On 12th November some 30 liverymen and guests were treated to a fascinating tour of the Dyson strawberry operation at Carrington, Lincs, organised by PM Philip Wynn. The site was a field in 2020 and was producing strawberries 12 months later, and now produces 1200 tonnes of fruit a year, including 100% of Mark and Spencers’ requirement. The 10 hectare state-of-the-art glasshouse was mightily impressive not just for its scale, but for the level of sophistication of its environmental control systems. The astonishing robotic harvesting units had to be seen to be believed. Each fruit was individually inspected, filmed, picked and filmed again for quality before being allocated to a punnet. The robots from Dogtooth, a Cambridge company, were in their 4th iteration and were nearing the speed required for commercial use. The 3MW anaerobic digester, requiring 140 tonnes of feedstock per day – mainly on maize grown on the farm – provided all of the electrical power and heat for the glasshouse. The three 24 cylinder engines, running on the methane produced by the digester, hummed away impressively as we filed past in awe. Strawberries as far as the eye could see
Remembrance Sunday
The Master and Liveryman Anne Courtney are proud to support the Westminster Dragoons in Fulham SW6. They were invited to hop aboard this Jackal, a mobile weapons vehicle used for reconnaissance
Class of 2001 CRL Reunion
The 2001 CRL course had a great three day reunion in the Scottish Borders organised by Rob and Lucy Forrest. With nine out of the eighteen course delegates able to attend and fifteen years since our last reunion we had a lot of catching up to do.
Our first visit was to Cheviot Trees, a 30 year old family business producing annually some fifteen million cell grown trees and hedging plants covering over 500 varieties. We then went to Simpsons Malt, a 5th generation family managed and owned maltings who supply malt all over the UK and many overseas destinations.
On day two our first visit was to the Thorburn Group, a 3rd generation family business, at their new £5.3m purpose built engineering factory, manufacturing steel buildings and livestock equipment.
The final visit was to the Jim Clark Motor Museum where we were very lucky that we had a personal tour by Jim’s cousin, also a racing driver in his day. Jim was a local farmer who became World Motor Racing Champion on two occasions but was tragically killed in a race that he didn’t want to do but which was part of his contractual obligation.
Huge thanks to Rob and Lucy who not only organised the visit but also kindly provided lunch before we all set off on our journeys home.
Alex Young wins RAU Prize
Alex Young has been awarded a BSc Agriculture from the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester (First Class Honours). He is also winner of the Worshipful Company of Farmers Prize for the best dissertation in Agriculture and winner of the University Prize for Top Student.
Alex and a university friend are hoping to set up a micro brewery near a dairy farm in the hope it would use the spent grain from the brewing process.
On receipt of his award, Alex said,
“Thank you to the members of the company for this recognition – I am not from a farming background so for me this is especially meaningful as I build my career and seek new adventures in the land-based sector. The Royal Agricultural University has been an amazing place to live and work for the last three years – so having my work recognised in this way is a wonderful end to my undergraduate study.”
Locked in the Tower
A traditional event for the Masters of the livery world, the Master was “locked” in the Tower of London only to be released on payment of a fine as part of a fundraising event for British Red Cross. On the night, the combined liveries raised over £30,000.
He writes: We had an entertaining dinner for around 30 of us following which our “judgements” were meted out by the two Sheriffs, leading us to bow heads and take our punishment.
Afterwards, we witnessed the “Ceremony of The Keys”, when the Warders – also known as Beefeaters – lock the Tower, an event that occurs every evening after/around dusk, escorted of course.
A great evening out and whilst I wasn’t locked up in the White Tower, (shame you might say) I did find out that someone had told the Sheriffs about one of my most embarrassing moments whilst on a family holiday- there are no secrets!
Nuffield Partnership
On April 11 the Master hosted a dinner at The Farmers Club to celebrate the success of the Nuffield Farming Scholars, jointly sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Farmers and Savills. This follows on from the evening kindly sponsored by Andrew Wraith and his colleagues at Savills the previous year.
The evening was very well attended, with six Nuffield Scholars joining colleagues from the Farmers Company and Savills. During the evening, the two current Scholars, Jim Bliss and Jamie Stokes, inspired the guests by providing an update on their projects, plus recent and forthcoming travel.
