A CENTURY ago, King George V and Queen Mary visited East Lancashire, as part of a grand tour of the county.

One of their stops was in Blackburn and an exhibition is being staged by the towns’s museum and art gallery, to mark the event in July 1913.

Organisers have today made an appeal for an items which could be included in the display of the borough’s welcome to Royalty.

The exhibition is being organised alongside an event at Roe Lee Park on July 9 marking the handing over of the park to the people of Blackburn.

The land was given to the borough by the owners of Roe Lee Mill in recognition of the royal party’s visit to see the looms at work.

Friends of Roe Lee Park is organising the event that will see a plaque unveiled at the park pavilion and Roe Lee Primary School perform a selection of songs in Victorian costume.

King George’s visit with Queen Mary was part of a week-long tour of Lancashire.

It included 30 towns, as well as Blackburn, which was then booming thanks to the cotton industry.

Roe Lee was the newest of a large number of mills that were being built across the town and area, which had been opened in 1912.

There, the King and Queen were shown the latest Jacquard-type looms and were presented with a monogrammed handkerchief and a pair of miniature clogs.

During the visit King George also laid the foundation stone for King George’s Hall.

Among the items being exhibited at Blackburn Museum is a selection of photographs taken at the ceremony as well as the plans for the innovative electrical connection set up to allow the stone to be laid remotely from the town hall.

A copy of the Blackburn Weekly Telegraph with a supplement about the visit will also go on display along with a press pass belonging to a reporter.

The exhibition will run from July 10 till July 20 and the deadline for submissions is June 29.

Coun Damian Talbot, executive member for leisure, said: “We are inviting residents to take up this opportunity to be part of this very special exhibition.

“At the time of the visit, it was an important period in Blackburn’s history, which was at the centre of the cotton producing industry.

“That Blackburn was a key player on the world’s economic stage is something we should be proud of and remember.”

Jason Walker of the Friends of Roe Lee Park, said: “Roe Lee Park is as popular now as it was when it was first opened a hundred years ago.”