Clerk’s notes – December 2024

Whilst researching my notes for this month’s Coachlines I had a call out of the blue from Past Master Richard Dallimore. It proved to be a most interesting and enlightening 30 minutes of conversation where Richard and I spoke about the company ‘of old’ and chatted in detail about his year as Master in 1985. At 95, speaking from his home in the south west, Richard is engaging, interesting and fiercely loyal to the company – I felt humbled to have the opportunity to talk to him, especially as he was the age I am now when he became Master.

So, 1985 gave us many things, not only Richard as our Master but a whole list of important events:
• The first British mobile phone call was made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone.
• The Live Aid concert took place in London, Philadelphia, Sydney, and Moscow.
• Arthur Scargill declared an end the longest-running industrial dispute in Great Britain.
• The first internet domain name was registered (symbolics.com).
• The first episode of Neighbours was broadcast.
• Boris Becker became the youngest player ever to win Wimbledon at age 17.
• A joint American–French expedition located the wreckage of the Titanic.
• Microsoft Windows 1.0 was released.

And finally, the movie Back to The Future was released: Directed by Robert Zemeckis and following the story of Marty McFly, a typical American teenager of the 1980s who is accidentally sent back to 1955 in a DMC DeLorean car invented by a slightly mad scientist. During his often hysterical, amazing trip back in time, Marty must make certain his teenage parents-to-be meet and fall in love – so he can get back to the future.

The time machine is a time travel vehicle constructed from a retrofitted DMC DeLorean. Its time travel ability is derived from the “flux capacitor”, a component that allows the car to travel to the past or future (though not through space). This occurs when the car accelerates to 88 miles per hour and requires 1.21 gigawatts of electricity.

Some of the technology, although not exactly what we would expect now, also resembles today’s world. Marty McFly Jr. is seen wearing a VR headset, a very popular technological trend currently, and other technology such as biometric devices and drones are spotted in Back to the Future Part II. One of the most famous of Back to the Future’s predictions was the flying car. The DeLorean used for the time machine is famous in itself, but the car becoming a flying DeLorean after Back to the Future II sealed its place as an iconic time machine.

John DeLorean had a successful career at General Motors but left in 1973 to form the DeLorean Motor Company. He funded the company with investment from the British government ($140 million) and several of his celebrity friends, including Johnny Carson ($500,000) and Sammy Davis, Jr. ($150,000), and began production on his DMC-12 (DeLorean), a two-seater sports car with a stainless-steel body and winged doors, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro.

Priced at $25,000, it was powered by a Douvrin V6 engine and while it looked fast, it actually produced a mere 130 horsepower. That, coupled with its heavy weight, made it go from 0-60mph in 10.5 seconds. Word spread quickly about these issues as well as a number of mechanical glitches: After just three years and with approximately 8,900 DeLorean DMC-12s on the market, production was halted completely. Still, thanks to its Hollywood iconography, the car remains to this day one of the most memorable ever produced.

Upcoming events

Masters’ & Clerks’ Lunch and Winter Court 2025

As many of you know, the Master Coachmaker is keen to broaden our network of friends and colleagues across the City, and to help achieve this he is inviting 20 Masters and Clerks from other Livery Companies to a luncheon at Armourers’ Hall, on Thursday 23rd January 2025.

The event will commence at 12.30pm for 1pm luncheon and will follow the Winter Court meeting. Of the 90 places available, there are 50 reserved for Coachmakers and the Master would be delighted to see as many of you there as possible to help promote fellowship and friendship – the golden threads that link our wonderful organisations across the City.

We have secured the services of an exciting speaker from the City of London Corporation: Keith Bottomley, former Director of Communications at NatWest Group and currently Deputy Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Policy and Resources Committee.

Timings:
Reception: 12.30pm
Luncheon: 1pm
Carriages: 3pm

Tickets are selling fast so please book as soon as possible.

City events

For City Livery Club members, come and join City Livery Club at the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch on Thursday, 10th April 2025

President Alderman Professor Emma Edhem invites you to join her at this huge event at the Guildhall, in aid of veterans of His Majesty’s Armed Forces.

Guests are welcome to stay for the duration of the event, 11.45am to 3pm, and take part in all the activities available.
Tickets cost £110.00 per person and include a welcome glass of champagne, lunch (unlimited curry, plus dessert and chocolate) and drinks (unlimited beer and wine, plus soft drinks and coffee).

Please sign into the Members’ Area on the website to view more details and book the event online.

For those non-members of the City Livery Club more information and tickets can be found here.

The music

The epic film score to Back to the Future was composed by Alan Silvestri. Expertly playing with value – the opening sequence purposefully provides the audience with a huge amount of information pertinent to the plot of the film, however the audience has no way of knowing how that information will prove to be important at that time. It is not until later in the film, or even upon a second viewing, that the audience becomes aware of the significance of the material in the introduction.

Overall, the degree of emotional involvement and style of music expresses the emotion of this early part of the film very effectively. This degree of emotional involvement allows spectators to understand the value and importance of the very well-composed piece.

Silvestri brings a straight forward orchestral style that makes use of recurring thematic material, and is unlike other film scores. However, because the film relies heavily on the theme song for musical material, a thoroughly developed leitmotif (a Wagner trait) score would usually be in the end of the film. Instead, Silvestri wisely makes use of just one main recurring theme which is developed occasionally in cues throughout the film. We know this piece as Back to the Future’s main theme.

To listen to the epic main theme of the film please click here.