Fellowship with the Carmen - 7th June 2010

On Monday this week the Master, Wardens and Court of Assistants of the Worshipful Company of Carmen invited the Masters and Clerks of the livery companies with which they have a close relationship to lunch. The Carmen were originally carriers of goods and were responsible for traffic concepts like one-way streets and taxi ranks. They now have strong links with road haulage and other forms of transport but they still conduct the traditional and picturesque "Cart Marking" ceremony each year in Guildhall Yard (21st July this year).

It took place in the Officers' Mess of the Royal Logistic Corps at Regents' Park Barracks - this was interesting since our "own" 151 (London) Transport Regiment are also part of the RLC.

Interesting snippet of history: traditionally the RLC provides cars and drivers for Royalty whenever they attend military functions, and provide The Queen's Baggage Train for the use of the Sovereign and her guests, especially on State Visits.

A (Chief) Inspector calls at Mansion House - 21st May 2010

Allo, Allo, Allo - what's goin' on 'ere then?

Last Friday, the City of London police, led by their 'Chief Inspector' (aka Sir Nicholas Young, CEO of the British Red Cross), arrested 19 Masters of Livery Companies while they were enjoying a peaceful cup of coffee with Sheriff Peter Cook, fastened a ball and chain around their wrists and carted them off (in a vintage bus) to incarceration in the Tower of London.

Prior to being marched out of Mansion House under police escort, each Master was carpeted by the Chief Inspector (complete with belted trench-coat, and am dram skills on full bore) and charged with trumped up 'offences' for which only the payment of substantial 'bail' (a donation to the British Red Cross) would provide release.

We were welcomed at the Tower by a Yeoman Warder - take a look at that sharp halberd he's carrying - to the astonishment of the tourists. They certainly got their money's worth!

After being kept for a couple of hours on bread and water rations (12% proof, deliciously provided by Pol Roger) we paid our dues and were released to endanger the public once again.

Together we raised more than £25,000 for the British Red Cross, the Marketors contributing £1550. I am immensely grateful to the Marketors' Trust and all those who contributed personally to ensure my release.

And what were the nature of my 'offences'? Suffice it to say that there was much related to the fact that I was "A felon, of the female persuasion!"

Shooting Stars - 19th May 2010

For the first time, the Marketors put a team into the Inter-Livery Clay Pigeon Shooting competition - a charity fundraiser organised by the Environmental Cleaners' Company.

From L to R they are Victor Chopin-John, Roger Howes, Anthony Fraser (team captain and Top Gun) and Graeme Doctor.

On a hot May day we joined 73 other Livery Companies at the immaculately-groomed grounds of Holland & Holland to test our skill against some hotshots - the Gunmakers' put in at least 7 teams. We didn't win any prizes, but we had great fun while contributing to the more than £40 million a year given by Livery Companies to charities.

A big thank you to Anthony, for taking the initiative. He even missed his lunch in order to dash across London to fulfil an Outreach commitment - a star indeed.

Scraping Facebook - ouch! 18th May 2010

Last night's seminar, well-organised by Simon Jacobs, attracted an inquisitive audience, ready to challenge our speaker panel on the use of new and old media by the political parties in the recent General Election. There were champions for each of three different views - that television, print and online media had been decisive drivers of the result.

As always, I learned a great deal - some of it articulating what I knew but had never put into words, others a complete revelation. Here are some of them (a little tongue in cheek):

• We change our government more often than we change our mattress; except when we need a new one, we take little notice of our mattress; a new mattress doesn't always deliver the experience we expect.
• Programmes that "scrape" people's facebook pages, can pick up their sentiments by analysing their vocabulary. A different sort of opinion poll.
• The Americans approach their politics very differently from the Brits: they like to join up, to act on behalf of their party or leader, to belong to the movement. The Americans spend significantly more on communications than the Brits and spread out their campaigns over a much longer period. We Brits are more cynical about our politicians ("politics is a blood sport"), more reluctant to believe the messages and our voting habits are very difficult to change. We tend to use media of all kinds, and our network of friends and family, to reinforce existing views, rather than to seek out new data that might change our minds. So the "Obama effect" would be much less likely to be replicated in the UK.
• Typically 20% of seats change in a British general election. In marginal seats, typically 10% of voters are considered "swingable" and will find themselves heavily targeted. Over the 5 years of the last Parliament, the total Labour vote fell by only (very roughly) 1 million votes.
• Young people tend to use the internet for entertainment rather than research.
• All the parties had online strategies, but they failed in execution - not sufficiently flexible to respond to fast-moving events.
• The most effective, memorable messages were either fun (e.g. Duffy) or contained a surprising fact.

