IT'S 50 years since Miss Barbara Jean Balshaw moved into her home at Fall Birch Road, Lostock.

And yesterday Miss Balshaw, 83, threw a party for her neighbours to mark the special landmark in her life and as a way of thanking them for their help and support over the years.

Miss Balshaw moved into the house, overlooking Bolton golf course, with her parents and brother on November 8, 1945.

After the death of her parents and her brother's marriage, Miss Balshaw chose to continue living in the family home she'd grown so fond of.

Neighbours have come and gone but Miss Balshaw has remained firmly in residence and has now lived in the street longer than anyone else.

"I like having the space and there are so many family things around me that I have known all my life. I would feel hemmed in living in a small flat," she explained. "I am also blessed with very good neighbours. They do my heavy shopping for me and one man has just done my front garden and is going to do the back.

"I have been very happy here. It's a nice area and very pleasantly situated. There is no one among the residents who has been here longer than me and I believe I am the oldest inhabitant as far as age goes."

For 20 years before her retirement Miss Balshaw worked as a house-visitor for the Crippled Help Society and leads an active life.

On her 80th birthday, the neighbours organised a surprise buffet lunch - complete with birthday cake - and clubbed together to buy a present.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.