Masters’ Visit to Ironbridge

When you meet other Masters during the year, one of the questions is always “Are you going to Ironbridge?” Every year Masters (and their consorts) of the Livery Companies go with the Lord Mayor to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum for the weekend.  It is an excellent opportunity, not only to see one of our great heritage sites, but also to meet your fellow Masters.

We drove up and decided to use our new Satnav, which stopped receiving a signal just north of Watford and didn’t work again until reset from our computer – not very helpful if you are away!  Fortunately, being a travel pessimist, I also printed out instructions so we managed to make our way to the Holiday Inn in Telford without too much trouble.

The weekend was launched on Friday June 8, with a Livery Dinner at Coalbrookdale where we heard some background to the Museum and the tradition of this visit – bringing ancient and modern livery companies to a significant player in the birth of the industrial revolution. 

We spent Saturday touring the museum sites including the eponymous Iron Bridge – the world’s first cast iron bridge built over the River Severn in 1779.  It had a far reaching effect, not only on the local economy but also on bridge design and the use of cast iron in building.

We also visited the national collections of Coalport and Caughley China in the listed buildings that were home to the famous Coalport China Factory until 1926. It included a fabulous collection of tiles and one wonders how many millions have been destroyed during the years by updating Victorian houses. We watched a demonstration of the making of china flowers by a marvelous young woman who turned out exquisite flowers at huge speed equaled only by the speed of her very engaging chat! Her introduction to the craft was watching someone doing it and saying, “I can do that” and then proving she could.

I also enjoyed the visit to Blists Hill Victorian Town, popping in to the pharmacy (prompted by a colleague who used to work there in summer holidays, dressed in full Victorian kit) where they also have a dentist’s chair and instruments – life is better now!

Saturday ended with a Ball at the Enginuity museum - the Ironbridge Gorge Museum's hands-on design and technology centre which opened in August 2002.

Sunday rounded off the weekend with a behind the scenes tour of the costume project with an exhibition of costumes and where the more adventurous tried on corsets, hooped skirts et al.  This department makes modern replicas of historic dress for other museums as well. We then went to the Darby Houses - one of which Dale House was built in 1717 by the founder of the Coalbrookdale Company, Abraham Darby I, and lived in by five generations of the Darby Family. It overlooked the Upper Furnace Pool and its associated blast furnace, and was the place where hospitality was extended to visitors to both the family and the ironworks. I think this is true hands-on management.

Thanks to the initiative of Piers Nicholson, the current Master of the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers, we were all provided with a very useful leaflet with photographs of most of the Masters – I am now at the stage where the faces are familiar but the names are not.  The website he has created is very useful www.liverycompanies.com with a complete list of all the London Livery Companies; the names of Masters and Clerks and pictures of the Master and Master’s badge. It also has very useful links to detailed maps to show you where all the Livery Halls are.

St Paul’s Cathedral has a new Dean

On Wednesday, May 30 I went with the Clerk to attend a reception in the Crypt at St Paul’s to meet the new Dean, the Very Reverend Dr David Ison. I was unable to attend his installation the previous week as I was at the RSN exhibition so it was good to have an opportunity to meet him.

The past year few months have been a difficult time for St Paul’s and the appointment of the new Dean is very welcome.  St Paul’s is very important to the City and the Lord Mayor and many of my fellow Masters were there to meet and welcome he and his wife, Hilary, also an ordained priest. If you follow the link above you will read that he drives a kit car he built himself: although he assured us that it was in the basement we were not treated to a view! 

The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by Her Majesty to invite.......

How very exciting to be able to display that invitation to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.  Masters of Livery Companies are invited to a Garden Party during their year and John and I were privileged to attend on May 29. I was particularly thrilled to be attending in the Jubilee Year – I well remember as a child listening to the Coronation on the short-wave radio (!!) in Johannesburg and then going to see a film of the event in the cinema that weekend.

The weather forecast was for thunderstorms but in the event there were sufficient clouds to keep the temperature bearable but the rain stayed away. 