Would you like to become a Common Councilman or Sheriff? 13th May 2010

The Master of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, Charles Hughes, faced every Master's nightmare last week, when his guest speaker for a Business Lunch fell ill and was unable to attend. But he had a great stand-in, because Alderman Dr Andrew Parmley was there to play the organ, and was able at short notice to deliver an entertaining after-lunch speech too.



The Master and Dr Parmley had two important messages for us:

1. The Livery needs to promote itself more strongly, communicating especially the extent of its charitable giving and its pro bono outreach work for charities, schools and other deserving organisations.


2. The Corporation of London is keen to encourage liverymen to put themselves forward as prospective Common Councilmen and Sheriffs. Dr Parmley is willing to talk to anyone who would like to find out more. You can contact him at mailto:andrew.parmley@cityoflondon.gov.uk

I'm sure that our own Alderman and Past Master, Sir Paul Judge, would also be willing to give advice.

To find job descriptions for the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Aldermen, Common Councilmen and others, go to this page and scroll down a little: http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Council_and_democracy/Councillors_democracy_and_elections/corp_governance.htm

View Day at St Bartholomew's Hospital 12th May 2010

In 1551 the new governors of St Bartholomew's hospital initiated an annual inspection to review the state of the hospital and receive suggestions for improvement. Today Bart's Hospital still opens its doors annually to a visit by the Livery and other supporters, this year including the Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs and their ladies.

The afternoon starts with choral evensong at St Bartholomew the Great, which is the original church founded with its priory for looking after travellers and the sick in 1123.

Later, we had the opportunity to visit the new cancer centre, which is just opening. We saw the most amazing bits of kit for treating cancerous tissue with extraordinary precision while leaving vulnerable, healthy organs undamaged. For example, if you have throat cancer, the treatment can unintentionally affect your saliva glands, so that for the rest of your life you have no saliva - horrid. With the new treatment, this no longer happens.

In one instance, the entire piece of equipment, weighing several tonnes, rotates around the patient; in another, the specialists create a plastic mesh mould for each patient which holds them almost completely still and in exactly the same place for each treatment. (This reminded me of the way that Formula 1 drivers have their seats individually moulded to their backsides.)

If ever I had cancer, this is where I would want to be treated. http://www.bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk/cancercentre/

"This country is so weird!" 11th May 2010

The Venerable Archdeacon, David Meara, with his Churchwardens and Mace-Bearer, pausing at the last stop while Beating the Bounds. This is an ancient ceremony at Rogationtide that has been revived in many parishes in recent years. Originally, in the middle ages, when written maps were almost unknown and precise parish boundaries could be uncertain, this annual perambulation was a way of impressing on people's minds the limits of the parish so that the information was passed on from one generation to another. We carry canes and beat the ground at the stopping points, crying, "Cursed be he who removeth his neighbour's landmark!"

As we stepped out along Fleet Street (Master and Junior Warden, Sally Muggeridge, in the picture above) I heard one American on his mobile phone saying (and remember this was the day following the formation of the new coalition government), "This country is so weird!"

This year the Marketors joined forces with the Castle Baynard Ward Club and representatives of the Turners' Company to Beat the Bounds of St Brides Church. Alderman Ian Luder (the Late Lord Mayor) accompanied us with his Beadle, both of them in full robes - a great treat.

Earlier we had attended our annual service of thanksgiving and rededication - a highlight of the Livery year - with Archdeacon Meara conducting the service and the outstanding choir of St Brides singing with great sensitivity and energy for us.

We returned from Beating the Bounds to supper and typical Marketors' buzzy fellowship at the St Bride Institute.

This is a three-part event that takes a lot of organising. Hearty thanks to Barbara Thomas, John Wheen, Diane Morris and all the others who were involved and helped in so many ways.