Welcome to the July newsletter. The first event was a visit to Ashtead in Surrey, to attend the Speech Day for the City of London Freemen’s School. This school was set up to provide an education, plus of course food and accommodation, for orphans whose father had been a Freeman of the City of London.
It is still a City institution, having moved out to a beautiful mansion in the country in the 19th century. The current Chair of Governors is the Chair of the Livery Committee and our host last month for the Livery Weekend.
The Company, through its charitable trust, funds a number of school prizes and so I was able to see the prizes presented (bundles of new books) and talk to the winners. They are a confident bunch who should do well in whatever they take on. The subjects we cover include Spanish, which was a surprise to me, but no doubt reflects some Hispanophile Master in the last century.
I drove home with the hood down, looking forward to a symposium of the Construction Liveries Group on the following day and dinner as a guest of the Lightmongers.
Some Masters in the CLG are trying to raise the profile of the group and this was the first symposium, held at Guildhall with the Lord Mayor attending. I genuinely found it fascinating – the subject was high buildings in
the City, including the planning framework and the challenges of constructing and maintaining them. I was not aware of the numerous (over half a dozen) protected views from different points in London which block tall buildings from being constructed on the ‘protected’ line of sight. Viewpoints include Kew Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, the Tower of London and high up on the hill in Hampstead. There is also a policy (‘grounding’) of making the ground floor of new City buildings open to the public, with spaces for sitting and resting and cafes open to all. The building security therefore starts at the lift shafts. In addition, roof terraces and viewing points open to the public are required by the planners.
I moved from Guildhall to the Mansion House for the Lightmongers’ dinner. Lightmongers are electricians, so a Livery company that had to wait for the commercial use of electricity in order to get going. They are number 96.The Lord Mayor made an excellent speech and I sat next to a new Old Bailey judge who has not yet joined a Livery company, so I did a little gentle marketing.
July is a quieter month and effectively I had two weeks off before the next engagement, on 23 July, when I reported to the Chamberlain’s Court to see David Wright and Tony Higson receive the Freedom of the City. We had a light lunch afterwards, with family members, and then reconvened that evening for the New Members’ Supper at Champagne Charlie’s. Half a dozen other newish members were there, together with DM Simon Martin as host and Liveryman and Commander Ed Rolls. Over dinner we had an excellent and wide ranging discussion about the Company, its events and internal organisation, and opportunities for increased engagement.
The next day I went to Westminster for the annual meeting of the Trustees of our charitable trusts. PM RogerWestbrook CMG kindly allows the Trustees to meet in his flat. We reviewed the financial position of the trusts and agreed new grants to be made for the following year.
After a light lunch, some of us reconvened in the flat for the Treasures Committee (a description of their responsibilities, not the members). The main issue at present is the need to move our treasures, such as silver bowlsand goblets, from storage in the vaults at Carpenters’ Hall to some other venue. Carpenters’ is beingcomprehensively refurbished and this will take a couple of years to complete. The Committee has found alternative storage space nearby and we talked about how we could physically move all the treasures across. We are fortunate to have good quantities of old and valuable silver, which we try and display in rotation at our lunches and dinners. Wealso have old books and paintings.
The final July engagement was dinner at Tallow Chandlers’ Hall as a guest of the Joiners & Ceilers. Ceilers are wood carvers. I sat next to Master Joiner & Ceiler, John Garbutt, who recently attended our M&C lunch at Brewers’ Hall. The picture is a medieval banquet at Tallow Chandlers’ Hall. It was an enjoyable evening and I got the impression that there are many similarities between our two Companies. Like us, they are very close to their crafts and have a high representation of craft members. Tallow Chandlers’ is reckoned to be one of the most beautiful small halls and it is always a pleasure to sit there and gaze around.
I should mention two future events. Have a look at https://bit.ly/PepysDay for details of the Lord Mayor’s PepysDay walks.
For a modest £15 you can do a guided walk round the City and end inside the Mansion House for a drink with the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress. Proceeds to the Lord Mayor’s Appeal.
And on 30 September a new Lord Mayor will be elected at Common Hall and Liverymen are the electorate. Please get your ticket from Heather. We are not organising a lunch this year because it is too close to our own Installation Luncheon, but I and the Wardens will be at Common Hall, so we hope to see you there.
This newsletter will be taking a holiday in August, since little happens in Livery world. Enjoy the sunshine!
Christopher Causer
Master