April 2007

Father Paul received a Royal invitation to a lunch at Clarence house on the 26th of April, hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales. This reception was in honour of  'unsung church heroes' - those who have made contributions of time and effort towards the upkeep and day-to-day running of their local church, and those who have tirelessly raised funds to this end with no financial or wider recognition. It was a very successful and worthwhile afternoon, in the delightful company of Prince Charles.

Fr Paul and Prince Charles chatted about the fact that the same architect, Napper of Newcastle, was used for the Prudhoe Project as the Duchess of Northumberland used for the Tree House in Alnwick Castle Gardens . Father Paul says he warmly invited Prince Charles to visit Our Lady and St Cuthbert in Prudhoe, when he is next in Northumberland, and supplied him with his recently published book, The Church that Moved. Fr Paul has recently received a ‘thank you’ letter from Clarence House for the book.

Fr Paul recounts the rest of the visit:

"After drinks, a light lunch of cottage pie, followed by pear crumble and cream was enjoyed by the guests. At 2pm Prince Charles gave his speech, in which he thanked the guests for their generosity in volunteering their time to their various restoration projects, without which much conservation of historic buildings would not take place. He also thanked us for our fund raising efforts. He told us about the previous evening, when plans had been made over dinner with church people to set up, beginning in Gloucestershire, a flying squad of vans and ladders to go around churches clearing out leaves from gutters. He remarked that this simple maintenance job could save huge repair bills down the line. He hoped this scheme would be rolled out nationwide.

"There followed a reply to the speech by Very Reverend Henry Stapleton of Carlisle, a trustee of the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, in which he thanked His Royal Highness for his generosity in inviting us into his home for lunch.

"After this the guests left Clarence House, and they were given a guided tour of the Chapel Royal of St James’ Palace by the chaplain to the Royal family."

Fr Paul