General News

Sunday 13th November saw the Master and Wardens, with the team from Surrey Docks Farm, take part in the annual Lord Mayor’s Show.

Richard Price writes: “It has been a both a pleasure and honour to work with a great team of people to deliver this year’s Worshipful Company of Farmers’ entry for the Lord Mayor’s Show. The journey had started in January 2022 when we assembled the team of people charged with delivering an entry, which showcased British produce and celebrated 70 years of the company supporting farming in the City.

Richard Price (L) and Andrew Blenkiron

“The original theme was to celebrate Her Majesty’s Jubilee, which would include a grey Fergie from 1952 and the current T8 model from 2022. After the passing of the Queen, the royal household and Pageant Master’s office were still very keen to see the tractor in the procession, so we removed the Jubilee material and promoted the 70 years of farming in the City.

“The team included Massey Ferguson, NFU, Red Tractor and Surrey Docks Farm. It was great to pull everyone together and we managed to deliver a fantastic float which included 10 of the youngsters from the Surrey Docks farm. Gemma and Claire do a fantastic job at the farm and I was amazed at the volume of people that visit the farm over the course of the year.

“The visit on the day before the show with the NFU ambassadors was excellent and everybody enjoyed seeing the nuggets of innovation around the site and to experience the passion that they all have in what they do. It was great to catch up with all the NFU ambassadors and for the Master to be able to thank all the relevant people and organisations for everything that had done for the 2022 entry. The post-meeting meal at Haz restaurant near St Paul’s was kindly sponsored by Massey Ferguson.

“NFU and Red Tractor put a lot of time into the graphics, design and look of the float, which was excellent. It was Amy Hubbard’s first Lord Mayor’s Show and she was very organised and proud of what she and her team had achieved. We are also very grateful to Andrew Blenkiron of Euston Estate, for all the preparation of the float, and to Jonathan in the Estate workshop for putting it all together. Andrew has looked after the last five years of our entries in the Lord Mayor’s Show and has quietly put a lot of time into this with his Euston team. We are very grateful to him.

“Saturday morning started at 6am for Andrew and I, meeting Rainthorpe’s Transport, who delivered the tractor trailer and grey Fergie. By 11am all of the NFU ambassadors, Surrey docks youngsters and the Master and his team were ready to start their journey through the city of London on the 3 mile procession.

“The cloudless, warm day went very well and we had a great response from the public supporting the float, our Company and British agriculture.”

This event, which took place on 13 June, introduces the City of London and its Livery Companies to new and prospective liverymen. Experts – in this case Julia Sibley, Past Master Innholder, together with our own Master and Deputy Master plus Ted Prior, the Beadle, led a fascinating discussion.

Introduced and guided by our charming Steward Hugh Wykes, some 25 participants heard about the history of the Livery, the City of London Corporation and our own Company. Lunch at our Hall provided an opportunity for the Beadle to expand on some customs, including the Loving Cup. In the afternoon we were treated to a city tour, guided by Murray Craig, whom many liverymen will recall granting them the Freedom of the City when he was Clerk of the Chamberlain’s Court. This is a fascinating introduction to the ancient customs and practices of the City Guilds and Livery Companies. Make a note to come to next year’s event.

The Master explains the history of our Livery

The Beadle demonstrating the Loving Cup with the Master, Murray Craig and the Assistant Clerk

Murray Craig and the group at St Bartholomew the Great