THE Duke and Duchess of Bedford visited Kelly College to open Russell House on Saturday ? in what was their first public engagement since taking their new titles.

However, the Duke and Duchess are no strangers to Tavistock, having borne the titles of Marquis and Marchioness of Tavistock until the death of the 13th Duke earlier this month.

The couple opened Russell House ? their family name ? which recognises the generous gift of the land on which the college was built by the eighth Duke in 1874.

This gift had not been marked by any memorial stone or in the name of any building at the college.

The special guests were delighted to have been able to be present and the Duke and Duchess were shown the original conveyance of the 20 acres from the eighth Duke to the original trustees of Kelly College.

The Duke and Duchess unveiled a stone which commemorates the opening of Russell House, a mixed day centre for 70 pupils.

The couple also attended the special service of commemoration for the 125th anniversary of the opening of the college in 1877.

The congregation included representatives of the many groups who have been associated with the college since its foundation.

There were members of the Kelly family, descendants of foundationers and members of Newton College ? which merged with Kelly in 1940.

There were also representatives of HMS Conway ? whose old boys include Iain Duncan Smith and Clive Woodward ? the name the college took on after the Merchant Navy training school?s closure in 1974.

The guest list was completed by past and present members of the governing body, Old Kelleians, former

teachers and members of the present school community.

The sermon was preached by the Bishop of Plymouth, the Rt Rev John Garton, who also blessed Russell House.

The service included the performance of Nisi Dominus by Kelly?s director of music, Andrew Wilson.

This piece was specially commissioned for the service and was sung by the college choir with Naomi Ward singing the solo.

It was a particularly busy and prestigious weekend for Kelly College. On Friday West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett was invited to open the new ICT Centre.

The new centre is in the two classrooms adjacent to the school library.

It consists of two state-of-the-art ICT labs and office space on a newly constructed mezzanine floor for the technicians and network manager.

Mr Burnett spent some time talking with pupils about the importance of ICT in the world today.

In his opening speech he spoke of his hope to bring broadband to Tavistock ? see story page 3.