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City Events
Lord Mayor’s Show
On Saturday 13th November, the world’s oldest civic procession will
take place. The Lord Mayor’s procession winds through nearly 800
years of London’s history, marking everything from the Black Death
to the London Blitz. The only time it was cancelled was for
Wellington’s funeral in 1832.
At the show, the new Lord Mayor makes his way to the Royal Courts
of Justice to pledge allegiance to the Crown just as Dick Whittington
did in 1387.
The modern procession is nearly 3 miles long and starts at 11 am after an RAF flypast, travelling from the
Mansion House to the Courts of Justice - the procession returning to the Mansion House, leaving at about
1 pm, arriving about 2-30 pm. One of London’s grandest fireworks displays then begins at about 5 pm
As usual, the Worshipful Company of Firefighters is co-ordinating the New Companies part of the parade,
which will be led by a lovingly-restored World War II fire engine that saw action in the blitz.
New City of London Mayor Elected
The Liverymen in Common Hall assembled on September 25th in the
Guildhall to elect the Lord Mayor for the coming year. Alderman Michael
Bear was duly elected for the 2010/11 year. A trained civil engineer, he
served as Sherriff of the City in 2007/8 and is a leading figure in the
property and construction industries, with a long history of heading up
regeneration of inner-city areas, such as Spittalfields.
Michael is MD of Balfour Beatty and a non-executive director of Arup. He was born in Nairobi, brought
up and educated in Cyprus and UK and studied engineering at South Africa’s Witwatersrand University
before taking an MBA at Cranfield. The Lord Mayor’s elected charities will be Corama and RedR,
charities that train and provide engineers and other relief workers to respond to worldwide emergencies
and charities that will be well appreciated by the firefighting community.
Firefighters win Golf Match
Firefighters joined the Painter-Stainers for one of their golf days held at
the Wilderness Golf Club at Sevenoaks in Surrey - the event includes a
competition between the Companies as well as individual awards for the
best players.
Once again, the Firefighter’s team managed to gain the upper hand on the
Painter-Stainers, but it was a close thing—nearly as dramatic as the Ryder
Cup!!
Our thanks go to Jeremy Beech for organising the event with the Painter-
Stainers and to Ivor Richards of the Painter-Stainers for the wonderful
welcome and excellent lunch.
The picture shows the Painter-Stainers’ captain presenting John Sherington with his magnificent trophy.