Prince Charles meets far north beach cleaning group
One young volunteer was keen to show his enthusiasm, but almost "whacked" His Royal Highness with a litter picker
Last updated 29th Jul 2021
A kilted Prince of Wales met with volunteer beach cleaners as he began a visit to the north of Scotland.
Charles met with volunteers at Scrabster Beach in Caithness on the northern tip of the United Kingdom on Thursday.
He will take part in several engagements in the town of Thurso during his visit to Scotland, where he is known as the Duke of Rothesay.
Wearing a kilt in Rothesay tartan, Charles met with Dorcas and Allan Sinclair, founders of the Caithness Beach Clean Group.
They showed the prince some of the objects they have collected from the more than 3,500 beach cleans carried out since the group was founded in 2019.
The objects included a coaxial cable which Ms Sinclair told the Prince they were holding on to in case they could find someone to use it.
Charles joked with the media covering the visit: "You don't need any coaxial cables, do you?''
Ms Sinclair, 64, said the group had picked up more than 31 tonnes of plastic since they started.
"We find horrible things like syringes, needles and even a gas mask,'' she said.
"Recently we found a giant buoy, one of the cleaners got a tiny leather child's shoe that is absolutely ancient.
"There's also lots of pants, would you believe? So many people find men's pants - only men's, never women's - and we talk about having a 'pantometer' because there's a running joke about who finds the most pants
Young volunteer keen to show enthusiasm
Charles met with various volunteers, including one little boy who was keen to show the Prince of Wales is litter-picking skills.
His mum, Jill Innes, explained how her son almost got carried away with the equipment.
She said: "Zachary wanted picked up, he’s only three, but he managed to pull up his litter picker and almost whacked Prince Charles right in the face with it.
"By accident of course, I was a bit embarrassed.
"I'm hoping Zachary doesn’t get into massive trouble with the Royals!”
"Unorthodox start to work"
The heir to the throne later visited DS McGregor & Partners veterinary surgery in Thurso.
The practice treats both large and small animals, including household pets, equine and farm animals, and featured in The Highland Vet TV series.
Charles was taken into a consulting room where he met Maisie, one of the vets' dogs.
He was welcomed by senior vet and director Guy Gordon, who introduced him to his team, including Katie Reiss, 22, who only started work on Monday.
Ms Reiss said: "It's an unorthodox start to work! We spoke about my training at Edinburgh University and chatting about how the vets have been really helpful integrating me into work.
"He Charles said to stick at it and not lose hope because I have wanted to be a vet since I was a wee kid.''
Charles last travelled to Caithness in 2019 when he visited a wind farm and whisky distillery.