury has changed but King George and his daughter never did. Their commitment to a life of service to our country, the Commonwealth and person within was total.

On April 21 1947, Princess Elizabeth said: “I declare before you that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”

That is exactly what she did over the remaining 75 years of her life.

On Monday we commemorated the life of a great lady who embodied those qualities which were as apparent in her father in 1938 as they were to all of us who lived through the second Elizabethan age.

On top of her life of duty and service, the Queen reflected to us all the value of family and how lucky many of us are to have mothers who dedication to every part of their lives is only surpassed by the constant of their love and support for their children.

This has been a momentous period, but Queen Elizabeth II will have our everlasting thanks for her contribution to the lives of everyone who has lived in our wonderful country during the entirety or part of her glorious reign.

God save the King