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ST. FLORIAN’S
BANQUET
St Florian's Installation Banquet Dinner
On 10th October, an excellent night was had at
the St Florian’s Installation banquet held at the
magnificent Girdlers’ Hall, just round the corner
from the Insurance Hall. The Girdlers’ Hall has its
famous Bell carpet, a 16th century Turkish woven
piece over 20 yards long, displayed alongside one
side of the room as the backdrop to the banquet
setting. In his address on behalf of the Company,
the new Master, Michael Harper, referred to the
ancient art of belt or girdle making by the
Girdlers, noting, as apparently the only belt now
officially provided by the Girdlers’ company is
one for every new monarch, that the Company
must currently be on short time.
There were several highlights to the evening. The
presentation of the Worshipful Company of
Firefighters award to Dr Brian Ward, the
National Resilience Officer, for his magnificent
work in providing exactitude in the UK’s disaster
emergency planning was warmly given and
humbly received by Dr Ward, who gave a
touching speech on the sound motives that
underpinned his important work on behalf of
communities.
The main guest of the evening was the Right
Honourable John Gummer, Lord Deben,
Chairman of Sancroft, who, in a wide ranging
discourse from the environment to the benefits
of belonging within Europe, entertained with a
myriad of stories from his political life. Finally,
we had the most delightful recital from the Tring
Park School for the Performing Arts who
presented a selection of songs by James Robert
Brown – it was wonderful to see and listen to
lovely performances by such talented young
people, stars of the future.
The evening was complemented by an excellent
menu (belts or girdles had to be put out a
notch!). Overall, it was an evening enjoyed by all
who attended.
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Many thanks go to Steve Neville for taking pictures of the event, shown here and on the front page.
The top left picture shows Dr Brian Ward being presented with his commendation sponsored by
Vimpex and represented by Past Master Viv Jones, alongside his sons James and Martin. The lower
pictures shows part of the wonderful Bell carpet and examples of ancient girdles and belts on display.