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King Charles III

Prince Charles tours Tebay Services during a visit to Eden

During a visit to Eden, Prince Charles toured Tebay to meet the team behind the award-winning motorway services.

The Prince was introduced to Sarah Dunning OBE, chair of Westmorland Family Limited, which owns Tebay Services. He then visited the butchery department and met with apprentices taking part in butchery training. Viewing the cheese section and cakes department, the Prince moved on to the lifestyle section to meet a local wool producer.

During the visit, he also met with members of the Dunning family, long-serving staff, and apprentices before he unveiled a plaque to commemorate his visit and the 50th anniversary of Tebay Services. Serving 4.5 million a year, Tebay Services is the only family-run service station across the nation. The service works with more than 70 producers within a 30-mile radius. The business was named Specialist Food Retailer of the Year at the Cumbria Food Awards 2022.

While out, the Prince made a visit to Hutton-in-the-Forest, the home of Lord Inglewood, who is the chairman of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership. His Royal Highness met with members of the farming community and those working to revitalise the Newton Rigg. The educational centre, which specialises in farming, gamekeeping, and horticulture, was earmarked for closure in February 2020.

Other stops throughout the day included a visit to Carlisle’s water treatment to see how ultraviolet LEDs make ripples in the field of low-energy water treatment. The technology is developed by Penrith Firm Typhon and is said to be the only of its kind that is capable of disinfecting drinking water supplies on a large scale. Tested and developed with the water company United Utilities, the site now has the world’s first-ever municipal UV LED disinfection system in operation.

Typhon CEO Matt Simpson said of His Royal Highness’s visit: “We were honoured that His Royal Highness was interested to come and learn more about this hugely important leap for UV technology in the water industry. It was wonderful to be able to share the story of how a small local firm and the local water company have worked together to take the idea all the way through from demonstration scale to a marketable industrial application right here in Cumbria.

“We explained how the process works, the challenges involved in developing such a unique disinfection solution, and the potential future benefits for the water industry globally and for high skilled employment opportunities in the North Lakes area.”

While viewing the new technology, the Prince learned of the advantages of the award-winning system and how it can help address safe access to water across the globe.

About author

My name is Sydney Zatz and I am a University of Iowa graduate. I graduated with a degree in journalism and sports studies, and a minor in sport and recreation management. A highlight of my college career was getting the chance to study abroad in London and experiencing royal history firsthand. I have a passion for royals, royal history, and journalism, which led me to want to write for Royal Central.