The visit, which came at the end of the ship's participation in the autumn Joint Maritime Course, also allowed the ship's company the chance to sample the delights of the North East as well as supporting a number of local recruiting initiatives.

The major event of the weekend was the ship's participation in the Remembrance Sunday parade in her affiliated town of Richmond, North Yorkshire. The ship's guard led the parade with the salute taken by the Mayor, Councillor Stuart Parsons, and over 30 of the ship's company attended the church service and wreath laying following the parade. A smaller contingent attended the parade and service in Newcastle itself.

Remembrance Sunday was followed by an equally busy day on board the ship. As part of an initiative by the Director Naval Recruiting, catering students from a local college assisted the ship's chefs in preparing lunch for the official reception on board, attended by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Councillor Margaret Richardson Carter.

The students, who were given full responsibility for preparing and serving the desert, were given the opportunity to experience first-hand the reality of catering on board a warship and were presented with Certificates of Achievement at the end of their day.

The initiative ties in with the 'fast-track' Chef training scheme which has now been introduced at HMS RALEIGH, allowing recruits with accredited catering qualifications to reach the operational Fleet following a significantly shorter training period.

Visits were also hosted for potential Operator Mechanic recruits, the local Sea Cadets and the Newcastle University Royal Naval Unit, with the ship embarking students from the latter for her passage back to Portsmouth.

A full sports programme was well supported by the ship's company, the highlight being the rugby match versus Richmondshire RFC, where the ship's team scored a creditable 10 points against the home side's 22.

The ship also welcomed a surprise visit from Children In Need's Pudsey Bear, who arrived on board as part of a collecting effort in the local area. Hosted by the Petty Officers' Mess, Pudsey collected from all areas of the ship, raising a considerable sum for this very deserving cause.

The ship's final day was enlivened by the urgent requirement to remove the towed array sonar in order to support another unit. Personnel from Superintendent Fleet Maintenance Clyde travelled down overnight with their equipment to assist ship's staff in off-loading the array, an unusual evolution to carry out in a commercial port.

The removal was competed in the nick of time allowing the ship to proceed as planned to her home port of Portsmouth.