A THOUGHTFUL grandson sent a message of love across the miles when he helped to make his grandparents' Golden Wedding anniversary extra special.

Tony Riley, 25, wrote to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph from his ship, the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Invincible, currently at Portsmouth, to tell us about the celebration.

He said in his letter he wanted an article published to make Arthur and Eleanor Collier feel "extra special."

Tony, whose family live in Feniscowles, Blackburn, returned home to celebrate the occasion with relatives and friends at a party in the Game Cock Inn, Great Harwood. "He's a grand lad," Arthur said. "The apple of my eye."

Arthur met Eleanor at St John's Church, Great Harwood, where he was a choirboy.

They were married at Rishton Parish Church and spent their honeymoon in Blackpool.

After service during World War Two, Arthur worked as a builder at the Coke Oven, Altham.

He then took a job in maintenance at the Oxo factory in Great Harwood, where Eleanor also worked in the cleaning department.

The couple, who are both 74 and live in Lomax Street, Great Harwood, have two daughters, Loraine and Lillian, two grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

Arthur enjoys attending the Leisure Hour Club in the town and regularly plays bingo and dominoes with the other members.

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