Visit by His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester to Herefordshire
13/11/2013
By 2013 Bob Tabor
Bob and Bea were privileged to have been in attendance during the visit to Herefordshire of His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester on Wednesday 30th October 2013. Escorting His Royal Highness was HM Lord-Lieutenant of Herefordshire, The Countess of Darnley JP.
The visit began with a trip to ETL Systems Ltd in Madley where guests were greeted by Managing Director Ian Hilditch who gave a short presentation about the company. Guests were then given a guided tour of the facility by the Associate Production and Ops Director Mo Arbabi followed by a demonstration of the C1 Automated PCB Line where they met some of the management and staff. Finally, Ian Hilditch handed over to Jesse Norman MP and His Royal Highness presented the Queen’s Award to Mr Hilditch and to Dr Esen Bayar, Technical Director.
The party then moved off to Lower Blakemere Farm, Blakemere, the home of Wiggly Wigglers and Wiggly Cut Flowers, run by Heather and Phil Gorringe. Lady Darnley handed over to the Chair of Herefordshire CLA, Mrs Jo Hitditch DL. Mrs Hilditch then presented Heather and Phil Gorringe as well as representatives from the Herefordshire farming community to His Royal Highness. His Royal Highness was then presented to representatives from the group who contributed to the “Made in Herefordshire Recipe Book”. This book showcases the best of Herefordshire produce with delicious recipes. His Royal Highness then sampled some of the recipes from the book. At the end of the visit Mrs Hilditch thanked His Royal Highness and asked him to cut the cake which she pointed out was half the original size as one of the farm dogs had eaten the other half just before his arrival! This caused great hilarity and everyone was given a small sample of the remaining cake. Mrs Hilditch then presented His Royal Highness with a Herefordshire hamper and a copy of the recipe book.
