A row is threatening to overshadow the Princess Royal’s visit to Angus on Friday with the chairman of the group at the centre of the Year of the Light celebrations being left off the guest list for an event he and his colleagues played a major part in.
Former Arbroath Citizen of the Year Harry Simpson, who was asked almost three years ago to help co-ordinate celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the Bell Rock lighthouse, has admitted that not receiving an invitation to the reopening of the town’s Signal Tower Museum came as “a bit of a slap in the face.”
Members of the Year of the Light steering committee are said to be “astonished” by the omission from what they regard as one of the highlights of the year-long events programme particularly considering that the group was responsible for many of the ideas behind the £450,000 refurbishment scheduled to coincide with the Bell Rock-themed festivities.
Indeed, Mr Simpson spoke personally to Princess Anne, who is known for her fascination with lighthouses, several months ago and was extremely heartened by her enthusiasm for the bicentenary of the oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse in the world.
This followed the princess’s secret voyage to the lighthouse, which sits 12 miles off Arbroath, to mark the milestone.
Year of the Light steering group member Ian Lamb said that the feeling among the committee was that the initiative had been a victim of its own success-and that certain local councillors perhaps felt Mr Simpson had “enjoyed too much publicity” for the national and international interest the series of events had triggered in Arbroath.
Mr Lamb said, “I am astonished that for one of the highlights of the Year of the Light, the reopening of the refurbished Signal Tower Museum by HRH Princess Anne, no invitation has been forthcoming for the chairman of the Year of the Light steering group, Harry Simpson.”
“Working from the start in close conjunction with the council’s own local community planning team, Harry set up the steering group and has given unstintingly of his time, effort and money ever since to make the Year of the Light the undoubted success it’s continuing to prove to be.
“The community and the council have Harry’s leadership and enthusiasm to thank for this. Harry Simpson is not a well-paid councillor. He is a volunteer with the interests of his community at heart. His omission from the guest list is difficult to fathom.”
Only the group’s honorary patron David, Earl of Southesk is invited to official proceedings on Friday.
Another member of the group, David Taylor, will also be attending, but in a separate capacity as webmaster of the Bell Rock website.
Mr Lamb added that he was grateful to the local authority for its commitment to the museum’s renovation but insisted that the role played by the community should not be overlooked. A spokeswoman for Angus Council insisted that there were “space restrictions” within the museum.
She added, “We are pleased to welcome to the opening a number of guests from other organisations, in addition to those people directly involved with the refurbishment project.
“The invited guests include members of the Year of the Light committee, in particular its patron, the Earl of Southesk, and Bell Rock expert Mr David Taylor, whose antecedent Captain David Taylor was involved in its construction.
“We hope that members of the public from Arbroath, Angus and beyond will enjoy visiting the museum once it reopens to visitors on Saturday.”