The Coachmakers’ Summer Dinner at Saddlers’ Hall

The Coachmakers’ Summer Livery Dinner was once again held in the delightful Saddlers’ Hall on Thursday the 13th of July. The weather was kind enough to remain dry right up to the call to dinner and so the Champagne Reception was held in the courtyard before guests processed into the dining hall. During the reception, the guests were entertained by the wonderful voice of Rodney Earl Clarke.

The dinner followed the traditional format with once again the welcome return of the Loving Cup, albeit containing wrapped chocolates and not the pre-pandemic mix of alcohol beverage of uncertain origin. During the meal, the guests were entertained on the piano by Ms Patricia Williams and after the meal by the London Choral Sinfonia directed by Michael Waldron.

Coachmakers have become very familiar with the London Choral Sinfonia during Master Julian’s year but on this occasion they excelled themselves, thrilling everyone with their perfomance. As an added pleasure the Master invited Michael to demonstrate his own talent at the piano and the guests were teated to a magnificent rendition of The Entertainer.

To balance the Aerospace Industry Dinner and the Automotive Industry Dinner, for some time it has been suggested that Summer Dinner should become the Coachmaking Industry Dinner. The Court has not yet formally approved this idea but on the 13th July our guest speaker was Court Assistant Mark Broadbent, a practicing coachmaker of great repute, and the first award of the Coachmakers’ Coaching Bursary was presented to Leigh Phillips. The other two winners were Rupert Barnard and Eleanor Rose but they were unable to attend the event. It is intended to award the Coaching Bursary annually so this may indeed have been the first Coachmaking Industry Dinner – watch this space.