Masters are advised by their Clerks and by Past Masters that September will be a very busy month. The City returns from well earned holidays in late July and August and there are a wide range of Livery lunches, dinners, lectures and visits to look forward to, as well as the installation of the new Sheriffs and the election of the next Lord Mayor at Common Hall on the last Thursday of the month.
I was not surprised therefore that my diary for September was full, with the month starting with a Court meeting and Lunch at Watermen’s Hall on 1 September (see the report in the event reports on the website) and the Glasgow In London dinner at Plaisterers’ Hall on 6 September.
The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
I was in London on the afternoon of 8 September at a meeting of the organising committee for the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch 2023. Sheriff Nicholas Lyons (Lord Mayor for 2022-23, subject to election) announced at the start of the meeting that a medical bulletin had been issued from Balmoral and he asked the committee to join him in sending best wishes to HM the Queen. I went from the LMBCL committee meeting to the Old Bailey where the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust were to host a lecture. We were gathering for a pre-lecture drink when an announcement was made that the Queen had died and that the lecture would, of course, be cancelled. The news was sudden, shocking, numbing and very sad.
One of my first thoughts was how should the Company and the Livery collectively respond to the death of the Queen? What would be expected of the Master? I immediately drafted, and the webmaster posted, a tribute to the Queen on the Company website. I then turned to the guidance from the City Remembrancer to the Livery Companies which is updated each year. There is no formal role for the Livery Companies following the death of a monarch although Masters were invited by the Lord Mayor to join him at Mansion House, gowned and badged, for the proclamation of the new King which took place on the morning of Saturday 10 September. I was in Rome for the weekend (a long-planned family trip) and was therefore unable to attend this brief ceremony.
All City and Livery events in the period of National Mourning were cancelled. I travelled into London during this period and signed the Book of Condolence established by the Corporation at Guildhall on behalf of the Company.
The Craft Visit to Shropshire
The funeral of the late Queen took place on Monday 19 September, and we were therefore able to go ahead with the Craft visit to Shropshire on 20-21 September.
A party of 22 members and guests visited Craven Dunnill, the renowned tile manufacturer, on Tuesday 20 September. The Company is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year and has manufactured tiles at its factory in Jackfield, in the Ironbridge Gorge, since 1874.
We were welcomed by Liverymen Adrian Blundell and Chris Cox. Chris explained the history of the Company and gave a fascinating tour of the site. We then split into two groups for a tour of the floor and wall tile manufacturing facilities. Much of the process would be instantly recognisable to the founders of the firm but with the introduction of modern techniques, such as 3-D scanning, to enable tiles to be matched and molds created for restoration projects remarkably quickly. After lunch we had an opportunity to make an encaustic tile and to visit the wonderful Jackfield Tile Museum which contains the astonishing and eclectic collection of John Scott, an Honorary Liveryman until his death a few years ago.
Tiles from the John Scott collection in the Jackfield Tile Museum
We spent the night at the Lion and Pheasant Hotel in Shrewsbury. We enjoyed a lively dinner, to which we welcomed Liverymen Adrian Blundell, Chris Cox and Simon Howells and their partners. Simon is the MD of Craven Dunnill and the fifth generation of his family to be involved in the business since his great-great-grandfather became a shareholder in the early 20th century. It was a memorable evening of good food and wine and the happy sound of conversation between old friends and new acquaintances.
On Wednesday 21 September we travelled back to Ironbridge for a fascinating introduction to the site and the famous Iron Bridge, before moving on to Blists Hill. Blists Hill is a 52 acre open-air museum on a former 19th century industrial site which recreates the sights, sounds and smells of a Shropshire town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
A full report of this interesting and enjoyable craft visit will appear in the events section of the website shortly.
Sheep Drive over London Bridge
Every candidate to join the Company is surely told at interview that when they become a Freeman of the City of London, they will have the right to drive sheep over London Bridge. Once a year, the Worshipful Company of Woolmen give Freemen of the City an opportunity to exercise this ancient right and privilege.
On Sunday 25 September, I went to London Bridge with my wife, Jenny, and other members of my family, and drove a small flock of rather docile sheep a short way across the Bridge. It is a symbolic act but great fun. There was a small street fair, with several Livery Companies running stalls to sell related craft goods, and demonstrations of shearing and weaving. It was an enjoyable event, well organised (no sheep escaped!) and raises a substantial sum for charity. Definitely recommended for every Liveryman at least once and added incentive for every Freeman to apply to the Chamberlain’s Court to be admitted as a Freeman of the City of London.
The Master nervously waiting with his flock
Proof of a successful crossing!
Time to say Goodbye
This is my final Master’s Blog. I have had a wonderful, varied and hugely enjoyable year as the 440th Master of the Worshipful Company of the Tylers and Bricklayers. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as Master of this great Company but I am ready now to hand on the Master’s badge, gown and responsibilities to the Master Elect, John Schofield, at the Installation on 6 October.
Thank you for reading these blogs and for your support over the last 12 months.
Simon Martin
Master 2021-22