Rupert Alers-Hankey, who has recently been appointed as Director of the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust, took the opportunity to set out his plans for the Trust over the coming years.
Andrew Wraith from Savills said: “It was an excellent evening of stimulating conversation and served to confirm both the high calibre of Nuffield Scholars as well as the value of the Nuffield programme.
“The dinner, which we plan to continue, is a great opportunity to maintain engagement with all the sponsored scholars.”
Surrey Docks Farm visit to Essex
Some 40 children and volunteers from Surrey Docks Farm visited Kelly Turkeys near Chelmsford on 31 July. Founder Derek Kelly and son Paul showed us round the award-winning farm.
Paul Kelly explains incubation
Poults ready for despatch
We saw the hatchery first, where the children were spellbound by seeing the scale of the operation and the little day-old poults being despatched all over the UK.
Outside, we saw Derek’s prime Angus cattle – his real love! After a picnic lunch we moved to one of the Kellys’ nearby rearing farms where we saw ‘Wild Forest Turkey’ production.
The turkeys have full access to the forest floor and were very obliging with their gobbles. Paul staged a gobbling competition, won by young Sam, who gets a free Christmas turkey!
The children’s enthusiastic reaction to this visit amply demonstrated the value of connecting children with the source of their food. Our thanks to the Kelly family, to Gemma and team from Surrey Docks and to PM Richard Whitlock for organising a great day.
The group with the forest turkeys
Air Cadets Wing Field Day at RAF Northolt
The Master and his wife, together with Past Master John Thorpe and Court Assistant Anne Courtney attended the annual Wing Field Day at RAF Northolt on Sunday, 30 June.
This is the culmination of the year’s competitions, where individual Cadets and Squadrons are awarded the annual cups and trophies, including our two Livery Salvers gifted by Past Master John Thorpe.
The group were shown around the various competitions taking place, including band, drill and banner competitions, plus aircraft recognition and modelling.
Joining them for lunch was Group Captain Al Lewis, Regional Commandant of London and the South East Region (LASER), who later took the salute on the parade ground.
After an enjoyable buffet lunch three cadets gave presentations detailing their experiences in the Cadet Service, in which they outlined the skills they had achieved through vocational training such as first aid, navigation, cyber and flight training together with leadership qualifications. They all paid tribute to the volunteer officers within the Wing who had inspired and encouraged them in their achievements.
The Master and PM making the John Thorpe presentation
The cadets are:
Adult Sergeant Tyson-Lee, 1454 Harrow Squadron, who travelled last year to Washington DC on the International Air Cadet Exchange (IACE). He also had the honour of leading then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak into Westminster Abbey at the King’s Coronation in 2023 – an experience he will never forget and for which he was consequently awarded the Coronation Medal. He is hoping to pursue a military career in either the RAF or the Royal Marines.
Cadet Warrant Officer Robert Johnson, 1159 Edmonton Squadron, and Cadet Flt Sergeant Christine Squeira, 1083 Uxbridge Squadron. Both have been selected to go to Montreal this year as part of IACE; they are extremely excited about this opportunity, where they will meet and form friendships with other Cadets from all over the world. When they leave the Cadet Service, they both want to study medicine.
Without a doubt all three of them have improved their CVs for future employment and achieved far more than most teenagers of their age due to the Cadet Service.
The culmination of the day was the Marching Parade and Bands, where the major presentations took place. The Master presented the Farmers Company Salver for Community Relations to 94 Feltham Squadron.
Past Master John Thorpe presented the John Thorpe Salver, which is awarded to the Squadron which has achieved most points in Adventure Training. This year it went to 1083 Uxbridge Squadron.
Wing Commander Niall Cumming will be stepping down as Commanding Officer in the autumn after four years in the post and the Master presented him with our Livery Quaich as a keepsake. He has been a great ambassador for the Cadet Movement and over his time as CO has forged strong links between the Wing and the Livery Company. We wish him well in his future endeavours.
City Farm Visit
On a cool, rainy day on 21 May, a group of 18 Liverymen from the Company set off for a visit to the Surrey Docks Farm (SDF), ably led by Stuart Philpot.
