Clerk’s Notes – November 2024

After such a positive response to my Clerk’s notes in October Coachlines I thought I would continue in the same vein: linking my previous career and passion for music with the fundamentals and raison d’être of our company. This said, I completely understand individual preferences with regards to music are very personal and the challenges of ‘pleasing’ everyone are not insignificant. However, with a little innovative thought and invention I aim to address this during the coming months.

So, let’s start with an easy one. Music that surely no-one can dislike and is intrinsically linked to what we at The Coachmakers hold so dear: positive, happy endeavours with an engineering, aerospace and automotive traditional flair, steeped in history – A FLYING CAR no less!

The groundbreaking film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! has its 60th anniversary this year. Written by Ian Fleming (of James Bond fame) and initially published in three volumes, the first in October 1964 – sadly two months after Fleming’s death – it inspired a generation of children and many enthusiastic parents to ‘dream big’ about the possibility of combining automotive genius with aero power.

For many readers I am sure the most interesting facts about the film relate to the engineering and design of the vehicle. The car was inspired by two vehicles: a Standard Tourer driven by Ian Fleming in Switzerland in the 1920s, and a customised Mercedes with the Maybach engine that Fleming saw race at Brooklands. The car’s engine was a 23-litre, six-cylinder Maybach military aeronautical engine with four overhead valves per cylinder and twin Zenith carburettors – incredibly a type of engine typically used in zeppelins from World War One. The car weighed more than five short tons (4.5t) and had an 8ft long bonnet. It also had a dashboard plate from a WW1 fighter plane.

The synergy with the Coachmakers’ foundations does not end there. Fleming’s story told of an inventor and retired naval commander called Caractacus Potts who restored old cars but the original inspiration was based on the real cars, Chitty-Bang-Bang 1,2,3 and 4 built in Canterbury, Kent at Bligh Brothers Coachbuilders by eccentric motor enthusiast Louis Zborowski in the 1920s.

Company events

Christmas with The Coachmakers – 12th December 2024

Christmas with the Coachmakers will take place at Tallow Chandlers Hall on 12th December. The preceding Carol Service will be held in St James Garlickhythe commencing at 6pm, we will then head across to Tallows’ for a wonderful festive two-course supper. The theme of the evening will be festive fun, cheer and laughter. Music throughout will be uplifting and will include a Christmassy sing-along, acoustic fireside favourites and a cameo appearance by your Clerk. There will also be the opportunity to demonstrate your Christmas teamwork and decoration skills in a hilarious competition to win the ultimate in Christmas prize. We will also have a cash raffle; selling tickets on the night.

Don’t miss out and wonder how amazing a night it is going to be, come and enjoy the festive fun with us!

Master & Clerks’ Luncheon and Winter Court – 23rd January 2025

The Master is keen to enhance our wider connection to other Livery Companies through fellowship and friendship. To this end, a Master & Clerks’ Lunch will follow the Winter Court. We have invited 17 Masters and their Clerks and will offer 50 places to Coachmakers. Taking place at Armourers Hall on the 23rd January 2025, tickets will go on sale shortly.

City news

It is with great sadness that the City Livery Club announces the death of Nicholas Somers, President of the Club in the year 2020-21. The Liveryman review of his year is online.

The City Livery Club Clerk was notified by Nic’s wife, Anne Somers, that he died on 8th November, aged 78. Nic had been a Member of the Club since 2012, and was also a member of the Turners, Arts Scholars, and Castle Baynard Ward Club. A memorial service will be held at St Bride’s at a date to be confirmed.

In conclusion

Richard M Sherman, the composer of the music for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! was one half of the award-winning pair of brothers who wrote more than 150 songs for Disney, and lived quite a life. He won a Purple Heart in the Second World War (he was one of the first US soldiers to relieve Dachau concentration camp) and was shot in the knee aged 19. He had to use a walking stick for the rest of his life. During his recuperation in Taunton, Somerset, he became interested in the local culture of Morris dancing.

When Sherman returned to America in the 1940s, his father Al, a Tin Pan Alley songwriter who had written hits for Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong, challenged Robert and his brother Richard to try to earn a living writing songs. They became two of the most famous composers in Hollywood, winning two Oscars for Mary Poppins.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was their first score outside of the Disney empire. The showstopping tunes for the film included the Oscar-nominated title song, plus “Truly Scrumptious”, “Toot Sweets” and “Hushabye Mountain”. Van Dyke said that the hardest song to perform was “Me Ol’ Bamboo”, a Morris dancing-based tune devised around Sherman’s memories of England, when he had used a bamboo walking stick.

“The bamboo sticks had metal poles inside and we had to jump over them and dance with them,” Van Dyke, who was 41 at the time, said in a TV documentary about the making of the film. “Most of the dancers were 15 years younger than me and it took us 23 takes to get it right. In the last take, I only just make it. This was the hardest dance number I ever did.”

I think we can all relate to this as we attempt to navigate the dance of life, although hopefully we don’t need 23 takes that often!

To listen to the joyous and uplifting main theme song of the film, click here: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Heather Ripley, and Adrian Hall