The Mall up to the Palace is closed to traffic so there is always a scrum of taxis around the Palace for a couple of hours before and after. We decided to make a relaxed day of it and had an excellent lunch at the Bank Westminster Hotel in Buckingham Gate (not the only woman wearing a hat and we did spot one or two other men in morning suit).  We then strolled up to join the queue to get in. 

The organisation was superb – would that everything else ran as smoothly.  You would never believe that there were 8,000 guests as the queue to get through security moved very quickly and there were no queues to speak of for tea. The tea was delicious (although I couldn’t find any cucumber sandwiches). According to press coverage earlier this month the average guest eats 14 items – John managed four and I managed three so someone is eating an awful lot.

The Queen and the rest of the Royal Family arrived and we learned (from the TV news in the evening) that it was the Duchess of Cambridge’s first Garden Party.  She looked stunning and her pale pink dress perfectly complemented the Queen’s lavender dress and coat.  Once they had walked through the crowds everyone relaxed and, I suspect, went back for more tea and cakes.

I have driven around the outside of the grounds of the Palace many times but was still amazed at its size.  It occupies 42 acres and the gardens are beautiful. I have seen part of the gardens before when visiting an exhibition at Buckingham Palace a few years ago and will be returning in the summer to see the exhibition, Diamonds: a Jubilee Celebration, (and around the corner to the Queen’s Gallery to see some of the Leonardo da Vinci drawings in the Royal Collection).

We met so many interesting people from all over the UK – most representing charities.  Very moving talking to a group of War Widows who had come from the Isle of Wight: a reminder that many of the people who were there were invited for far from frivolous reasons.

Royal School of Needlework, Private View, 25 May

John and I attended a preview of the Royal School of Needlework Hand Embroidery Degree Show last week at Hampton Court. The level of skill is exemplary as is the degree of creativity. The School is to be congratulated on the success of its Foundation Degree in Hand Embroidery, which was launched in 2009, and now has accreditation for a further five years. It is the only course of its kind in the UK and students come from not only the UK but also abroad to study here.

The winner of Needlemakers’ stitchcraft award was Charlotte Bailey and we look forward to welcoming her (and the second winner who will be announced on June 7) at our dinner in July.  Charlotte’s work was quirky in concept and very much in tune with an edgier contemporary lifestyle but the stitching was meticulous and in the finest needlecraft tradition.

Another exhibit that caught my eye, which was less about stitching but very quaint (in a modern way), was by Joanne Pyner.  The dolls’ heads are from dolls that have been given to her – abandoned. They are visually very attractive and at the same time slightly surreal and disturbing.

The Albuhera Dinner, Friday 18 May 2012

I was very privileged to represent the Needlemakers at the Annual Albuhera Dinner in Canterbury on May 18.  The Needlemakers supports The 3^rd Battalion The Princess of Wales Royal Regiment (3PWRR) and the annual sword presentation to an outstanding soldier will take place at our July dinner. 3PWRR is the Territorial Army infantry Battalion for the south east of England. Soldiers in the Battalion take time out from their normal civilian jobs, which are protected by legislation, to experience life at the sharp end of the British Army's work.

The Albuhera Dinner is held each year to remember the eponymous battle that took place on May 16, 1811 in the Peninsula Campaign and involved the predecessor regiments of the PWRR – including The Buffs who suffered a staggering 85% casualties and the 57^th (West Middlesex) Regiment which suffered 66% casualties.  The latter have a famous nickname – the Die-Hards – taken from the exhortation of their Commanding Officer who called on the men to “Die Hard 57^th! Die Hard!”

After the battle the surviving officers and sergeants of the 57^th met at an inn by the battlefield and swore to meet annually to commemorate the “Immortal Memory” of their comrades who died on that day.

This dinner was the 201^st commemoration. We all stood in a circle to hear an account of the battle read by the CO and the silent toast was then drunk one in turn to remember those who fell in the battle, and since. There was time for reflection on the consequences of war – fought by soldiers but waged by politicians. 

If you are unfamiliar with the Territorial Army (TA) it is the largest of all the Reserve Forces and throughout its history almost every major operation has seen TA soldiers operating alongside their regular army counterparts..

