Dateline: Thursday, April 14th 1955, and here is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second in situ at Walter Pollard's Malvern Mills in Nelson, on a day to remember for the hundreds of mill workers.

On our photo, the Queen is closely watching loomer Herbert Dearden drawing in the warp threads through the healds and reed, a most intricate and highly skilled vocation.

This, however, was no problem for Herbert, who was the company's longest-serving employee with nearly 50 years' service, commencing his proud work record at Walter Pollard's as a young boy in the Edwardian era.

The company was founded just before Herbert's first day and began its long history in 1905. Fifty years on in 1955, Walter Pollard's had two weaving mills, Malvern Mill and Brook Street Mill, which housed 1,400 Lancashire looms and employed a total of 650 employees.

The historic Royal visit to the once mighty Walter Pollard's is still remembered fondly today, but never again will we hear the sound of clog-irons on the mill floor or the poignant echo of loom and shuttle.