A COMMEMORATIVE book, street parties and a beacon on top of Otley Chevin look set to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

Bramhope wants to run a week long festival and in Horsforth, ideas include a Jubilee Clock and celebrations at Horsforth Hall Park.

Otley hopes to update a book on the town first published in the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.

Otley Past, Present and Future told the history of the town and its hopes for the future. And it is hoped that the updated version will be as popular as the first.

John Morgan, who wrote the original book in just three months, said it would be a big job to update the new book.

"I wrote the last one in about three months, I just sat down and wrote about everything I knew about, but this one will be a lot harder."

He said the book was unique in that it brought the history of the town right up to the present day. It also included details about services, businesses and organisations.

"It showed the evolution of the town and there was also a big section on the last 25 years taken from the papers."

Mr Morgan added major events such as Otley Carnival and the Victorian Fayre had started since 1977 - and they too would all have to be included in the new book.

In Hawksworth, residents are planning celebrations centred around the village's methodist church.

Councillor Graham Latty (Con, Aireborough) said villagers were looking into applying for jubilee grants to have work carried out at the church.

He said work would need to be done on the church so it would comply with the Disability Discrimination Act, due to come into force in 2004.

Leeds City Council will shortly decide how it is going to mark the Golden Jubilee - but at the start of the millennium and for the queen's silver jubilee in 1977 it handed out free mugs to all schoolchildren.

To mark the queen's silver jubilee in 1977, many houses, shops and businesses were decorated with patriotic red, white and blue bunting.

In Otley, a team of runners carried a lighted torch up the Chevin to set light to a 40 ton 'Armada' Beacon which formed a chain across the country.

On jubilee day itself, more than 20 street parties took place in the town while Otley as a whole marked the event the day before with a street carnival and gala.

The museum marked the occasion by staging an exhibition of 90 years of Royal memorabilia.

In Menston, the village thespians staged a play called Jubilee, there was an art exhibition and a procession and fayre at Kirklands Community Centre.

The village also re-released an updated version of The Menston Story - first published in 1952 for the Queen's coronation.

Pool-in-Wharfedale people held a procession and the village's jubilee queen planted a British Oak.

Leeds City Council gave out commemorative mugs to all schoolchildren, while Bradford Council made a £50 donation to each school, plus 20p for each child, for the schools to plan their own celebrations.

l What do you have planned for the jubilee? Let Lesley Tate know on (01943) 465555.