I remember a few years ago attending a reception in the City to highlight problems being faced by TA volunteers in the workplace. If you thought that joining the TA involved yomping around the countryside now and then, that is far from the truth.  TA soldiers serve alongside their regular army counterparts and in recent years have seen tours of duty in Iraq and now Afghanistan. In these difficult times it puts pressure on the employer and colleagues and challenges the individual in fitting back into the workplace after a tour of duty.  Posts have to be held open for the duration of service away.  There are even concerns about membership of the TA acting as a barrier to recruitment in the corporate environment which is sad as these men and women learn much in the way of communication skills, team building, flexibility and adaptability which enhance their own development and benefit the workplace.

The Regiment has a long, distinguished history, having been involved in virtually every theatre of war since the Battle of Tangier in 1662. It is the most decorated of all British Army regiments, with 57 Victoria Crosses. There are three PWRR battalions, two regular and one territorial. Members of the 1st and 3rd battalions are currently supporting operations in Afghanistan.

358th Festival of the Sons of the Clergy St Paul’s, 15 May 2012

I have been to St Paul’s many times but each time there is something new to notice and much to marvel at.  Filled to capacity with three choirs and the organ playing it is something very special – whatever your religion. You cannot go through your year as Master without realising how much St Paul’s is the City’s church and how much it is part of the Civic City.

The Sons of the Clergy was founded a year or two before the Needlemakers received its first charter, known as our Commonwealth Charter, in 1656 from Oliver Cromwell.  The founding of this charity was also a consequence of that period of history.  A group of sons of clergymen recognised that there was a need for charitable help for the families of many members of the clergy who, having been loyal to the monarchy, were deprived of their livings and left destitute. The first Festival was held in 1655 and there has been a Festival every year since then.  It is believed that this is the oldest service of its kind in the Anglican Communion. 

The Lord Mayor and the Archbishop of Canterbury process together with the rest of the Civic Party, many Bishops and the Masters of about 80 Livery Companies.  (It also gives me a chance to wear the Master’s hat – this is by no means as glamorous as the hat worn by the Master Feltmaker but then that is their craft!)

The music as always was wonderful with the great organ and the choirs of St Paul’s, Bristol Cathedral and Southwell Minster as well as the State Trumpeters of the Band of the Blues and Royals.

The Needlemakers usually join the Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers for dinner in a  local restaurant afterwards and indeed they did – but without John and me, as we were invited to dinner by the Festival at the Merchant Taylors Hall with the Lord Mayor. Masters are invited in rotation and this year was our turn. This was a rather grander affair (although probably not quite as relaxed as the home team dinner!). However, it was a privilege to be there and to yet one of the grander Livery Halls.  It is on Threadneedle Street - a very busy road and yet when you go inside there is a very tranquil courtyard - another secret place in the City.

Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners, Masters’ Luncheon, May 14

This was a lunch with a different format where the invited Masters are requested to say a few words about their companies after lunch, which makes a change from just one speaker. 

As these things go in the City we spoke in reverse order of seniority with the first slot taken by the Tax Advisers’ Company  (Number 107 in the order of precedence) followed by me (Number 65 – no that’s not my age!), then the Clockmakers (No 61), the Basketmakers  (52), the Upholders (49) and the final talk and toast to our hosts from the Master of the Woolmen (43).

I was somewhat disconcerted by my lunch neighbour who advised me not to speak about our charitable work as everyone would nod off.  I did speak about our charitable work, of course, and I saw lots of enthusiasm rather than somnolence – perhaps helped by being only the second on the list!  Each Master was limited to four minutes after which time the Clerk would shuffle his chair, cough loudly and possibly do both together to much barracking from the audience. I managed to compress everything into the time required.

Seriously though, it was interesting to hear about the charitable activities of the various companies and I was able to speak about some of our charities and also our history with the City and Guilds (see earlier blog) and the good work they do.

It was an excellence lunch at the Armourers' Hall where we ate surrounded by 16^th and 17^th Century arms and armour.  It is a fascinating Hall - very spectacular and unusual – but I wouldn’t like a sleepover there – might be a bit spooky.