158. Visit to City Gin Distillery

On a glorious sunny evening this week, 15 of us headed off to the City of London Gin Distillery located in Bride Lane, just off Fleet Street. This distillery brought Gin distilling back to the City of London after an absence of nearly 200 years, when it opened in 2012.

The evening started with a City Distillery gin and tonic and this was followed by a comprehensive tour of the “in house” process and fascinating descriptions of the process and terminology. Alfie, our guide, was knowledgeable and amusing and he kept us well entertained!

The tour was followed by a description and tasting of the four other gins manufactured on site, and very good they were too! Following some platters of food (to soak up the alcohol) we left and went on our merry way home.

A very enjoyable evening where it was good to see some younger Members (and prospective Members) coming along to join us.

Photographs show the signage outside the distillery and our party during the tour.

157. Formal Opening at Treloar’s College

For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, you will recall a visit to Treloar’s College in Hampshire – see blog no 118.

This is a very special place – a residential special needs college in Alton, Hampshire that provides not only specialist care and a home, but also formal education to a high standard – as a recent OFSTED Inspection confirmed.

The Worshipful Company of Water Conservators has developed a long relationship with the college via our charity, The Water Conservation Trust. Our most recent involvement was in sponsoring a water feature in the newly refurbished Gauvain House, which is home to 21 students, all with very special needs. I had the pleasure of formally opening the water garden earlier this year.

With the final completion of the refurbishment of Gauvain House, the Countess of Wessex (a strong supporter of Treloar’s) was invited to formally open the house, earlier this week. Peter Hall (Deputy Master) and I were invited to attend and represent our Company. We were formally introduced to the Countess who thanked us for our participation and generosity.

It was a very happy occasion, and we had the opportunity to view the garden we sponsored – now liberally planted with strawberry plants!

Photographs show the Countess chatting to some of the students, the Deputy Master and I beside the newly unveiled Gauvain House plaque and our water feature operating in the sunny garden.

156. Indian Restaurant on the Thames at Marlow

There has been much talk of potential water shortages this Summer following an unusually dry Winter and Spring. Inevitably, as soon as press coverage of this issue was printed, the heavens opened and it rained heavily!

Earlier this week Fiona and I were at Michelin Star Chef, Atul Kochhar’s restaurant in the famous Compleat Angler at Marlow as a late birthday gift for Fiona. The tasting menu meal was fabulous but I couldn’t help but notice the very substantial river flow over the weir – see photograph. Didn’t look like a water shortage to me!

As we left, long after sunset, the church at Marlow was beautifully illuminated and reflected in the river – see photograph. I couldn’t help but think that following the horrors of the mindless attack in Manchester, how lucky we are to live in such beautiful surroundings and so close to London, the best City in the world.

155. Supporting ABF – The Soldier’s Charity

Many of you will be aware that the Worshipful Company of Water Conservator’s is a strong supporter of the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch which is designed to raise funds for ABF, the Soldier’s Charity. In blog no 133, I described our involvement with this lunch and how I handed over a cheque for £500 to the Lord Mayor for ABF, which supports veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. I also indicated that there would be more to follow.

I am delighted to report that the collection from our Election Court Lunch together with some income tax credits and a contribution from the Water Conservation Trust enabled us to raise £1,000 for this wonderful charity this year.

At an event earlier this week to celebrate the outcome of the lunch, I was able to make a presentation to the Lord Mayor, of a second cheque for £500. At the event the Lord Mayor, Alderman Dr Andrew Parmley reported that a total of £190,000 had been raised for ABF this year – a magnificent sum from the City Clubs and Livery Company’s.

Many thanks to all our Member’s and the Water Conservation Trust for making our contribution possible.

Photographs show the report presented by the Lord Mayor, and the handing over of the second cheque.

154. Lunch with the Judges at the Central Criminal Court

During the year as Master, some surprising invitations arrive! One of these was from Alderman & Sheriff William Russell to join the judges from the Central Criminal Court (more commonly known as the Old Bailey) for lunch.
I readily accepted and earlier this week I joined three other guests for drinks with William Russell and his wife and then lunch (in house) with fifteen Judges who were sitting that day.

The other guests were fascinating. They were Dame Mary Archer (academic and wife of Baron Jeffrey Archer), His Excellency Claus Grube (Ambassador at the Royal Danish Embassy) and Tim Hitchens (career diplomat and CEO of the Commonwealth Summit 2018).

There was much banter over lunch (and strictly no alcohol) and it was great to see the human side of these very senior Judges who all have really interesting lives outside of the law! At precisely 2.00pm the Judges left and we were invited to “listen in “ at one of the Courts. Three of us chose Court 14 which was a pretty harrowing murder trial, but wonderful to see the patience and care with which evidence was presented and cross-examined.

A thoroughly enjoyable opportunity and many thanks to William Russell for the invitation.

Photographs show the invitation & menu card, the iconic statue on the roof of the Old Bailey and the beautiful entrance hall inside.

153. Building Relationships for the Future

The Court of Common Council is the City of London’s primary decision making body and it meets nine times each year. There are 100 Common Councilmen representing the 25 Wards of the City and each Ward elects between 2 and 10 Common Councilmen depending on the size of the electorate. The Common Councilmen are elected every 4 years and the most recent elections were held in March 2017.

The Ward of Farringdon Within elects 9 Common Councilmen and one of these is currently Ann Holmes. Fiona and I have got to know Ann from various City events and we have been keen to cultivate a relationship on behalf of the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators. This is primarily because Ann (amongst other roles) sits on the Education Board of Common Council and is a Governor of the City of London School for Girls. These roles link well with our Company interest in supporting education.

Earlier this week we met Ann for lunch at the Guildhall to discuss how these common interests could usefully link together.

152. Thames Tideway Scheme Visit

On a very wet Wednesday 17th May, some thirty Members, partners and friends visited the Thames Tideway project for a fascinating presentation and viewing.

This project is enormous – it consists of a 25km long 7.2m diameter tunnel running mostly under the tidal section of the Thames to capture, store and convey combined sewage and rainwater storm discharges that currently flow into the river. Construction started in 2016, will take between seven and eight years to complete and at an estimated cost of £4.2 billion!

Our host was Phil Stride, the Strategic Projects Director. We met at the Thames Tideway East Project Office in Chambers Street in Bermondsey. Phil gave us a very impressive presentation of the history, design, public consultation, unique financial funding and early construction of the project. Phil has been involved for over 10 years and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the scheme. Philip Fletcher (ex Chairman of OFWAT) who is an Honorary Member of our Company was present and he added to Phil’s presentation by giving a regulators view of the project.

We were then able to view the Chambers Street site which is a key location for tunnels drives and which will, on completion, be developed for riverside apartments.

A fascinating visit and many thanks to Phil for giving up his time for us. We look forward to returning is two years time when it might be possible to visit one of the tunnel boring machines in action!

Photographs show Phil Stride chatting to our Members, visitors viewing the construction works at Chambers Street and preparations for sinking the massive shaft at the site.