Tears and nostalgia but an overwhelming feeling of “a job well done” were among the range of emotions in evidence at last Friday’s fourth - and final - Monarch Dinner in The Ptarmigan at CairnGorm Mountain. With filming of the “last-ever” episode of the programme due to finish this Friday (22nd July), members of the cast and production team from BBC/Ecosse Films’ internationally popular “Monarch of the Glen” joined local residents from Badenoch & Strathspey to mark the end of its seven-year run - and it was also very much a case of “ a job well done” by those attending the final Monarch Dinner as it raised a commendable £14,000 for Maggie’s Highland Centre in Inverness.
Highlight of the fund-raising was a “silent auction” of several props and other items associated with “Monarch of the Glen” with bids being received from the floor and also via an online Internet auction, the first time that the latter had been tried locally. Said Ian Whitaker, CML’s Commercial Director: “Hosting a simultaneous “silent auction” via the Internet and within the building presented its own particular challenges but it was a highly successful event and generated not only a lot of interest but also a lot of money for the charity. Having done it once, we would certainly do it again as a very effective way of broadening our market base on the night.”
Among the various items in the auction, local artist Dave Fellows’ water colour of Glenbogle House (aka Arverekie House) - and signed by Monarch’s Molly - raised £400 with Steve Hill from Leicestershire successfully fighting off an Internet challenge by a bidder from Switzerland. Steve, an ardent “Monarch” fan, had travelled north specially for the event and returned south with several memorabilia, including the polished external sign from Glenbogle Courthouse! Another significant fund-raising auction item was “dinner for 10 persons at Kilwillie Castle”, courtesy of CairnGorm Mountain’s catering team, which raised an astonishing £1,000 while a signed copy of the new Harry Potter book, released later that same evening, was another popular item within the main auction.
On a night when tributes flowed, actress Susan Hampshire, who has played Molly throughout the series, offered a sincere thanks to “everyone from the area who has made the past seven years such a delightful time” while Michael Chaplin, the originating script writer, recounted some of the more hilarious escapades involving the cast and others, particularly in Laggan, Newtonmore and Kingussie, during what had been “an inspirational time for many of us in a quite magnificent setting”.
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