TOWN leaders gathered at a Knutsford landmark to unveil a portrait of the Queen to mark 10 years of it being open.

The Jubilee Hall on Stanley Road opened 10 years ago to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee.

The development replaced the old black wooden hut which had been on the site, and had been home to the Knutsford Old Folks club since 1949.

Cheshire County Council decided in 1999 that it needed a new library for the town, but the late Bert Grange – in his position as a county councillor – insisted provision should be made for a replacement. The Jubilee Room then opened in 2002.

Derek Empson, chairman of the Knutsford Old Folks Club Trust, was on hand on Friday along with Clr Vivien Davies, Knutsford town mayor, and Clr George Walton, Cheshire East mayor, to unveil the photographic portrait of the Queen taken at the time of her Diamond Jubilee.

Mr Empson said: “My committee felt that a fitting way to mark the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Jubilee Hall would be to acquire a photographic portrait of her majesty Queen Elizabeth II and this is what we have done.”

The room is used by 25 town organisations, including the town council, the 58 Club, Cranford WI, Crosstown WI, the Thursday Club, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Ornithological Society, U3A Spanish Group, Knutsford Town Plan Implementation Committee and Knutsford and District Tenants Association.