I will start the February blog on 31st January, the occasion of a Burns Night extravaganza with the City Livery Club which provided the opportunity to turn left when I should have turned right, gone under when I was meant to have gone over and all the other mistakes one makes when attempting to dance a reel. Fortunately I was partnered with Past Master Consort Deborah Black who had learnt Scottish country dancing at school in that famous highland town: Woking.
On 3rd and 4th February the Company took part in the Livery Skills Link event at Guildhall. Attended by over 3,000 children from across London from both primary and secondary schools, the event was a careers fair as well as an opportunity to tell participants abut livery companies. Our own contribution was styled as a handling session titled "Object ID" and the children were challenged to discover the name or use of each piece. Once again Felicity Marno and Georgina Gough took the lead, most ably assisted by John Benjamin and Wendy Joseph. In the midst of making arrangements for Nic’s memorial service, Anne Somers found time to bring her design skills to bear to ensure that the stand projected the right image of the company.
It was necessary to close the stand promptly on Tuesday 4th February as there was something happening that evening to which I had looked forward with equal measures of delight and dread. I refer of course to the banquet. Given that the arrangements had been entrusted to the Learned and Gallant Clerk the likelihood of a successful evening was extremely high and, as it turned out, it really was glorious.
I had the honour to be clapped in both at the beginning and at the end but others chose a different method of exit.
I could have done with a rest the next morning but had to be up in time to accompany our Renter Warden and Chairman of City Consorts, Sonya Zuckerman, on a visit to the Lord Mayor Treloar School at Alton in Hampshire. Over forty Masters made the journey together with the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs. It was as fascinating as well as deeply moving to see what the school achieves. All of the 175 students have the most severe physical disabilities. Treloar's helps them to overcome as many of the obstacles that those disabilities pose as it can. Some might measure success by getting into university while for for others it might be as simple as achieving the confidence to control their own care plans or even just choose what to wear every day. As we were shown around we had the opportunity to try out some of the extra-curricular activities on offer such as table cricket. Here you can see the Master Parish Clerk (who had been one of my guests at Fishmongers the night before) facing my bowling.
The following week was full of sub committees together with a very special event in the form of a divine service of Thanksgiving and Celebration for the Life of Nicholas Somers. St Brides, Fleet Street, was packed to overflowing, as was the Stationers’ Hall to which we repaired after the service. The first address was delivered with his usual poise and eloquence by Past Master Mark Bridge. It was wonderful to see so many Arts Scholars among the congregation together with others from the huge number of walks of life that Nic inhabited and contributed so much to.
The following day was one our bi-monthly fish and chip luncheons. I arrived there from the stage of the London Coliseum having been invited there in my capacity as Clerk to the Strand Parishes Trust, a Westminster charity. It was fascinating to be on stage rather than seated in the auditorium and to be entertained by members of the ENO. Here is the Pirate King from The Pirates of Penzance supported by members of the chorus.
Hannah More was a Christian activist and philanthropist. Her sociable life in Britain’s major social centres, London and Bath, enabled her to use her closeness to the bluestocking circle and later her membership of the evangelical group, the Clapham Sect, to embark on crusades against poverty, the education of women and the evils of slavery. How do I know this? Well on Tuesday 18th February the BBC Antiques Road Trip visited Nailsea where the Immediate Past Consort Joanna Barker told us about her. Joanna is a Trustee of the Hannah More Trust which raises money to support the production of a digital edition of Hannah More and surviving letters and to promote work on Hannah More her life and her writing.
Linklaters' Art Collection is made up of over 1500 artworks, mostly Modern and Contemporary paintings, prints and drawings. On 25th February Liveryman Catherine Shearn who curates the collection provided us with a tour which showed off the highlights of the collection and gave an overview of the benefits and challenges of a corporate art collection.
You cannot go very far without discovering versions of “The Light of the World” so I will conclude with two that I came across in February. The first one was St Chad’s Church in Haggerston, a church built in 1869 to serve the growing population of East London. The other I found in a charity shop in Bexhill, yours for £35.
On which point The Clerk still has supplies of the greetings card we produced last year to celebrate the restoration of the picture in St Paul’s.
Roy Sully
28th February 2025.
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