Worksop man dishes up cheese and leek pie for the Queen!

Mark Cummins, facilities manager at Kier Group, was in charge of making sure the Queen’s taste buds were tingling when she visited Sheffield for Maundy Thursday.

Accompanied by her husband, The Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen attended a service at Sheffield Cathedral, where she handed out the traditional Maundy money.

The Queen, who turns 89 this year on 21st April, presented money to 89 men and 89 women at the service on Thursday 2nd April – the selection was co-ordinated by the Diocese of Sheffield.

Mark, who used to live in Bracebridge, Worksop, said: “Everything went really well, it all happened so quickly.”

“I was in charge of catering and security on the day.”

“The Queen had a cheese and potato tart, chicken and leek pie and Queen of puddings. We submitted five menus to her beforehand for her to choose from.”

“After the meal she said ‘I guess you’ve been busy’ and asked if we serve lunches to people in Sheffield.”

Thousands of people lined the street from as early as 5am to get the best possible view of the Queen.

Mark, who has helped serve food to the Queen on her two previous visits to Sheffield, in 1991 and 2003, said it was a proud moment to be part of such a prestigious event.

“The whole place looked wonderful,” Mark added.

“There was a bit of apprehension but we are always cooking to deadlines, just this time it was the Queen!”

“It was very stressful but everything went okay.”

Mark’s mum said that his late dad Jimmy would have been ‘over the moon’.

“His dad would have been very proud of him,” she said.

“I watched it on the news.”

“His auntie says he will be on first term names with the Queen soon! It’s an achievement, he is a wonderful son.”