THE Earl of Wessex visited Farnham Castle on Tuesday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the world renowned intercultural training centre at the 12th century castle. During the visit, he toured the recently completed major conservation project at the castle which has largely been funded by a £1 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project has covered repairs to the historic fabric and appearance of the buildings as well as improvements to public areas. The visit coincided with a special briefing on Chinese culture and etiquette for the Regional Co- ordinator Team of the South East Partnership for the 2012 Olympic Games, who are shortly to travel to Beijing to see what can be learnt from the running of this summer's games with a view to planning for the London Olympics in 2012. Jeff Toms, director of marketing and client services, said the castle was delighted that Prince Edward's visit marked such a key year in the history of Farnham Castle. "It will also help to highlight some of the important work our intercultural trainers undertake to assist in recognising and respecting diversity and cultural differences in order to manage cross-cultural integration more successfully around the world." During his visit, Prince Edward spoke to staff, local dignitaries and some of those who actually worked on the restoration project, in addition to meeting the mayors of Farnham and Waverley and the head of Farnham Castle's advisory board, Baroness Virginia Bottomley. The earl admired a plaque designed to give visitors to the Castle an overview of the historic building. "Prince Edward's visit underscored the importance of Farnham Castle's heritage as both an historic building and our work in improving international understanding. It is also an important asset which benefits everyone who lives and works in Farnham," continued Jeff Toms. "At present, we are trying to secure a further HLF grant which, with the agreement of English Heritage, would allow us to open the Castle Keep to the public almost every day of the year for free - it is currently only open on a very limited basis – and hope some of the positive interested generated by the royal visit will go some way towards helping us to secure this further funding." The earl, who went from the castle to Puttenham Golf Club to commemorate the 150th anniversary of a visit by Queen Victoria, was earlier welcomed to lunch at the Old Court House by Herald proprietor Sir Ray Tindle. "It was an honour for Tindle Newspapers and we much enjoyed showing him the 1904 Speedwell," said Sir Ray, a well-known veteran car enthusiast. Prince Edward, who was accompanied by the Deputy Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Gordon Lee- Steere, was introduced to staff members Wendy Craig, Sue Yates, Gerry McEwan and Kathy Day.
