As Chair of Mossley Town Council and on behalf of the Members of the Town Council, I pay homage and tribute to Her Majesty the Queen.
This is a sad day. It will be a day we always remember for as long as we live.
The day of her passing, of not only our Sovereign, our Queen, but for so many, our best friend. She was a constant, like a friend who is always there for you, who says and does the right thing at the right time. Implacable, consistent, wise, one of those who had a sense of what was needed.
She was a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. For her family, this is a time of great sorrow. We all share that. We all share that sense of loss, of grieving. To her family we send our deepest and heartfelt condolences.
For almost all of us in Mossley we have had no other Sovereign. That will be a real change, a sense of the end of an era.
But we are a community. She understood and valued that.
She was of a generation which we regard as one of our greatest. In her long and auspicious reign, she has touched us all.
Her legacy is enormous. Let us take that up. Do not waver, do not shy away from challenge or difficulties, meet it with courage and wisdom.
God save the King.
Frank Travis (Chair)