PHOTO: Amelia Wright (Deputy Lieutenant Mark Dowie CBE DL pictured right)
On Wednesday 28th August, Deputy Lieutenant Mark Dowie CBE DL attended the opening ceremony for the 179th Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta. In attendance was also the High Sheriff of Devon, Commodore Jake Moores OBE DL.
PHOTO: Amelia Wright
Mr Dowie paraded behind the Combined Band of the SW Area Sea Cadets to the Opening Ceremony on the Bandstand. Following this, Mark then took the salute during the Sunset Ceremony and Beating Retreat by Sea Cadets on the South Embankment.
PHOTO: Amelia Wright (Deputy Lieutenant Mark Dowie CBE DL pictured right)
In 1856 Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales were sailing along the Channel in a flotilla of nine boats, when bad weather drove them into Dartmouth to seek shelter. This unscheduled stop came the day before the 1856 Regatta, on August 11th. Queen Victoria donated £25 and Prince Albert gave £20 for three rowing races, to be competed for by the sailors of Dartmouth, and the races took place on the second day of the Regatta. The following day, Queen Victoria and her entourage set sail for Plymouth, but before she left, she bestowed the title of “Royal” on the Regatta.