News
HRH visits a fishing community and launches the third part of the North Highland Initiative
30th July 2007
The Prince of Wales visited a fishing community and launched the third part of the North Highland Initiative in Scotland today.
Known as The Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, The Prince first joined locals in the village of Scrabster, Caithness, to mark the 50th anniversary of its fishermen's mission.
The Prince, who was dressed in a Rothesay tartan kilt, met people involved with the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen.
It provides a 24-hour emergency rescue service and support for the tight-knit fishing community.
His Royal Highness also spoke with families of fishermen who lost their lives at sea between 1965 and 2005.
In the harbour he was shown a fishing vessel and discussed the state of the industry with its skipper.
Unveiling a commemorative plaque, The Prince praised the mission for its "wonderful work".
He added: "In particular I want to congratulate all those who play such an important part in bringing comfort and help and assistance and, above all, understanding to all those people who have so tragically suffered these appalling disasters with their loved ones at sea."
The Prince is staying at nearby Castle of Mey, the former home of The Queen Mother.
Later The Prince attended the Society of Caithness Artists 71st annual exhibition held at Thurso High School. The exhibition included two of His Royal Highness’s own watercolours.
The Prince then travelled to the village of Castletown to announce the third and final part of his North Highland Initiative (NHI).
The NHI is aimed at supporting the rural communities of the North Highlands through produce, tourism and built heritage. The previous two parts involved the creation of a food and drink brand called Mey Selections and the launch of a tourism brand called Pleasure in the Extreme.
Today The Prince announced details of the NHI’s Built Environment Programme which involves The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment and The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, to help breathe new life into the North Highlands’ valuable built heritage of historic buildings, and to find new uses for those that are now redundant.
The Prince was attending the The Prince’s Foundation’s ‘Enquiry by Design’ workshop at Castletown, the location of the first joint project under the programme.
At the workshop, members of the local community and those representing the council and other key interests discussed ways to develop the area and worked up outline proposals for enhancing the quality, character and sustainability of contemporary building development and embracing the potential of buildings not currently in use.
'Enquiry by Design' is part of the The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment’s unique collaborative approach to planning and is aimed at producing a long-term masterplan for Castletown and Castlehill’s regeneration.
Addressing the audience at the reception in Castletown, The Prince said: "My Regeneration Trust will be working collaboratively here and elsewhere in the North Highlands as part of the Built Environment Programme to help find viable new uses for key heritage buildings and to raise partnership funding to bring about their restoration.
“Previous generations of the North Highlands have entrusted us with a rich built legacy, and even up until the 1950s the local authority housing was above the national average in its incorporation of local materials and some considered details.
“The same, alas, cannot often be said of more recent developments. Over the last 50 years, development has, in the main, generally been piecemeal and timeless principles for the way people built places across the centuries have been abandoned.
“As with other places across the UK, it could be argued that the use of the car, to the detriment of the environment as we are learning, has been put before the comfort of the pedestrian.
“It seems to me, if I may say so, that we must find ways of tackling this and whilst I am on the subject I feel that we can find ways to ensure that there is less separation between social housing and private residences, and that we can try to overcome some of the disconnections which have, in some cases, resulted in work, shopping, education and health services becoming rather too distant from the places where people live.”
"I hope that the plan produced will succeed in uniting past, present and future and become a model for the entire region and beyond," said The Prince.
Click here to read The Prince's speech.