AS Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee approaches, we look back at all the times Queen Elizabeth II has visited Cumbria.

Queen Elizabeth II paid several visits to Cumbria during her long reign.

The first time she visited Barrow was in 1956 with the Duke of Edinburgh came to Barrow Town Hall.

She has visited Barrow shipyard for key launches, including that of Dreadnought, Britain’s first nuclear-powered submarine, in October 1960, and the aircraft carrier Invincible during her 1977 silver jubilee year.

The Queen was also there at Carlisle cathedral on March 23 in 1978 for the Maundy Thursday service which sees purses filled with tiny silver coins given to pensioners who have done good work for the church in their community.

In 1978 a trumpet fanfare from King’s Own Royal Border Regiment troops welcomed the Queen before she was presented with an ancient city sword by Mayor Jim Long.

The first Maundy money ceremony took place in the reign of Charles II, when the king gave people four, three, two penny and one penny coins in 1662.

The Evening Mail itself had a visit from the Queen when she had a tour of the offices in Abbey Road to mark the paper’s centenary in February 1998.

Margaret Burrow says she has met the Queen on numerous occasions and she was later awarded an MBE in 2002 for her services to the Barrow and District Disability Association.

She said: “The first time I met the Queen was when she came to Barrow to the Evening Mail’s centenary.

"It coincided with a visit to Nelson Street Community Centre where I was vice chairman and I was asked if I would show her around, and of course I said yes.

“At first, I thought it was a prank, as we were always playing jokes on each other.

"But when a lot of information started coming through the post, I knew it wasn’t.

"I took her round, and it was a fantastic occasion.

"She was very warm and welcoming and paid interest in everything that was going on, especially what the young people were doing.

“I later met her again when I was awarded an MBE, which was a very special occasion.”

During her visit the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to Barrow Railway Station on February 20 before heading to the newspaper.