City Blog

 
David Johnson joins the ACCA conversation at Mansion House

Claire Bennison head of ACCA UK reports: 

Celebrating WCoMC's growing impact and vibrant membership

We may be 105 in the order of precendence, but we are building our position thanks to the tireless work that our members undertake. This evening dinner celebrated what WCoMC members have achieved and where we stand in the Civic City. Click on 'Read more' for more details and pictures.

In which we field a "Racing" Team - and don't come last

I am delighted to report that after an eleventh hour request for WCoMC to join this new event, we managed to field a full team of four drivers.

Many thanks to Grant, Finbar and Mary for "getting out there" with me! Also, my thanks to the rest of the Johnson family and Maxine Room for their trackside support and the Mistress for her support, tolerance and the photography! 

Click on "Read more" to see a few more (action) pics ....

In which twenty Masters are banged up and (hopefully) released

Surely we cannot have such a criminal class leading our City's oldest and finest organisations? Take them away to The Tower in a suitably old bus!

Hosting a special event in someone else's home

Holding a Company event at Mansion House is rather special for WCoMC - our lunch on 27th March 2015 was only the second time we have been there since we began our life as a Guild in 1993. This lunch marked a milestone in WCoMC's development and involvement within the City Livery; that said, as a modern company, we have some way yet to go!

Although some people believe that the City Livery is simply some form of extended dining network, our main raison d'être is the combination of charitable work, educational support and fellowship. OK, Livery Lunches and Dinners are a form of Fellowship, but to hold them at the home of the Lord Mayor and to surprise him about the level of our charitable and philanthropic work has to be special - and WCoMC achieved this.

Click on Read More to see a photomontage of those who shared in the event.

Taking part is a real experience

The Lord Mayor's Show is the first opportunity in the Civic Calendar for us to be actively supporting the new Lord Mayor. We march with the Sea Cadets, with whom we have a long standing involvement. This year we were close to the front of the parade - in fact the first members of the Livery to be seen, even in front of the Lord Mayor's Mother Company (The Fishmongers). Behind us were over 100 floats and bands - this is the largest unrehearsed parade in the country (if not the world) being some 3½ miles long fitting into a route that is less than 2 miles long! 

Let the pictures do the talking - I need say no more ...

(Click on "Read more" for our fuller set of pictures ...)

November 2014 - a very special remembrance

This year, 100 years after the First World War broke out, the ceramic poppies at the Tower of London - 888,246 of them - have become a major draw for people from all walks of life. "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red". We went in September when the effect of a slowly growing sea of red in the green moat was really quite stunning, even on quite an overcast day, as my picture shows. 

A good time was had by all

It is not all in the banks!

At the end of a small lunch party Karen and I were at hosted by the Lord Mayor’s Consort in their apartments, Nicholas Woolf offered to show us the finest of the gold and silver of Mansion House.

This was not a time to say I’m sorry I have an appointment in ten minutes!

We went to see some tremendous pieces. They almost dazzle you.

Ask people what rights the Livery Companies have, most would say that Liverymen can drive sheep across London Bridge. Others might refer to rights to carry a dagger in the City, or to be assisted home by a policeman if incapacitated in the City through over indulgence!

Some such rights once existed, some were custom and practice. In any event most special privileges now longer exist, lackaday!