Twenty years on: the day the Prince flew in
The town turned out in force in early May to celebrate the Coronation of Charles III – but the same month saw a significant anniversary for the Trust, the town and – possibly – the King himself. Twenty years after the then Prince of Wales officially opened the newly restored West Barn, we re-publish Margaret Dobson’s entertaining account of the events leading up to the royal visit, first seen in the Autumn 2003 issue of Guardian Angel
It seems that until 23 May 2003 HRH The Prince of Wales had never been to Bradford on Avon. So for the the Preservation Trust to be the recipient of his first engagement in the town was a unique and particular honour. It looked so simple and informal on the day that no onlooker could guess the amount of planning required to achieve that effect. A brief diary of just a few of the machinations leading up to the event may therefore be interesting.
1999-2001
Following a strong suggestion that Bradford might soon have three developments worthy of a royal focus on the town - a new community hospital, a fresh town centre site at Kingston Mill and our Barton Grange Farm project - we began, with the help of Vicky Landell Mills, negotiating along these lines. What optimism! The first two sites still remain as they have been for years and it is of some considerable credit to the Trust that we have gone on to complete the third improvement to the town, which has involved the restoration of the entire farmyard area as well as the rebuilding of the West Barn.
2002
Having lost two earlier possibilities of a visit from another member of the royal family, new negotiations get under way through the initiative of Lt Gen Sir Maurice Johnston, the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire.
2003
17 January: I am given the news that HRH Prince Charles will probably be with us on 23 May. For security reasons, this has to be a very closely guarded secret until just before the event.
January-March: Many restless nights thinking through the logistics, particularly since the West Barn is not yet quite ready for the close inspection of such an august visitor. The little kitchen is still an empty shell. Can we get the information panels agreed and created in a way that is suitable for permanent display in a damp barn? Will the decorative banners (which have technical difficulties) ever be completed? When can I tell the Council of Management (CoM) what is in store? What do you tell Trust members and guests who need a decent amount of notice and usually like to know what the invitation is for?
Complications over the amount of totally secret preparation required for a very public event become more and more apparent. Send draft wording for a commemorative plaque to the Lord Lieutenant's office where it is altered, and sent on to St James's Palace where it is slightly altered again. Revised wording eventually returns by same route. But how can we get someone to make this item without giving him any of the necessary information which has to go on it?
Early March: Some more of the kitchen fittings go in. Three of the four banners go up but one quickly comes down again. Anne and Patrick Scarborough consider the topcoat for the kitchen woodwork and begin preparations. 9 March: Patrick Scarborough and I meet with Sir Maurice and his very helpful assistant clerk with preliminary questions on protocol and procedure. He will be in charge of the line of high civic dignitaries usually referred to, I discover, as "the chain gang' ». After that, "the Prince of Wales is in your hands, Mrs Dobson"
15 April: We continue to plan the information panels. I put together a proposal for the visit and begin (secretly of course) a provisional list of tasks to distribute later amongst CoM members perfecting the West Barn, banners, information panels, catering, site enhancement, liaison with tenants and neighbours, car parking, flowers, stewards, security, press photographers, etc, etc. Correspondence with St James's Palace and the LL office continues.
23 April: Meeting with HRH's Assistant Private Secretary and ten other important people from the Wiltshire constabulary (one of whom is a Chief Inspector) takes place in the West Barn. Fortunately there are four of us to slightly balance the numbers. All aspects of Palace protocol, press management and security are fully explored. The preliminary proposal for the visit is considerably amended and the entire site is scrutinised for security. The important word is "sterile". Thus it is decided HRH's helicopter will land in the Victory Field so there is a second "sterile" field to walk through before he reaches us.
Naturally St James's Palace wants written information about the Trust and biographical details on those to be presented to HRH. The draft invitation card will not do. It must not give any hint of who will be opening the
West Barn because we are not to reveal the name of our honoured guest until 9 May. Yet that is the very date by which St James's Palace wants a list of all invited guests so that every name can be vetted for security. Picture the problems! Every communication to anyone regarding 23 May (e.g. letters to those to be presented, invited guests, Trust members, press releases) must first be sent to the Lord Lieutenant's office, thence to St James's Palace for clearance, returned to the LL and then back to me.
Timing suddenly becomes very difficult and outside our control.
