Salamander issue 3

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From the Master
John Mansfield
Earlier in the year I had an
interesting discussion with
Past Master Jeremy Beech
who told me that he was
part of the team which was
negotiating our Coat of Arms
with the Herald at the College
of Arms. Jeremy remarked
that he found this challenging
because people there spoke
a rather unusual version
of English. I remembered
that conversation when the
College of Arms very helpfully
provided me with the following
explanation of the Armorial
bearing of the Aldermanic
Sherriff, Tim Hailes and I quote
verbatim:-
“The arms are described as
such: the blazon of the arms is:
Per Chevron Azure platy and Or
a Fleur-De-Lys in base Gules.
The blazon of the crest is; Or
a wreath Argent and Gules. A
griffin sejant erect Gules winged
Azure platy beaked and legged
Or holding in the dexter forefoot
a sword erect Argent hilt and
pommel Gules and resting the
sinister forefoot upon a bezant.”
Obviously!
Apart from having to concur
with the perceived wisdom
we all recognise exists within
our cadre of our Past Masters,
what else have I learnt in my
first three months as the Master
Firefighter? I am honoured to
say that everywhere I have
found absolute and profound
respect and appreciation for
the profession of Firefighter. It
makes me proud of you all, if
a little guilty that your Master
is really masquerading as a
Firefighter since, as most of
you know, I was by profession
a Corporate Banker. In my
defence, I can at least claim
a direct (if admittedly rather
tenuous) link to the Great Fire
of 1666 in that I once worked in
the offices of Lloyds Bank which
had been built on the exact site
of Thomas Faryners bakers
shop in Pudding Lane.
At the time of writing, I have
attended 17 events on your
behalf. The most enjoyable for
me thus far proved to be an
invitation from the Clockmakers
Company to attend a Freedom
ceremony for Herr Thomas
Krosnchang who is a German
Fire Chief. I received my own
Freedom on the 10th October
1985 and I had not been in the
Chamberlain’s Court since that
date. I am sure that the various
explanations provided by the
Chamberlain did not happen
back in my day. Whether they
were making a special effort
because he was German I
do not know but I am glad
they did. Chief Krosnchang
was accompanied by several
members of his watch and it
was interesting to talk with them
(their English was frankly a lot
better than my German) and
to find that their experiences
are very close to ours. At the
conclusion of the event the
Chief presented me with a
bronze of St Florian which can
now be seen in the office.
All members of the Company
should be justifiably proud of the
achievements of our Charitable
Trust which does magnificent
work. Nevertheless it remains
of concern that some members
of the company do not support
the Charity with donations. Part
of my mission for my year will
be to contact those members
who do not currently support the
Trust to ask them to consider
doing so. To misuse Tesco’s
slogan “every little helps”.
Those of you who attended
Common Hall in July were I
think a little surprised to learn
that, as well as masquerading
as a Firefighter, I also
masquerade to an extent as an
Englishman since, in my more
wistful moments, I also consider
myself as a Viking. The fact
that I am rather handicapped
by being neither blond nor
blue eyed is not evidential of
this clearly, but my mother’s
family all came to England from
Denmark just under 200 years
ago - it seems EU migration is
not such a new phenomenon
as we believe. My mother’s
family remain Amundsens to
this day. Although not himself
a Viking, my father also had a
Viking name because he was
Eric, and whilst I was named
after Eric’s own father John
who served in the Royal Navy
until his destroyer was blown
out of the water at the Battle
of Jutland, I still feel that my
delusions are fair enough. And
as I go forth as your Master over
the next 9 months or so, what
do I expect? I have no idea but
as my ancestors would have
said “Wyd Bir Ful Araed” which
means fate is inexorable.
John Mansfield
Master.
Worshipful Company of Firefighters
FROM THE MASTER