43. Election of the Lord Mayor

On 29th September  I attended Common Hall at the Guildhall where the new Lord Mayor was elected. The day started early when breakfast was provided by caterer “The Cook and the Butler” in the 3rd floor dining room at Guildhall 08.00am. That was a friendly and very social event where many Master’s, Clerks and Senior Wardens met up to “put the world to rights”!

At 10.00am we moved down into the Crypt to get gowns, chain and badges in place (see photograph, top right) before all 110 Masters lined up (in reverse numeric order) and then formed a procession across the courtyard to St Lawrence Jewry Church (see photograph, middle right) for a Divine Service before the election took place.

At 11.30am we formed a similar procession back into Guildhall (see photograph, bottom right) where we took our places for the election process. This was a very formal affair and lasted about an hour. Alderman Andrew Parmley (who is an Honorary liveryman of our Company) emerged victorious and was duly installed as Lord Mayor Elect.

A very colourful and well orchestrated event that showed the finest traditions of the City.

42. The Honourable Company of Air Pilots Lecture

This week Fiona and I attended the Honourable Company of Air Pilots lecture at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London. The lecture, on the subject of Airlander, was given by Chris Daniels who is the Head of Partnerships and Communications at Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd.

It was a fascinating lecture looking back at the development of airships (and the dramatic loss of R101) up to the present day and the Airlander, which is a hybrid with conventional  aircraft wings (albeit small) but a large helium filled “balloon” over 60m in length.

Future operations as a payload carrier and surveillance, both military and wildlife poacher monitoring were ably included and discussed. A thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Photograph shows me beneath the record of past presidents of the Royal aeronautical Society.

41. London Bridge Sheep Drive

In medieval times, sheep farmers drove their sheep across London Bridge into the City of London to sell them at market. Freemen of the City were excused the bridge toll in recognition of their status as local traders. Freemen of the City of London still have the right to drive their sheep across London Bridge free of charge and in 2013 the Worshipful Company of Woolmen arranged a “sheep drive” for Freemen to help raise funds for the Lord Mayors charities. This event was so successful, that it has been repeated each year.

Fiona (also a Freeman of the City of London) and I registered for this very popular event this year before all bookings were sold out. We were part of a group of 8 Freemen from a variety of Livery Companies and we had a start time of 1.30pm from the South side of the River Thames – see photograph of our guide from the Guild of Young Freemen.

The sheep are well cared for throughout the event – fed and watered and supervised by the RSPCA. Our pack of sheep consisted of 8 pretty docile creatures – one per Freeman. See photograph.

We set off across the bridge on the stroke of 1.30pm and without incident (other than stepping in a lot of sheep’s poo) we made it to the North side of the river. See photographs of us en route.

On arrival at the finishing post, we were presented with our signed certificates which recorded the fact that we had exercised our right to drive sheep across London Bridge!

An excellent turnout by Masters from a wide range of livery companies and great fun! Some £60,000 was raised for the Lord Mayors charities.

40. Sponsored Walk for the Water Conservation Trust

On Sunday 2^nd October several of us will be walking 9 miles from the Angel in Islington to Battersea Park – a distance of some 9 miles and we will visit a number of historic water sites en route.

We will be raising money for our charity, the Water Conservation Trust. The Trust undertakes important work with inner city and special schools and in sponsoring post graduate students studying subjects relevant to our industry.

You can help by joining us or sponsoring us. Please contact Peter Hall (Treasurer of the Trust) on peterbhall@hotmail.com for further details.

39. Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners Luncheon

This week I attended a Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners luncheon at Trinity House. The lunch was in two parts – the first half was a series of presentations to award winning junior officers and cadets across all three military services. The second half was a formal celebratory lunch where I was one of two guest Masters.

It was a very grand affair in lovely surroundings and very interesting dining discussions. I met two City analysts that I have not seen for twenty years – surprisingly, they are still doing the same jobs they had in 1996!

Many thanks to the Master Environmental Cleaner for a very enjoyable event.

38. The Chartered Accountants’ Company Lecture

This week Fiona and I attended the Chartered Accountants’ Company 3^rd “Fair and True” lecture at their Hall in Moorgate Place. The title of the lecture was “Globalisation and its Discontents” and was given by Fayezul Choudhury, erstwhile Vice President of the World Bank and currently CEO of the International Federation of Accountants.

Fayezul gave a fascinating insight into the shift in global business from West to East and the backlash against globalization in the Western World.

The lecture was well attended by Livery Company Masters and we had the opportunity to meet up with a number of now familiar faces.

37. Michaelmas Court & Lunch

Our Michaelmas Court and Lunch was held at the splendid Trinity House, near the Tower of London on Monday 19th September. At the Court Meeting, amongst other duties and agenda items, I had the pleasure of installing one new Freeman and six new Liverymen to our Company.

At the lunch we were well supported by Masters from the Paviors, the Environmental Cleaner’s, the Plumbers, the Constructor’s and the Hackney Carriage Drivers. My principal guest was Lord Tim Bell, erstwhile PR advisor to Baroness Margaret Thatcher. Mark Lane (Walbrook Warden) proposed the toast to the guests and Lord Bell responded, in an amusing speech full of anecdotal stories, on behalf of the guests.

A retiring collection managed by my Bailiff, Dylan Barker, raised £874 for our charity, The Water Conservation Trust.

Photographs show the “welcoming line for guests”, guests chatting before lunch and Lord Bell addressing us all.