Clerk’s Notes January 2022

On Tuesday 28th January 1936, the funeral of His late Majesty King George V took place. A naval gun’s crew from Chatham hauled the gun carriage – 98 manning the drag ropes and 40 abaft – from Westminster Hall to Paddington Station.

Mark The Clerk

At Windsor the gun carriage, which had been used at the funerals of Queen Victoria and King Edward VII, was drawn by men of HMS Excellent, the RN’s Gunnery School situated on Whale Island, Portsmouth, and was commanded by Captain A.J. Power RN, Captain of Whale Island. The Times reported: “A sailor king, he was appropriately borne home by bluejackets”.

Tuesday 28th January 1936 also happened to be the day that Alan Alda entered the world. For those not familiar with his work, he was the American actor best known for playing the irreverent surgeon Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M.A.S.H.

Future events

In the immediate aftermath of the Award to Industry Dinner at Saddlers’ Hall on 20th January (see elsewhere in this edition for the report), planning is already in hand for the Automotive Industry Dinner at Carpenters’ Hall to be held on 24th March 2022; the electronic advert will be distributed shortly.

City news

Welshmen Livery/Guild members in London

Does anyone in the Coachmakers Company have Welsh connections? If so are you aware that there is a Livery Company of Wales? The Master of the Welsh Livery, Dr Kathy Seddon, and the Clerk would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in joining the Livery Company of Wales. A letter addressed to potential volunteers can be found here.

The 2022 Inter-Livery Bridge tournament

This event is organised by The Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards for the benefit of The Lord Mayor’s Appeal Charities.

Date: Monday 7th March 2022
Venue: Drapers’ Hall, Throgmorton Street, London EC2N 2AN
Time: Reception 5pm. First session 5.30pm; Dinner at 7.20pm; Second session 8.15pm; Prize-giving 10pm; Carriages 10.30pm latest.

The closing date for entering the tournament is Friday 18th February 2022. The charge for entering the competition will be £180 per pair which covers the cost of tournament fees, dinner, refreshments, and a donation to the Lord Mayor’s appeal. Places for this popular event are always limited, so if you wish to participate you are advised to complete the online booking form as soon as possible: https://wcmpc.wufoo.com/forms/mf6jaya0k2l879/

City courses

The next City Briefing Course aimed at newer Freemen and Liverymen will be held at Guildhall on the evening of 2nd February. This is a really interesting course which offers the chance to meet new Freemen and Liverymen from other Companies. Recent joiners are encouraged to enrol on this one, or join a future course; they can be booked through the City Livery Committee website found here:

https://www.liverycommittee.org/product-category/courses/city-briefings/

Free money

The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST)

The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) awards scholarship and apprenticeship funding of up to £18,000 to talented and aspiring craftspeople working in a broad range of skills, from farriery and jewellery design, to silversmithing, dry stone walling, glassblowing cheese maturing, sculpture and more. The next application round is open 10th January-14th February 2022 and it is looking for more talented applicants – would you be able to help find them?

QEST celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2020 and since 1990 has awarded more than £5million to 650 individuals working in over 130 different crafts. Craft is defined broadly and applications are welcome from all areas including rural skills, contemporary craft, conservation, luthiery and much more. A directory of all QEST alumni can be seen on the website, along with more details on how to apply – www.qest.org.uk (There are two application rounds each year – in January and July).

‘How To Apply’ sessions are being held on Zoom to give advice and tips on the application process at 4pm on 31st January 2022

And finally

On 28th January 2012, the last of the Batch 2 Type 42 Destroyers, HMS LIVERPOOL, made a visit to London before paying off later that year, at around the same time that I retired from the Royal Navy, both of us time served, obsolete and no longer required.

I had spent much of 1994 and 1995 embarked in HMS LIVERPOOL, including an eight-month deployment to the Gulf in support of UN embargo operations from October 1994 to May 1995. During that time I served as the Squadron Aviation Officer to the Captain of the 3rd Destroyer Squadron and as the ship’s Flight Commander. My Lynx helicopter throughout that period was XZ720. I must admit that I did not realise it at the time but it had seen action in the Falklands Conflict and in Gulf War 1 and as a result of its historical significance it is now on permanent display in the Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton.

I’ve not yet seen it on display but I’m pretty sure that the display boards surrounding it will not say: “..as flown by Mark Leaning”.