Ladies Luncheon

In a year whose theme is innovation it's always good to experiment. So with this mindset I thought it would be interesting to hold for the first time a Ladies' Lunch. Such lunches are not at all uncommon amongst Livery Companies and I'm not sure why we have never had one in the past. My wife sent the invitations out and a week ago this innovation came to fruition with a lunch held in a private dining room in Guildhall.
Before lunch a tour of the Guildhall art gallery and the amphitheatre had been arranged and this was much enjoyed despite the high volume of noise created in Guildhall yard by the City of London Festival Procession which started from the Yard. 1,000 young people from across London formed a multi coloured display with much loud music in a procession which wended it's way subsequently through many of the streets of the square mile. The City of London Festival is a major annual cultural event which runs from 6 June until 12 August. See http://www.colf.org/
Back in the Guildhall dining room 29 sat down to a fine lunch following a drinks reception. We were fortunate to have a guest speaker--Murray Craig from the Chamberlain's office, who is a witty speaker and who regaled us with stories of the extraordinary things he has experienced at the many Freedom ceremonies at which he has officiated.
The lunch was adjudged a great success so it may well be repeated next year, who knows.