June
June began with a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace hosted for the first time by HRH Prince Charles. Despite a forecast for rain the weather was superb and the setting and event more than matched it. Sipping tea on the steps of the Palace standing next to the Prime Minister was a little surreal to say the least. The most interesting part of the day was meeting people from a wide range of backgrounds, many with incredible stories to tell. The whole event ran extremely smoothly and was a great experience.
The Mistresses’ visit to the V & A followed the next day and the Father of the Company and myself joined the Ladies for lunch at the Alderman’s Dining Room in Guildhall. Mark Groves provided us with splendid fare and the event proved most enjoyable and convivial.
On Friday 8th the Mistress and I embarked on the Livery’s Ironbridge weekend travelling via Bristol to attend Liveryman Eric Maxwell’s funeral. It was a poignant occasion as Eric and I joined the Tykers and Bricklayers on the same day. Despite only having been at Ironbridge for the Craft Visit in May, we only visited two sites we had viewed in May. One of these was the Jackfield Tile Museum and it was very pleasing to receive much positive comment about our involvement with the museum and Craven Dunnill had also put various T&B plaques and awards on show.
Of the 110 City Livery Companies some 93 Masters were present together with the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs who arrived on Saturday after Trooping the Colour, and whose consorts returned to London on Sunday morning for the march to celebrate the centenary of female suffrage. The pace of our visit was only marginally slower as we took in 5 museums, two dinners and a lunch in the space of 36 hours. After that it was off to Newcastle to collect Jack before heading back to Southwold on Monday.
The following week centred around the Court Meeting and Masters’ and Clerks’ Luncheon at which we were honoured by the presence of Sheriff Neil Retcliffe who commented that this was one of his most enjoyable events and that he was impressed with the friendliness of the T&Bs and the quality of the food and wine. Indeed I have received many similar comments from visiting Masters and Clerks so congratulations and thanks to all involved in putting on this event and indeed to all those present for contributing to such a successful event.
Next day the Wine Committee met for its annual business meeting although we still enjoyed a most convivial lunch at the Pig and Goose in the Strand where we tasted some interesting new wines several of which have been added to our list.
The ensuing days were spent finalising the Master’s visit to Southwold on 20th and 21st June when 36 Liverymen and consorts joined us on the East Coast. The weather was kind and on the first day we enjoyed crazy golf and afternoon tea with a talk by Nick Haward on the challenges of building Southwold Pier. This was followed by a reception and dinner at a local café/restaurant.
The next day saw an intrepid 12 take to the sea aboard the Coastal Voyager – a high speed rib. All returned safely and relatively dry despite Past Master Ian Mitchell -Grimshaw taking the helm for part of the tour! There then followed a choice of a Brewery or Distillery tour and tasting at Adnams’ Brewery in the heart of the town with lunch and drinks available at the Master’s Beach Hut.
After these rigours the party reconvened at the Electric Picture Palace for a screening of Michael Palin’s East of Ipswich. The Picture Palace is an authentic replica of a 1920s cinema including a Wurlitzer Organ rising from below the stage! That evening the party met at the Crown for an excellent dinner with a wine tasting before all departed for home on Friday save for the Charity Trustees who held their annual meeting.
All seemed to have enjoyed the visit and many in the Town commented on how much they enjoyed meeting the T&Bs.
After a weekend of some recovery (Satruday marked the start of the Southwold Arts Festival) it was back to civic duties with Common Hall on Monday 25th June. This was another sweltering day and certainly not ideal for being robed for three hours! The election of the Sheriffs was contested by three non-Aldermanic candidates and I was delighted that Alderman Vincent Keaveney was elected as Aldermanic Sheriff and the Honourable Liz Green as non-Aldermanic Sheriff for the coming year. Liz was supported by a large number of Tylers and Bricklayers and polled twice as many votes as her nearest challenger.
Afterwards we celebrated with lunch at Insurers’ Hall where the assembled Company largely comprised T&Bs and Framework Knitters the latter being Liz’s (and the Mistresses’) Company.
A month of unbroken sunshine and virtually unbroken events – fortunately July and August look a little quieter although just as warm!