26 April: A very strangely worded card is sent out at great haste to some 65 people so that we will have a list of acceptances to give to the Palace on 9 May.
28 April -6 May: More and more meetings, some on site, some sorting out protocol and security in even greater detail with LE's Clerk and Set Bob Young. Although the very few so far involved can only talk about it in hushed whispers, frantic work continues on guest list, banners, information panels and on the West Barn. Anne and Patrick Scarborough continue painting the kitchen.
7 May: List of those to be presented is finalised. But the draft letters to all concerned have still not been returned from St James's Palace. Chris Penny is continuing to have further meetings on the security issue.
8 May: At the CoM monthly meeting I can finally announce the visit and give out details of all the tasks for what now seems a mammoth operation.
9 May: after several telephone calls the various letters which had been sent for vetting to St James's Palace are returned by e-mail. Every draft letter has been slightly altered. But now at least we can start the process of writing them out and arranging hand delivery to all local Trust members.
10 May: Another amended timetable from St James's Palace. Everything has now been put forward by fifteen minutes. The plaque must be in an open space where the public can see it. Does anyone have an easel?
14 May: Someone tells me a royal visit is "great fun". I consider this comment carefully while scouring Bath for a suitable Visitors' Book for the occasion. W H Smith does not stock such things and the salesgirl does not know what one is.
15 May: Long meeting at the West Barn re: how the Barn will look for the visit. It must be empty of tables and chairs while the Prince is there, but completely furnished for a Reception Tea for 65 guests immediately he has departed. A refrigerated van will have to be housed unobtrusively somewhere very close at hand. We rehearse arrangements for stewards and the press, and plan outside seating for invited guests and Trust members. I totter home to write g complicated sheet of information for everyone involved. 16 May: Meet the Wiltshire Times reporter at the West Barn. Spend about an hour and a half showing her the barn and the entire project site, as well as talking about the Preservation Trust, in the full expectation of considerable Trust publicity to follow. Nothing comes of it.
18 May: Heavy rain.
19 May: Heavy rain.
20 May: Dull grey cloud interspersed with heavy rain. 21 May: Everyone will have to be at the site at least 30 minutes before HRH arrives... in heavy rain??? Chris and Monica Penny with Patrick and Anne Scarborough finish hand scrubbing every inch of the West Barn floor and declare they have enjoyed it.
22 May: Detailed rehearsal. The beautiful flower arrangement is put in place in the West Barn. We decide to appropriate the Tithe Barn for members and guests if this rain continues tomorrow. All the narrowboats moored near to the Tithe Barn are moved away to keep the canal towpath area clear and easy to police.
23 May: The West Barn is inspected yet again and pronounced to be "sterile". Patrick has borrowed attractive white pillars and chains for "crowd control" on the grass and the entire site looks marvellous. Pound Lane is closed for the day and other access points are closed at 1.15. The Prince's helicopter is due at 1.40.
Daphne Hancock has inspected memberships and invitation cards and everyone is in place. At 1.30 the sun comes out.
This is only a brief resumé of some of what went on from my point of view: Patrick Scarborough, Chris Penny and others could write their own versions of the several months before the event.
After all the fuss, the visit itself seemed to go well. Prince Charles met a great many people during the course of his forty-five minutes with us, shaking hands with the nine people chosen to represent all aspects of the project, and talking to some of our own members, as well as many members of the public. Each person received his full attention. His interest in the Barton Grange Project and the West Barn was unmistakably genuine. The heavy security did not show much, the sun shone briefly, and a casual observer might have said that the Prince appeared to saunter in, saunter round and saunter off.
We discovered later he had already held an investiture at Buckingham Palace in the morning, before flying down to Bradford. After us, he went on to Bradford Wharf to open its new shop before his helicopter flight along the Kennet & Avon Canal to Devizes for further duties and celebrations.
We felt that the Prince of Wales had enjoyed his time with us. It was a happy and welcoming crowd and, being in the unusual position of walking close to him, the wave of interest and pleasure at meeting him seemed to me to be very genuine. This must be sustaining to a man who is so often the recipient of less that pleasant media attention. I liked the way he pulled the large red cloth off the plaque and waved it above his head in a gesture of princely abandon. We all worked very hard - but it was worth it.
