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Emotional reunion for skipper rescued by Sea King

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A fisherman was reunited with his rescuers at the opening of a new visitor attraction honouring Moray’s heroes at the weekend.

The Morayvia Science and Technology Centre was officially launched at Kinloss on Saturday.

At pride of place in the centre is a yellow Sea King helicopter, famously flown by RAF Lossiemouth’s search and rescue teams until the fleet was decommissioned in April.

During the celebrations, Peterhead skipper Peter Bruce toured the helicopter with two of its crew – who plucked him to safety as his trawler Budding Rose sank during a gale off Aberdeen.

Mr Bruce, his twin brother Stephen and five other men were rescued by the team in 1988, which RAF winchman Bob Poutney and flight lieutenant John Prince.

Almost 30 years on, Mr Bruce relived the experience with the two former airmen from the confines of one of the iconic copters.

Mr Bruce said: “I have to say I did feel a lump in my throat when I went aboard the Sea King with Mr Prince and Mr Poutney, it took back a lot of memories of that day.

“It was great meeting them again, and I think the centre is a very fitting tribute to these men and crews like them.”

Since the rescue drama, the grateful fisherman has been a firm supporter of the RAF engineers whose expertise has helped save countless lives.

Mr Bruce threw his support behind Morayvia’s campaign to secure the Sea King Mk3 XZ592 copter from the Ministry of Defence for the base after it was decommissioned.

Morayvia chief executive Stan Barber said: “There was definitely a bit of emotion there, and it was great having those men attend the ceremony.

“We want to honour everyone involved with these machines – from the ground crew to the pilots.

“Saturday was a massive day for us, and people were given a real insight into their work.

“We want to show children that, if they work hard in school, they can have these exciting careers.”

The centre occupies the site of the former Abbeylands Primary School, and Morayvia was recently granted a rent-free lease of the land until November 2018.

Cutting the ribbon to declare the base open, Lord Lieutenant of Moray Grenville Johnstone hailed the “terrific” new venue.

He said: “This has been achieved by a really massive voluntary effort, which was led very enthusiastically.”