THE Queen Mother's visits to the Swindon area were few and far between.

Her love of horse racing often led her to Lambourn, where she would consult with trainer Fulke Walwyn about the progress of her horses.

But religion also played an important role in the Queen Mother's life, so it seems fitting that her single visit to Swindon was for this purpose.

That was in 1986, when she opened the new headquarters of the Bible Society at Westlea.

It was a joyous occasion, with crowds lining the streets and children from Westlea Primary School presenting her with masses of daffodils.

Accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, she met leading officers of the society and left with specially bound Bibles for her great-grandchildren.

The Queen Mother said at the time: "The Bible is so special and important, as is your work of making it available and of helping people in all parts of the world."

Twenty one years earlier, in June 1964, the Queen Mother came to Shrivenham as guest of honour at the centenary celebrations of the Royal Military College of Science.

She spent a gruelling five hours there but expressed great satisfaction with her visit.

In July 1960, she had visited Tidworth to present a guidon to the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers regiment, of which she was commander in chief. She was back in Tidworth five years later to inspect more than 400 soldiers from the First Battalion of the King's Own Light Infantry, when she also visited the Sergeants' mess and the Wives' Club.

And in November 1962, she visited Salisbury to open an extension to the Diocesan Training College, and lunched at Wilton House, the family home of the then Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, the Earl of Pembroke.

The Queen Mother was also well known in the Chippenham and Devizes areas, where she had many good friends among the racing fraternity.

In 1971, she astonished shoppers in Chippenham's busy High Street when she stopped her limousine on the way to Cheltenham racecourse to accept a rag magazine from mini-skirted Jean Daniell of the town's College of Further Education, wishing her well with her fundraising efforts.

And Malmesbury antique dealer William Crouch must have been more than surprised one year when she popped unannounced into his shop to take a look at his stock.

It was all part of the friendly, informal approach to her former subjects that made the Queen Mother such a perennial favourite among the royals.

For years the royal racing enthusiast stayed during the Cheltenham Festival week in March with Captain Frank and Lady Avice Spicer at Spye Park, their estate at Bromham, midway between the two market towns.

The visits to Spye Park ended with Captain Spicer's death in 1973, but she maintained her close connection with his widow, and was at Bromham Church for Lady Avice's funeral in 1985.

Photographer Colin Kearley, who works for the Evening Advertiser's sister paper, the Gazette and Herald, told a story of one visit to Spye Park which perfectly summed up why the Queen Mum was held in such high esteem.

"On this particular occasion, we were sent from the house to the lodge to wait for her arrival, and it was teeming down with rain," he said.

"The Queen Mother's car swished through the gates and quickly disappeared from view.

"Within minutes the phone rang in the lodge and a lady came out and said: 'Would you all mind going up to the house?'

"So we all piled into a car and drove up there, and a private secretary came out and said: 'Her Majesty was most distressed to see you all standing there in the pouring rain as she came through.

"If you don't mind waiting a few minutes, she will come out and pose for pictures.'

"When she came out she told us: 'Gentlemen, you all looked so wretched standing there in the rain that I couldn't let you go away without anything.'

"Incidents like that were always the case when she visited Spye.

"She would stand around for a good three or four minutes while we took our pictures, and she always made sure we got what we needed. It was just typical of her."

In March 1985, the Queen Mum used the Evening Advertiser to advertise for a very special job as her Lady's Maid at Clarence House. The advertisement said the right candidate would have nimble fingers and know the true meaning of the word 'discretion', but did not mention how much the salary would be.

In July 2000, as the Queen Mother's 100th birthday approached on August 4, Swindon-based brewer Arkell's created a special beer to honour the Queen Mother's 100th birthday. Bottles of the brew bore the message, Happy Birthday Ma'am.

And a crate of the celebratory brew, which matured at the plant in Kingsdown for three months, was delivered to the lady herself at Clarence House.

Arkell's also promised to deliver a free crate to all of its licensees and every member of staff so everyone could toast the Queen Mum on her birthday.

Chairman of the brewery Peter Arkell OBE, met the Queen Mother three times.

He said at the time: "She is a tremendous woman, I have never known anyone as duty bound as she is always smiling with plenty to say. What an achievement it is to reach 100."

The Swindonbased Bible Society again came back in contact with the Queen Mother when it was among the 300 groups celebrating the Queen Mother's centenary at a Buckingham Palace parade.

The Swindon-based charity was invited to the Queen Mother's centenary at Buckingham Palace in July, 2000.

John Lloyd, spokesman for the Bible Society, spoke at the time about how the Queen Mother was beaming with joy throughout the day.

He said: "She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it and gave us a wonderful wave and smile. There was a very real carnival atmosphere."

Organisations of which the Queen Mother is a patron were invited to take part in the parade, in order to celebrate the 100th birthday of the nation's favourite grandmother.

One hundred staff and supporters of the Bible Society were among 6,500 people taking part in the pageant.

The colourful display included music by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, marches by the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, mounted bands with the Horse Guard Cavalry and a fly-past by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, Red Arrows and a Bristol Blenheim.

At the heart of the parade was the presentation of a huge birthday cake and the biggest birthday card in the world, signed by all the participants, to the Queen Mother. During the presentation, one million rose petals were released from lighting gantries.

One hundred doves were set free into the sunny skies before a pageant spanning ten decades of popular tunes was performed.

The 100th birthday tribute to the Queen Mother saw more than 7,000 people and a host of animals march, plod, dance and wheel their way around the Horse Guards Parade in front of a crowd which exceeded 12,000.