A Princess Remembered by Neville Dunn. Fig. 1.: Neville Dunn's unsigned copy of commemmorative card for Princess Diana when she officially opened Marleyfield House"
Marleyfield House, Nant Mawr Road, Buckley
26 November 1982
Enries 96.79 - 82 cover the article. Enter A Princess Remembered in the Caption or Reminiscence sections.
To see all the entries relating to Princess Diana's visit to Marleyfield, search in the date field for: 26.11.1982
Fig. 1. for "A Princess Remembered"
CAPTION
Fig.1 Unsigned copy of my commemorative card for Princess Diana. The top coat of arms is personal to her as it uses both the Royal coat of arms and that of the Spencer family. The bottom one was that for Clwyd County Council until is was split into four counties in 1997.
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CERTIFICATE TEXT
Marleyfield House
officially opened by
H.R.H. The Princess of Wales
26 November 1982
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A PRINCESS REMEMBERED by Neville Dunn
Watching the Wembley Stadium concert organized yesterday, 1 July 2007, by the Royal Princes William and Harry to honour the 46th birthday of their mother, Princess Diana, Princess of Wales, triggered off for me a memory of the Princess from my past.
In my surveying and architectural career with Flintshire, Cheshire and Clwyd County Councils lasting from March 1947 to July 1985, I prepared well over one thousand design drawings most of which were drawn by hand but quite a number of the later ones were drawn automatically by a computer draughting system CARBS that was developed in my research and development section. Then from 1986 to 2001, while running my own legal surveying business, I prepared another two thousand or more property plans all by hand that are housed in people's deeds scattered from Anglesey to Shropshire and Merioneth to Lancashire. Of all these thousands of drawings though, there is one simple one from 1982 of which I am most proud.
On 26th November 1982, the Prince and Princess of Wales were scheduled to visit North East Wales. Prince Charles was to visit the new Titanium plant at Deeside while Princess Diana was to come to Buckley for the Official Opening of Clwyd County Council's new residential home for the elderly, Marleyfield House in Nant Mawr Road. The County Architect, Mr Jim Denley, asked me to design and draw commemorative cards for the two visitors to sign after they had unveiled plaques. For Prince Charles I used his version of the standard Royal Coat of Arms while for Princess Diana I used her more complicated coat of arms which incorporated both the Royal Coat of Arms and that of the Spencer family and delivered the unsigned copies on time (see Fig.1 image of this entry).
The day went well for both parties and I was pleased later to see the signed version of my work which I was of course not allowed to copy but which currently hangs on the wall of the residential part of Marleyfield House with a portrait of the Princess (see Fig.2 - 96.80). What also pleased my family was the fact that my mother Florrie Dunn was a resident at Marleyfield House in 1982 (see Fig.3 - 96.81). She was 88 years old at the time but thoroughly enjoyed her stay at Marleyfield House with both residents and staff that she knew. It is said that she did not always get on with the lady residents but was quite happy with all of the men! In 1984 she had a stroke which made a move to Dob's Hill Hospital necessary where she died in 1986 aged 92 years.
In the 1970's and early 1980's I was a chorister in the Llwynegrin Singers choir from Mold and also a bass singer in a barbershop group called The Authentics (see Fig.4 - 96.82). We regularly entertained elderly residents in the County's residential homes and patients in Mold Hospital, who readily joined in with the Edwardian music hall songs that we sang. I believe we came to Marleyfield House once.
Author: Dunn, Neville
Tags
Year = 1982
Month = November
Day = 26
Building = Other
Document = Certificate
Event = Historic
Gender = Female
People = Single
Extra = 1980s
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