Royal Entourage Flocks to Bradford

Royal entourage flocks to Bradford

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales will visit Bradford next Tuesday (23 November) to throw his royal weight behind the industry which made the city great.

The Prince is spearheading the Campaign for Wool and will see for himself a range of fabrics and yarns spun and woven in the Bradford district which will be on display in Bradford Council's banqueting hall.

A choir and dancers from Allerton Primary School, Bradford, and a soul band from Beckfoot School in Bingley will greet His Royal Highness when he arrives in Centenary Square on Tuesday. The schoolchildren's dance is entitled The Threads of Life to join in with the celebration of the wool industry and National Interfaith Week where the threads represent the six major faiths.

Meanwhile, a flock of real sheep will graze in a turfed pen in the square to highlight what the campaign is all about.

The Prince will be met and accompanied through City Hall by the Lord Mayor, Coun Peter Hill. He will also meet the district's main political leaders, Council leader Coun Ian Greenwood and Couns Anne Hawkesworth, Jeannette Sunderland and Martin Love and Bradford Council's Chief Executive Tony Reeves.

The Lord Mayor said: "I'm delighted His Royal Highness is coming to Bradford and I hope people will come down to Centenary Square to see him, see the sheep, enjoy the celebration and give His Royal Highness a real Yorkshire welcome."

The Prince will be met off the Royal train by the Lord-Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Dr Ingrid Roscoe and the County's High Sheriff, Mr Richard Clough.

After meeting local representatives of the wool industry and Bradford Chamber of Commerce in City Hall, the Prince will visit the Haworth Scouring Company, Bulmer & Lumb and the British Wool Marketing Board.

Peter Ackroyd of the Woolmark Company and member of the Campaign for Wool Steering Committee said: "His Royal Highness is looking forward to coming to Bradford to promote wool. He is passionate about the wonderful natural fibre.

"We are bringing sheep into the heart of the city centre so he can see the whole process from the sheep in the field, work in action in the mills and the fabrics and yarns displayed in City Hall which are then made up and exported thoughout the world.

"The sheep were a real hit when we turfed 1,000 metres of London's Saville Row last month (October) to launch Wool Week."

The Campaign for Wool is a coalition of industry groups convened by HRH the Prince of Wales, to educate consumers about the benefits of choosing wool and highlight its premium quality.