50. World Traders Tacitus Lecture

The 31st Tacitus Lecture organised by the Worshipful Company of World Traders was held on 22 February at the Guildhall. Sandra and I together with Thames Warden, Simon Catford, attended this prestigious event which is one of the largest of it’s type in the City. The Guildhall was packed to capacity with an audience of some 900+ to hear Nathan Myhrvold PhD speak on “Cyber-Trade: Will AI displace or enhance our work?”. Nathan was formerly the Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft and is one of the world’s great Polymaths. He is also a prizewinning nature and wildlife photographer and an accomplished chef! Not surprisingly his lecture was both extremely interesting and informative and also contained many amusing anecdotes. What does he think? AI will not displace our work!

The lecture was followed by a drinks reception in the Guildhall Crypt which gave an opportunity to speak with the Masters/Wardens/Clerks of other Livery Companies. Following this Sandra and I were honoured to have been invited by the Master World Trader to the Sponsors’ Dinner which was held at the Wax Chandlers’ Hall. A delicious meal with excellent wines and splendid company rounded-off the day. Fortunately we managed to catch the last train home!.

49. CIWEM - Resiliance and Water, 15 February

I was delighted to be invited by the Chair of the Metropolitan Branch of CIWEM to attend their “Resilience and Water” event which was sponsored by and held in the offices of Arup. Resilience has been defined on several occasions including by OFWAT as “The ability to maintain essential services under extreme circumstances”. Three presentations were given which were very interesting and extremely informative.

Louise Ellis, Senior Civil Engineer in the Water Group at Arup explored water resilience in the context of the city system. The problems include climate change, outdated drainage and rapid urbanisation. Interestingly Hull has been selected as one of five cities worldwide where Arup are developing a global water resilience framework. Hull has 90% of the city standing below the high tide line.

Thames Water was represented by Keith Banner, their Strategy Manager. He spoke about Thames’ approach to water resilience in the context of OFWAT’s 2019 Price Review (PR19). A number of options are under consideration which include transferring raw water from wetter parts of the UK, building a new storage reservoir to capture and store excess flows in the Thames, desalinating water from the Thames Estuary and reusing treated effluent from sewage treatment works.

The final presentation was given by Professor Sarah Bell from the Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources. Her presentation was entitled “Infrastructure resilience: designing from the bottom-up”. She spoke about community engagement with infrastructure and cited an example in Southwark where an estate of apartments had adopted a system of rain water storage for use on gardens, car washing, etc. and the cost implications of wider use for flushing WCs etc.

In all a fascinating evening rounded off with drinks and snacks and an opportunity to network with a number of interesting people including a group of younger  Arup employees who took an interest in joining the Water Conservators!

48. Constructors Company Livery and Awards Dinner 14 February

Sandra and I were very privileged to be invited to the Worshipful Company of Constructors Annual Livery and Awards Dinner which took place at Drapers’ Hall on Valentine’s Day. Some 160 members and guests sat down in the magnificent dining hall where a superb meal and excellent wines were served. The guest speaker was Sir Terry Morgan, Chief Executive of Crossrail, who spoke about the difficulties and achievements of the Crossrail project. During the course of the evening a number of prestigious awards were given to outstanding University students in relevant subjects and also to serving personnel from all three services for outstanding bravery. The formal dinner was followed by the usual Stirrup Cup.

Both Sandra and I were seated with highly interesting and welcoming members of the Company with whom we found a great deal in common.

47. 14th Inter-Livery Pancake Race

The cold, wet and thoroughly miserable weather was overshadowed by the enthusiasm of all concerned in this year’s Pancake Race. As our Clerk was on holiday and I was unable to run due to an ankle injury I was given the task of being Team Leader. This year our team was represented by Fleet Warden Mark Lane in the Masters race, Freeman Andrew Williamson in the Livery race, Bailiff Lynva Russell in the Ladies race and Walbrooke Warden Rob Casey in the Novelty race. As the ground in the Guildhall Yard was extremely wet and slippery, it was decided that the “British Weather Clause” in the rules would be invoked. That meant that instead of running, an alternative competition of pancake tossing would take place. The winner in each category would be the one who tossed the pancake the most times within 30 seconds! Although highly competitive, our team unfortunately failed to achieve the finals. Rob Casey’s costume representing the Lord Mayors Charity “Place 2Be” was exemplary, but again we failed to meet the final.

Thanks must go to our competitors for their efforts and also to Trevor and Annette Harrington for braving the elements in support of our team. Following the race we retired to the Guildhall Crypt for a well deserved hot lunch and a glass of wine provided by “The Cook and the Butler”. 

46. Visit to Treloar’s School & College – 5 February 2018

Sandra and I together with the Masters and Consorts of some 50 Livery Companies accompanied the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress on the annual visit to Treloar’s. 

After registration and refreshments we were divided into small groups and were taken on a tour of the establishment. We were fortunate to be in a group led by Martin Ingram, the Principal of the School and College. I had been to Treloar’s on a couple of occasions with the Trust and it was interesting to see the large amount of refurbishment that has now virtually been completed. The school and college cater for 175 severely disabled students the majority of whom are resident and are wheelchair bound with some 800 teaching, caring and housekeeping staff.

After a delightful lunch and interesting speeches I was able to present a cheque for £1,000 to the Chairman of the Treloars Trust and the Principal which was received with grateful thanks. This was the money collected after our Myddelton Lunch the previous week for which I am most grateful to the generosity of those attending. We were then treated to a concert by the students. It was amazing how the students despite their disabilities were able to ring hand bells and sing. It was heartrending to see and listen to them. 

Before leaving I paid a brief visit to Treloar’s Print, the facility that the Company uses for much of its printing, and thanked them for their work. It is interesting to see some of the students assisting in the printroom.

An unforgettable day that provoked much thought.

45. Re-dedication Service and Myddelton Lunch

This year’s service of re-dedication was held at St. Mary-at-Hill Church and was led by our Hon. Chaplain, the Rev’d Prebendary Rose Hudson-Wilkin. The service commemorates the life of Sir Hugh Myddelton and includes the re-dedication of the Company Cross and Members of the Company. The service included a prayer in memory of Colin Bland, Peter English, Chris Cook and Robin Loundes who had passed away during the previous year. Rose’s sermon was highly relevant to the Company and also included a very heartfelt tribute to the work and devotion of Past Master Colin Bland. It would have been nice to have seen more members at this service.

Following the service those who attended the church processed to Trinity House for the Myddelton Lunch. It was a pleasure to welcome Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli, the Master World Trader, together with his Consort Elisabeth as our main guest. Michael’s speech was both illuminating and humorous. I was delighted to present a Dissertation Prize on behalf of the Trust of a water jug to Joseph Tibbetts from Birmingham University. His dissertation on microplastic contaminant in river sediment was highly topical. The lunch was rounded-off with a Stirrup Cup.