Preparations take far more time than you might think! Because a new gown had to be made (not just because I am very tall, the old one is looking rather tired) I had to collect it (this has been going on for some time). Then there are the rehearsals, the list of photographs to be approved, final seating plan agreed…..all very necessary.
The day before the Installation, I had a meeting on the
website followed by an Armed Forces and Cadets Committee meeting – whilst the
received advice was to relax on that day!
Thursday was a blur. One thing that struck me as funny was
that at the Installation Court there was a slight pause – immediately after I
had been “installed” and took my place at the lectern I read the words “the
Master will now say…” and it took me just a moment to realise that this meant
me!
Dinner was excellent – the food, wine and service all first
class and our speaker, Terry Mansfield CBE (of Hearst Corporation fame) was
equally so. In my response, I was able to emphasise my belief that the Master
and Wardens must work as a team and that the entire Court is also a vitally
important team. To emphasise that I was able to announce that (subject to the
Court’s approval) the Master and Wardens had produced a four-year rolling plan to
which we were all committed, rather than have four individual “stove-pipe”
years.
And so the next year of the Worshipful Company begins – a
good first day!
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