Five members of the Trust had the honour to meet the King recently, when His Majesty and the Queen made a flying visit to Dedham. The King had expressed a wish to meet local volunteer “heroes”, involved in environmental projects in the region.
In recognition of RST’s achievements and ongoing work, we were honoured to be nominated and invited by Dr James Bettley, Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Essex. For security reasons, we only knew there was to be a VIP but did not know who this would be until three days before the event!
Our permitted attendance was limited but the selected few were proud to represent the RST and the time, efforts and dedication of all our volunteers, members and staff.
Unfortunately, we can’t show pictures of the King with our members as photography indoors was strictly limited but here they all are looking smart in their RST uniforms waiting in line for the big moment. Our representatives were chosen because they represented a wide spectrum of the Trust’s activities and a brief biography was required for the Palace.
Unfortunately, we can’t show pictures of the King with our members as photography indoors was strictly limited but here they all are looking smart in their RST uniforms waiting in line for the big moment.
Our representatives were chosen because they represented a wide spectrum of the Trust’s activities and a brief biography was required for the Palace. They are, left to right:
- John Kemp, led the campaign to get Designated Bathing Water Status for the River Stour at Friars Meadow, oversees our Riverfly partnership and River Health Group activities.
- Gill Boardman, involved with the Citizen Science water testing scheme, helps with social media and organising of RST activities such as RST member social events.
- Jim Lunn, our resident archivist and historian. Also, our Boat Operations Manager working hard to ensure our training programme meets the official safety standards.
- Kevin Taylor, in charge of skipper training on the lower river and part of the team that was responsible for the restoration of Dedham Lock in 2024.
- Richard Blay, leads the River Maintenance Group that is active on the lower stretch of the river with a long-term project being repairs to Flatford riverbanks that will benefit river users and walkers using the riverside footpaths.
- Emrhys Barrell, our expert for advice and sourcing equipment to maintain our fleet of environmentally friendly electric passenger boats. Unfortunately, Emrhys missed the event due to illness but deserves an honourable mention for overseeing all the necessary arrangements!