HER ROYAL Highness, the Princess Royal was the guest of honour at a celebratory dinner in Filton to mark the opening of the Concorde Hangar at a new museum.
Princess Anne, who is patron of the new Aerospace Bristol museum, attended the inaugural dinner lat Thursday to celebrate the opening of the hangar, with guests at the black tie function actually dining under the wings of the famous supersonic aircraft.
The hangar is now open for functions, including award ceremonies, exhibitions and even weddings, with the museum itself opening to the public later this year.
During her visit, Her Royal Highness toured the site and met with many of the supporters and volunteers who have played an important role in making the new museum possible.
When it opens, the museum will give visitors an immersive look into the history of aviation that has made the region famous, with the Concorde jet as the centrepiece.
Professor Iain Gray CBE, Chairman of Aerospace Bristol, said “I am most grateful to Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, for so kindly accepting our invitation to join us for the inaugural dinner under the wings of Concorde.
“I understand the Princess has an interest in science, technology and engineering and these subjects are at the heart of Aerospace Bristol.
“When the museum opens to the public later this year, our exhibition, archives and learning programmes will encourage young people to join our great industry, as the school children of today become the engineers of tomorrow.”
Aerospace Bristol volunteers have contributed the remarkable sum of more than £1million worth of their time to the project and were recently honoured with the highest award for UK volunteer groups: The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
The award was presented by The Princess Royal to Oliver Dearden and Kenneth Ricketts who represented the 150 volunteers involved.
With £2million left to raise in order to see the £19million project through to completion, Aerospace Bristol is appealing for further support to bridge the significant funding shortfall and help achieve its goals of preserving and restoring Bristol’s aviation heritage and inspiring the next generation of engineers.
Opportunities include joining the ‘Concorde Club’ by sponsoring a seat on the iconic supersonic jet, sponsoring a seat in the museum’s lecture theatre, sharing your Concorde story via a soon-to-be-launched online map, or kindly giving a donation via www.aerospacebristol.org.
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