Princess Anne
Fleetwood Nautical Campus has received the Royal seal of approval from Her Royal Highness, Princess Anne, as she recently visited the site to officially open brand new facilities. During her visit Her Royal Highness took the opportunity to tour the campus and speak to staff and students.
Her Royal Highness’s visit saw her officially cut the ribbon on a new £8.2m refurbishment and also tour the facilities on campus. While reviewing the facilities she was invited to watch an underwater helicopter escape training exercise in the training pool; the same exercise incidentally which Prince William had previously completed as part of his training. Her Royal Highness also viewed the latest state of the art bridge and engine room simulator equipment used by students during their training.
Blackpool & the Fylde College’s Fleetwood Nautical Campus was established in 1967 and since then has undergone many improvements, the latest being an £8.2m refurbishment. The new refurbishment has included an overhaul of the campus and its facilities, upgrades to the engine room ship simulator and a new learning centre. Fleetwood Nautical Campus boasts some of the best training facilities in the country; these include interactive, state of the art engine room and bridge simulators which allow students to experience real life situations before they ever take to the seas. The campus also has a training pool which allows anyone who will be working at sea to practice emergency procedures such as underwater escapes. The 4m deep, 18m x 14m pool can be set so realistic features such as explosions and wind are incorporated into any simulations.
On Her Royal Highness’s visit, Head of Campus, John Matthews, said: “The Royal seal of approval was the feather in the cap for the Fleetwood Nautical Campus. The Princess Royal has a nautical background and she was very interested in the developments and training programs taking place at the campus and she was very knowledgeable on the subject. I have been at the Fleetwood Nautical Campus for over 35 years now and will in fact be retiring soon; the visit from Her Royal Highness has definitely been the highlight of my time here and is testament to the success of the campus.”