96-year-old from Cornwall honoured for work in singing at local memory cafe
Pat Plumbridge from Newlyn says she will never forget meeting Princess Anne
Last updated 31st Dec 2021
A pensioner who went to Windsor Castle to receive her MBE from Princess Anne says she will “never forget” the experience.
Pat Plumbridge was named in the Queen's Birthday honours list in 2020 for her services to the community in Newlyn.
The 96-year-old was honoured for her work in singing at the local memory cafe to help dementia patients.
Pat is well known in Newlyn having been the former landlady of The Fisherman’s Arms in Newlyn and has lived next door to the pub for six decades.
She was rescued from her home when the pub was devastated in a fire in 2019 and she lost everything.
Last month Pat made the trip to Windsor Castle to receive her honour: "It was fantastic – I have never seen anything like it, it was out of this world".
She added: "I was all done up to the nines, most of the people there were demurely dressed but I was not like that at all. I was in my element as I am used to crowds, with singing on the stage and things".
Pat said she was amazed by the chandeliers and furnishings which she saw as she waited to meet her royal host. "I will never forget it", she said.
She said she waited patiently and then: "It was my turn and they said Patricia Plumbridge of Newlyn – everyone else was announced by the county they were from but for me they said Newlyn.
"Princess Anne was lovely, she said she knew Newlyn and she told me I was lucky to live there and said it is a lovely place to live. She mentioned the pub as well – it was just a lovely personal touch, I thought it was lovely".
And the sprightly pensioner added: "I am 96 and Princess Anne didn't think I was 96".
Pat said that she was delighted to have been honoured for her community work: "Until covid I sang for five years at the memory cafe, it used to jog people's memories. I used to love doing it".