HRH PRINCE EDWARD CELEBRATES THE REOPENING OF NEWPORT MINSTER

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh paid a visit to the Isle of Wight yesterday (Wednesday), which included celebrating the re-opening of Newport Minister after a multi-million-pound refurbishment. Prince Edward attended a service with 400 worshippers from across the Island and beyond, to mark the completion of the final £2.6million project to finish the external restoration and refurbish its interior. The Minster now has new flooring, heating, toilets, kitchen facilities, seating and meeting rooms. The Prince has been the Royal Patron of the campaign to renew Newport Minster since it started in 2006. He was given a tour of the newly refurbished building ahead of the service, meeting some of the craftspeople, professionals, donors and volunteers who have been instrumental in ensuring the transformation happened. He was shown around by operations manager Gemma Torrington, and met 96-year-old church historian Paul Gustar, who told him about the minster’s historic pulpit. He was able to see how old pews had been woven into the fabric of the new building as they were re-purposed for other uses. He left temporarily for County Hall before returning in pouring rain once 400 worshippers had arrived in the Minster for the special service. They included local clergy, community groups, choirs, uniformed organisations, schoolchildren and congregation members. The Lord Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight and the High Sheriff were among the island dignitaries attending. Members of Girlguiding IW attended the service with the Brownies helping with the retiring collection in aid of The Minster and Community Action Isle of Wight. Prince Edward also visited Spinlock in Cowes, where he presented the company with their King’s Award for Enterprise Innovation. A number of other engagements were carried out by His Royal Highness, including meeting apprentices at Clare Lallows Boat Yard in Cowes and visiting the bottling facility at Wight Crystal in Newport.