The WCOF has had links with and supported the SDF for over 30 years, during which time it has grown into the bustling farm it is today. Two of the key roles in which we are pleased to see it performing so well are engaging those who might be less able in society than ourselves and bringing an awareness and understanding of food, farming and nature to those with little or no exposure to it.
Angus cattle, with the unusual backdrop of Canary Wharf
Upon arrival at the 2.2-acre city site we were welcomed by Farm Manager Gemma Hooper and Animals Manager Claire Ellis-Elson, who have been there 12 and 33 years respectively.
Gemma is flourishing in her role, no doubt in part due to the expert guidance of Richard Whitlock (PM 20/21). She also went on our Challenge of Rural Leadership course in 2019 and says she especially benefited from learning how to improve her management of people and leading groups.
The old MF tractor still comes in very handy
After meeting some of the special needs volunteers we moved to the forge; the last known working one in London, then on to look at the specially constructed brick oven. This enables anyone to cook their own pizzas, often using farm-grown ingredients for toppings. This is especially valuable as some families have little in the way of cooking facilities, often just a microwave.
Gemma and Claire told us the education local school groups (and their teachers!) get from hearing about what animals eat, which meat is produced, how animals feed their young and much more.
The mobile farm
Animal petting is strongly encouraged as many children have never seen farm animals, let alone touched one. Bottle-feeding lambs returns a strong income stream, as do the ‘animal experiences’. The whole environment is so utterly different from paved streets and blocks of flats.
An example of WCOF support was when Lottery Funding was won to facilitate a mobile farm lorry to enable SDF to set up in school playgrounds; we also funded and advised on the purchase of hurdles to build pens for the animals.
James, horticulturist of 30 years at City Farm, gave us an insight to the farm’s management of the muck heap – the farm makes and sells its own compost – and he described more about the ingenious rainwater harvesting methods and the on-site biodigester.
The farm also supports two apprentices for an 18-month course; one in agriculture and one horticulture, both of which help with the management of the farm.
This is yet another way in which the farm can support people needing a start. All together an informative and uplifting day.
Liverymen at lunch: Back row L-R: Gemma Hooper, Jo Philpot, Duncan Couper. Middle row: Edward Crawford, Stephen Watkins, Christopher Day, Rosie Carne, Alison and Paul Hovesen. Front row: Paul and Christopher Philpot, John Heath, Hugh Wykes, Richard Whitlock.
The Summer Trip
Some 34 people joined the Master for the 2024 summer visit to Sicily. We left a cold and wet Blighty and landed in rather contrasting 30 degree sunshine at Palermo airport.
A short coach trip saw us at the magnificent Norman cathedral in Monreale, famed for its extravagantly lavish decoration, perhaps a little rich for austere English tastes.
We then moved on to our accommodation in the medieval town of Marsala – famed for its eponymous fortified wine, a sample of which awaited us in our rooms.
Day two saw us out bright and early for a short voyage to the Egadi Islands off the West coast of Sicily.
Some brave souls had a dip in the rather chilly Med while anchored off Levanzo. The majority looked on in awe.
Lunch on board was accompanied by wine served in re-used water bottles. The content of these unpromising containers was surprisingly potable.
The next day dawned bright and clear once again as we headed off for a fascinating tour of the Pellegrino winery, where many of us were so impressed by the product that we bought several bottles.
We moved on after lunch to the amazingly well-preserved Greek remains at Segesta. The views from the theatre (a mini-Epidaurus) were breath-taking, only spoiled by a new motorway snaking through the middle distance.
Our final day was spent weaving through the many salt pans along the Trapani coast, spotting the odd Flamingo along the way, before embarking the small ferry to the island of Mozia.
The highlight was the remarkable Greek sculpture in marble of a charioteer.
In the afternoon the party climbed its way through the cobbled streets of the walled town of Erice, to be rewarded by some astonishing views over the whole of Trapani.
All commented on how wonderful a trip this was, fostering lasting fellowship as well as considerable
historical scholarship.
Profuse thanks must go to Maggi of Windows on the Wild for the organisation of the trip and to our Clerk and Assistant Clerk for ensuring its smooth running.