Grass roof impresses Charles on visit to North East

The Prince of Wales was welcomed by a Northumbrian piper as he started a series of engagements in the North East.

Charles started his two-day trip to Northumberland by visiting The Sill, a national landscape discovery centre, where he was told about the range of learning and research activities carried out at the venue.

He seemed impressed by the building’s grassed roof which has been built to mimic the shapes and geology of The Great Whin Sill – a natural rock feature – saying “Ah ha, look at that”, before unveiling a plaque.

Charles met local schoolchildren at the site, which is based in the heart of Hadrian’s Wall and opened in July 2017 at a cost of £14.8 million.

He could be heard jokingly asking the youngsters whether they were going to be given lunch, and he laughed when one enthusiastically nodded in reply to his question on whether they had learnt something during their visits to the centre. He and a teacher agreed that the children seemed “well trained”.

Among the crowds was a baby holding a Union flag, with Charles saying to him: “Bed time, rest time”.

Charles also met with staff from The Sill’s 86-bed youth hostel and discussing the running of the business with them.

It was the first of six engagements in the county, with Charles going on to meet market traders from the Produced In Northumberland scheme in Hexham, before visiting the birthplace of heritage gardener Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and the Kielder Salmon Centre.

On Thursday, he will travel to the Moorland Spirit Company’s Hepple Gin distillery in Morpeth, before concluding the trip with a visit to the Alnwick Garden.