The Prince of Wales visited a fishing boat, seafood restaurant, art show and brewery yesterday on his tour of Caithness.
Prince Charles, officially the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, wore Charles Edward Stuart tartan as he carried out various engagements before travelling to his grandmother’s Highland residence at Castle of Mey.
The prince visited Scrabster harbour first and spoke to crew members of the Boy Andrew fishing vessel, bought for £3million earlier this year and imported from Denmark, and the fifth fishing boat in the family-run Bremner fishing company since 1959.
In the afternoon, the prince attended Thurso High School to view more than 345 art exhibits, including two of his own watercolours, as part of the Caithness Society of Artists’ 82nd exhibition.
The prince then visited John O’Groats brewery which opened in December 2015 and runs from the village’s former fire station. Co-owner Simon Cottam wants to expand to a much larger facility in the next two years, ideally in the village, and employ up to 20 people.
As Mr Cottam poured his royal highness a half pint of the golden to try, the prince quipped: “I will try a tiny bit, but I don’t want to drink all of that.”
Mr Cottam said: “It’s the first time any of us have met Prince Charles. It’s brilliant he is visiting and we know the importance of Prince Charles in the local area.
“We started up because there was no craft brewing in the area and we thought someone needs to start up.
“North Coast 500 is a big thing for us at the moment. The route is bringing in a lot of tourists through John O’Groats and this is the first season we have properly been brewing. The summer has been good, but we are hoping NC500 can extend the season for us.”
Earlier in the day, the prince also spoke to the owners and staff at the Captain’s Galley seafood restaurant at Scrabster harbour, which prides itself on the sustainable sourcing of fish and is a key site on the NC 500 route.
There, co-owner and chef Jim Cowie demonstrated how his team prepared the fish and make use of every part, all of which delighted the prince who established the International Sustainability unit in 2010.
The restaurant is also a member of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, of which the prince has been a patron since 1999.
And as the prince entered and exited the restaurant yesterday, a crowd of passengers from a small cruise liner, berthed at the harbour, were left stunned.
Cruise passenger Paul Voegtle, from Illinois in the US, said his wife was on a tour of the local area while the prince was in Scrabster, and that she “would not believe” him as he had no way of taking pictures.
He added: “A local councillor (Willie Mackay) told me who was coming up the road. I said, ‘are you kidding me?’ so I just hung about to see him. I told him ‘hello from America’ as he walked by.”
After vising the Boy Andrew fishing vessel, the prince spoke with boat owner Andrew Bremner and his namesake son, who is the skipper, as well as their crew.
Malcolm Sutherland, who is a chef on board but can turn his hand to most jobs, said that the boat fishes mainly for cod and haddock and is one of two ‘white fish’ boats still operating in Caithness, compared to about 35 years ago when 32 were operating in Wick alone.
Mr Sutherland added: “I was quite amazed with him (the prince) because he pushes for fish to be sourced sustainably, which is a better way of doing things, and talks about using up all the parts of the fish as well.”
During his visit to the art exhibition at Thurso High School, the prince spoke to exhibition secretary and artist Elizabeth Lay who exhibited a painting of Duncansby Head.
She said that the prince was intrigued to know if she had painted from life or photograph, adding: “It was a bit of both.
“It was lovely to have him here. I met him when he visited the exhibition two years ago – he is always really interested in all of the artwork.”
