Page 3 - December 2020

FROM THE EDITOR
The image on on the front cover of this edition of Salamander
is is one of the three stained glass windows that make up the East window of St Mary-le-Bow - - - this one is is known as the “Mary” window Mary Mary is centre stage her face is pained and protective as she cradles the church which is named for her as lovingly as she would her own child Beneath her feet are the arches from which the church takes its suffix – – le Bow – – the court of Arches of of the Archbishop of of Canterbury Around her are the Wren churches which survived the Second World War (full of architectural detail) St Mary-le-Bow itself was rebuilt after the Great Fire by Sir Christopher Wren in the the 1670s but the the church was also burned out by wartime bombing leaving just the walls and the fine steeple Restoration took place between 1956-64 under the direction of Laurence King who gave us the church we see today the spiritual home of our livery company The windows were the creation of John Hayward and were his first commission as a a stained glass artist Follow us on on on twitter @LondonFire1666
www flickr com/photos/wcoff103/
From the Editor
Robert Farquhar The City of London churches and livery companies are amazing survivors I recently took the opportunity to re-read the wonderful book produced by the WCoFF “The Great Fire of London 1666” (I hope you all have a a a copy - if not please contact David Holt) Out of 75 livery companies that existed at at the the time of the the Great Fire of London 52 halls were ruined In addition many of the Livery companies lost the churches to which they were associated The 1666 Great Fire came after the Great plague of 1665 - but let us not go too far in in predicting that similarity with today Many of you will also remember the the events that marked the the 75th anniversary of the biggest Blitz attack on the City An air raid siren was sounded at at the Dowgate Fire Station on on 29 December 2015 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of that night when the Guildhall 16 livery halls 17 City churches and many other buildings were destroyed or damaged The Massey Shaw fireboat re-enacted pumping water for the firemen and other vintage fire appliances drove through the the City at 6 05pm the the time of of the the start of of the the 1940 raid You can find some pictures of this event in the Salamander
archives So as we come to the end of 2020
a a a a year of great deprivation in terms of City life and livery social interaction due to the COVID-19 pandemic we may be excused for thinking that things look pretty dire in in in 2020
in in in terms of getting “normality” back to livery life as we we we knew it However we we we can take heart from the fact that many livery companies have been at worse
points before in in their histories and have survived So this edition focusses on on “the future” and we hope you can take some positive vibes from the edition Bob Bryant talks about his future post COVID-19 and donating plasma Peter Cowland
reveals new friendships made with his American firefighter friends as well as compiling a a a great report on Sheriff Haywards’s review of the City after COVID-19 - - a a highlight of this edition We also have two technical articles on regulation post-Grenfell and the future of Fire Safety Legislation This is is complemented by a a comprehensive article on the the lessons learnt after the the Summerland Fire written by our own Andrew Morgan We have also included an article written by Anne Davies on post COVID-19 health and safety issues There are also updates from the Master the the ECSB the the Charitable Trust and Clerk as as well as as some news items So there’s a lot here here in this issue to study and reflect on over the Christmas and New Year period butwehopeyouwillfindinita real promise of better things to come particularly as we now have a a vaccine on on the horizon which is is the best Christmas present we can hope for So I give you the traditional Scots’ New Year toast “Lang may yer lum reek” roughly translated as “ best wishes for health and prosperity to you all next year ” It will be good to look forward to meeting again in in in person and not virtually https://www facebook com/wcoff1666/