An exhibition celebrated the 150th anniversary of a Walton-le-Dale church.

Pictures of churchgoers past and present from Our Lady and St Patrick's Catholic Church, Higher Walton Road, are featured alongside parish journals, relics of the cotton industry, wedding dresses of people married at the church and Benedictine habits.

The three-day event, which ran until Sunday, was organised to bring it closer to the community.

Father John Cribben, the priest at the church for nine years, said: "It's about reaching out. We haven't reached out that much in the past and a real effort has to be made to make sure more is done." The mission of St Patrick was founded in 1855. The first chapel, a former public house, was also used as a school until 1880 when the present church of Caen Normandy stone was built.

In 1918 it became the Parish of Our Lady and St Patrick and from 1878-1951, and was run by Benedictine Monks from Douai Abbey, Berkshire.

The celebrations, which also include details of the Catholic history of Lancashire, ended with a celebration mass attended by the Right Reverend Terence Brian, Bishop of Salford.