Princess Anne wows community groups as Cullen rolls out the red carpet for the royal visitor
Two hard-working community groups had the chance to shine in the royal spotlight when Princess Anne came to visit today (Wednesday, April 9).
HRH Princess Anne delighted the crowds drawn from near and far today when she dropped by Cullen Community and Residential Centre before heading the short distance down the road to the Cullen, Deskford and Portknockie Heritage Centre.
There was a warm welcome for Her Royal Highness when she arrived at the community centre, with members of the local community joined by youngsters from the local primary school and Brownie pack.
A piper was on hand to provide some rousing notes as the Princess Royal made her way into the community centre.
Inside she had the chance to meet the volunteer team who run the centre - saved from closure in 2019 by the Three Kings Cullen Association (TKCA) - as well as members of the many groups who use the facility. The volunteers at the Haven play area and café, as well as the Cullen Men’s Shed on the site, were also in line for a royal visit, as were the stalls of a number of local groups.
The Princess made a huge and lasting impression on everyone she met as she took time to speak to everyone.
TKCA chairwoman Brenda Gifford said that the royal visit was a “huge honour” and recognised what the team of volunteers had achieved at the centre since taking it into community ownership from Moray Council.
She said: “We were so honoured to welcome Princess Anne here.
“We had such a wonderful, wonderful morning. She spoke to absolutely every single person, every volunteer, every member of the user groups and she has spent so much more time than we expected.
“She's so lovely and genuine, and she was very, very interested in the history of how we came together and the reasons for when action needed to be taken. She was also very interested in the volunteers we have and was encouraging us to try and get more volunteers.
“We're very lucky, though, and we’ve got some young volunteers.
“You actually lose track of how many people and how many groups there are, because they're all coming in at different times. This is why I feel today gave us such a focus on the totality of the place. That is very, very powerful.”
Mrs Gifford added that she had had the honour of meeting the Princess Royal on two previous occasions.
For BALL (Be Active Life Long) group volunteer Marlyn Hope, the visit was a chance to avail the Princess with some good, old fashioned Scottish baking.
She said: “The lady-in-waiting looked at the basket of shortbread I had and said ‘Oh, that looks nice’ so I asked her to take a bit.
“She told me ‘Princess Anne likes shortbread’ so I put four pieces in a napkin so they could have it in the afternoon.
“Princess Anne was amazing. She spoke to everybody and was so interested in what we were doing. Every group, I'm sure, felt the same.”
One of the community centre’s newest tenants is Buckie Radio, which is currently renovating an area upstairs at the centre which will soon be unveiled as their new studio.
Volunteers Pat Murray and Emma Hebden enjoyed their chance to chat with the visiting royal.
Ms Murray commented: “She was very friendly and really interested in what we were doing and how we did it.
“We told her that we're not a live radio station, everything's pre-recorded, and that our studio's also here upstairs, which is being refurbished at the moment.”
Ms Hebden noted that she can now say she has met members of the Royal Family and people from opposite ends of the country.
She explained: “I did see the Princess when she visited the Isle of Wight many, many years ago.
“I didn't get introduced to her, but she was asking about a certain boat that we had in the yard and just shouted across to me.
“It was really nice to get the chance to speak to her this time.”
Another left with a hugely favourable impression of the Princess, who is frequently called the hardest working royal, was Cullen Men’s Shed treasurer Malcolm Holt.
He said: “We were introduced and I spoke to her quite naturally; I was surprised how just natural she was.
“We talked about when the shed opened and how many people we had there and generally what sort of things we did and what we put together.
“She particularly liked one of the benches we had there and some of the bowls and things that we had on the benches.
“We actually started the men’s shed during Covid, and then the lockdown came on. There were four of us who carried on with it, really. We just did the distancing and there was big enough space in there for people to work.”
Her work at the community centre down, Princess Anne made the short trip down the road to the heritage centre, which only the other week proudly unveiled the second and final phase of a spectacular 1:200 scale model of Cullen Auld Toon as it was 200 years ago.
Welcoming Her Royal Highness was Cullen, Deskford and Portknockie Heritage Group president Brenda Wood.
She said: “It was a huge honour to welcome the Princess Royal here, a privilege.
“I think I was even nervous going to meet her, but she’s just so relaxing to speak to.
“Princess Anne was truly was interested in what we do here, it was just unbelievable how nice she was. She picked up this pair of boots on display and said, ‘Oh, they’re tackity boots’ - I never expected her to use that phrase!
“The Princess is very much, very approachable and spoke to every volunteer. The timing of the visit was just perfect coming just a week after we unveiled our model of Cullen.
“I think it’s been wonderful recognition for all the group have achieved since starting in 1991 and how much we’ve come on. When we started we didn’t have our own premises, and now we’ve got this wonderful heritage centre.”
The Princess also popped into the tourist office across the hall from the heritage centre, which is run by a team of volunteers from Discover Cullen, before rounding off her trip to Cullen with a look around the Seafield Arms Hotel and a spot of lunch.
Next on her busy itinerary was a trip to Gray Composting Service in Fordyce and the Boyndie Centre near Banff to learn more about the work of the Boyndie Partnership.
