We were honoured to receive what was really a private visit by HRH The Duke of Gloucester to the Station during the afternoon of Thursday 3rd October. The Duke is the Patron of Northamptonshire Museums and Historic Houses Forum and it was through this that he had been made aware of the Museum's existence. In fact it was at last year’s ceremony when we were presented with the Peoples’ Choice Award for 2012.
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The Duke on the station platform with the Mayor and dignitaries
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The Duke had been in Northampton in the morning and had left there earlier than was expected and so it was panic stations when we learnt that he was only a few minutes away and he would be just under half an hour early. The weather at this time wasn’t being particularly kind to us so on arrival at the Station he was quickly introduced to Councillor Pam Whiting, the Chair of ENC, Councillor David Jenney, the Mayor of Rushden and myself, by Lady Juliet Townsend, the Lord - Lieutenant for the County. Other guests we had invited included members of Rushden Town Council, Higham Ferrers Town Council, East Northamptonshire Council and Northamptonshire County Council, who were already in the carriage keeping dry.
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l-r: John Sugars with The Duke and Andy West, inside the museum
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After the introductions I led the Duke into the Museum rooms via the parcels office, ticket office, which of course now houses the shop and then into the waiting room. We had set up display boards showing the History of the Society, the Cavalcade, the History of the Branch Line, the work that was required to set up the railway and finally our future aspirations for the Museum which included working towards gaining Accredited Status.
At the Cavalcade board Richard Woodcock presented the Duke with a plaque and programme and in the shop Sandra gave him a fridge magnet in the form of a Rushden Station totem. After partaking of a hurried unplanned snack in the Bar he then met the train crew before taking the train for a ride towards Higham Ferrers. The Duke is a keen supporter of heritage railways and was very interested in the stock that we have and also the position of motorman at the end of the carriage.
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Dale West (right) presents the Duke with
a book as John Sugars looks on.
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He then made his planned visit to the Bar where Simon and Richard told him about our CAMRA successes and why the Bar had originally come about.
Once outside again I thanked the Duke for making the time to visit us and after Dale West had presented him with a copy of ‘Five Minutes Late’ he unveiled a plaque to commemorate his visit. Following his departure we entertained our other guests to afternoon tea and we were able to relax.
A lot of hard work was done to prepare for the visit in a very short time and then the afternoon was quickly over; but once again we had the opportunity to show what the members of the Society have achieved and what plans we have for the future.
John Sugars
Chairman
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