A TYLDESLEY man who had tea with the Queen and breakfasted with a Prime Minister has died, aged 86.

Great grandfather John Taylor died on Thursday at his Tyldesley home.

As a boy he joined the Salvation Army "because grandad Taylor had been given a cup of tea by the Salvation Army during the First World War".

A pit deputy, Mr Taylor went on to become 10 times national president of the NACODS union for colliery deputies and shotfirers. He ate breakfast with Prime Minister Harold Wilson and was a guest at a Buckingham Palace tea party. A personal friend of miners' leader Lord Joe Gormley, he was also on first name terms with Arthur Scargill.

A lifetime of community service included being a councillor with Tyldesley UDC and sitting on Leigh Magistrates' bench.

But he will probably be best known for his work as a Salvationist.

He became secretary of Tyldesley Corps at the age of 21 and held that position, incredibly, for more than 50 years during which time he was a regular contributor to The Journal news columns.

At the time of his death from cancer, he was treasurer of the Corps' over 60s section.

Although a teetotaller Mr Taylor, of Heathfield Drive, was a pub 'regular'.

For 60 years he spent Friday nights selling the Salvationist newpaper 'War Cry' around pubs and clubs in the Tyldesley district.

The former pit deputy ended his mammoth stint in August 1994 when he told The Journal: "I would be hoarse when on Friday nights because everyone used to ask me to sing The Old Rugged Cross."

His daughter Jean said: "He had a good life. He did things not for his own glory, but as a service to others.

"He wasn't perfect, but he learned from mistakes."

Mr Taylor leaves a wife, Lilian, daughters Jean and Doris, sons Eddie and Bramwell, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

A funeral service begins at 11.30am today at the Salvation Army Hall in Lime Street, Tyldesley followed by burial at Tyldesley Cemetery.

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