CELEBRATIONS are already beginning for the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

Each day we see the Queen visiting another town for some special event.

Among all the parties in Bolton, there will also be a special service of thanksgiving that will take place at Bolton Parish Church at 6.30pm on Sunday, June 2. Everyone will be welcome at the service.

In thinking about the Jubilee I find myself looking back over the 50 years of the Queen's reign. What were our hopes and dreams for the future 50 years ago, have they been fulfilled?

One nightmare was the atomic bomb. We lived under what was called the three-minute warning. The memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were still vivid and we knew that the USSR had missiles targeted on each of our major cities. I even remember a friend designing his own nuclear shelter which he was going to build in his garden.

Thankfully those fears were never realised. Now, after the end of the Cold War, they seem a very long way away.

But we also had dreams. The 1950s and '60s were times of full employment. We also believed that science and technology could transform our society and provide for a full and happy life for everyone. I even remember the ZETA machine which promised free electricity for everyone.

There have been many advances in science, but we were mistaken in thinking that all our problems were about to be solved.

Science not only provides solutions, it also brings ever deeper moral problems. All the moral issues to do with genetics, for example, lead us into very deep waters. And full employment didn't last. During the '80s many people were thrown out of work. In this part of the world, the textile industry suffered severely and thousands of jobs were lost.

Another dream I had as a youngster was of a fair and equal society. I believed that everyone should have an equal chance in life. Sadly, although I still have the dream, it hasn't come to fulfilment. Our society now is just as unfair and unjust as it was all those years ago.

What were your hopes and fears over the last 50 years? Why not write in and share them.

Over the years I've come to believe that, whatever our human hopes and fears are, they need a deeper foundation. That foundation I can only find in God.

Michael Williams

Vicar of Bolton Parish Church.