Burnham-On-Sea will host its first Royal visitor for 14 years today (Friday, April 24th) when Prince Edward visits the town’s rescue hovercraft charity.
The Earl Of Wessex will visit the seafront headquarters of BARB to mark the fifth anniversary of the Spirit Of Lelaina hovercraft going into service.
Princess Alexendra was the last Royal family member to visit the town back in 1995 to open the Princess Hall.
The Earl Of Wessex will be met by a group of civic dignitaries, including Burnham-On-Sea’s Mayor Cllr Peter Burridge-Clayton and Mayoress Jo Burridge-Clayton, plus Sedgemoor District Council’s Chairman Cllr Dennis Davey on his arrival at just before 3pm.
A group of over 100 local schoolchildren will cheer on the special guest on his arrival outside the hovercraft station.
The Prince will be invited into the hovercraft station by BARB’s President Neville Jones and Chairman Mark Newman, where he will meet volunteer crewmembers and hear about the work of The Spirit Of Lelaina hovercraft, which is named after five-year-old Lelaina Hall who died on the mudflats in 2002.
The Earl will also visit Burnham Coastguards in the building next door, where he will hear about the positive impact the hovercrafts have had in speeding up rescues on the mudflats.
And after unveiling a plaque outside the hovercraft station, he will then walk onto the seafront to watch a training exercise involving BARB’s second hovercraft, The Light Of Elizabeth.
RELATED LINKS:
Burnham-On-Sea Hovercraft Web site
