Master Water Conservator

Eileen Bigg, Master’s Consort and 28 other City Consorts met at the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe for a fascinating talk on the construction of the first ever tunnel under water.   Sir Marc Brunel, a highly regarded French engineer, began his ground-breaking tunnel across the Thames in 1826.   Dubbed the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, it pioneered not only the first self-sinking caisson but also a tunnelling shield which protected the diggers.   This idea came to Brunel as he observed the “shipworm” munching its way through ship’s timbers and excreting excavated wood behind to reinforce its passage. Marc Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel and their workers persevered through dangers such as flood, disease, firedamp, explosions and terrible working conditions.   Indeed, Brunel the younger nearly drowned during a particularly vigorous flood. As with many major engineering projects, construction over ran and ran out of money, and was scaled down.   Even...

City Consorts including Eileen Bigg, Master’s Consort, plus London Guide and Information Technologist Sam Jacobs set off from Temple Bar for a leisurely wander between St Paul’s and Smithfield.   We looked at many memorials and statues which we pass every day but never really notice, often relating to locations of buildings which were destroyed if not in the Fire of London then in the Blitz, such as the Panyer Boy in Panyer Alley marking the site of an inn, and the Bluecoat memorial at Grey Friars in Newgate Street.   There was a focus on the dark side of the city, as we passed the site of Newgate Prison and heard about various burnings and hangings.   We saw the watch house where vigilantes would keep guard against “Resurrection men” digging up bodies from the nearby graveyard, to sell on for medical research. By St Bart’s is the memorial to William Wallace who was brought down to London to be hung, drawn and quartered, and his head tarred and placed on a spike. Th...

  Thirty City Consorts and a Consort’s Consort (me) gathered for an early morning briefing from experts on mudlarking, what to look for on the foreshore, and avoiding getting wet.   This was a fascinating overview of the history of the City of London.   It included Roman to modern: willow pattern pottery, eating habits – oyster shells, trade – coal, and pastimes – clay tobacco pipes. After our safety briefing and allowing the tide to go out, we descended to the foreshore in search of valuable Roman brooches and coins.   Sadly not, but we did find a ‘time line’ of pieces of china, nails, mediaeval builders’ rubble, and bits of bones, probably not human.   The beach was remarkably clear of modern waste or litter so instead we were looking at previous generations’ waste. We compared our ‘finds’ then crossed the river for a most enjoyable lunch with views of St Paul’s from the Founders Arms.   Our thanks to Georgina Drummond for organising a successful day,...

21 year Celebration and Alumni Dinner at Queens’ College, University of Cambridge The Water Conservation Trust has been funding a bursary for students on this course for the past ten years; as Master I was honoured to be invited to attend the celebration dinner in the impressive Tudor surroundings of Queens’ College.   It was a great opportunity to meet past and current students who have benefitted from this bursary. I met Ishwar Gurung whom the Trust currently supports.   He was a Gurkha and now lives in Ipswich with his young family.   He completed his first degree part-time whilst working in the British Armed Forces.   During his time with the Army he was involved in a project helping villagers to procure and purify canal water.   He is investigating how water services can be delivered in a sustainable, environmentally friendly way that is beneficial to the economy and to social development. I was delighted to meet Professor Richard Fenner who has been ...

  Waster Conservators and guests gathered at Caversham Bridge for a cruise to watch Swan Upping on the non-tidal Thames.   After coffee, we followed the boats upstream until swans and cygnets were sighted.   The teams then surrounded the birds and quickly removed them from the water for ringing.   Vets checked the birds for avian flu which has devastated some bird populations.   This process was repeated several times during the morning. Swan Upping is an annual ceremony conducted by Thames Watermen to count and mark the swans and cygnets.   Traditionally there were two nicks on the beak for the Vintners Company, one nick for the Dyers’ Company, and royal birds were unmarked.   The birds are now ringed, and their numbers recorded for future reference.   There are three teams, each of two boats and six men.   The King’s men are in red, the Dyers’ in blue and the Vintners in white. It was a most interesting morning and our thanks to Georg...

Worshipful Company of Fishmongers  and the Company of Watermen and Lightermen  of the River Thames The Doggett's is a race for single sculls on the Thames from London Bridge to Chelsea. This year, to celebrate the King’s Coronation, there was a flotilla of 12 cutters and gigs operated by livery companies and clubs, each carrying a royal cipher to represent the 12 monarchs from George I to Charles III.   They travelled in procession to Westminster before the race, followed by several support and spectator ships.   When the Doggett’s competitors approached, the crews saluted Doggett’s by tossing their oars and calling three cheers. For the winning crew of the Water Forget-me-not, carrying the cipher of King George VI, it was a very leisurely row.

  Along with other new Masters I was privileged to join the City Consorts (the partners of Masters and Past Masters) in a visit to the garden of Alison Green, a member of the Wax Chandlers.   Over 24 years she has transformed the two acre garden of a 17 th century farmhouse into a series of smaller gardens in different styles in the “Arts and Crafts” tradition with new plantings each year, many with colour-themed beds.   She uses the “no dig” method (which I fully support), and is totally organic.   If plants survive or thrive they are nurtured and cherished, if they get eaten or grubbed up they are removed.   Round each corner there was a new amazing vista or cosy nook, including a spiral garden based on the Fibonacci golden ratio, a spring walk, a woodland walk and water gardens.   It was a lovely relaxing environment with lunch and plentiful supplies of cake.   It was also a great opportunity to chat with other Masters and Consorts about the Liv...

Each year at the Myddelton Lunch the Company awards prizes for the best dissertation from the students on each of the postgraduate courses at 15 universities the Trust currently supports.   Unfortunately not all the winners can make it to our lunch. It was therefore my pleasure to present a certificate and water jug to Leonard Chek Yuet Wong when he returned to the UK for his graduation at the University of Newcastle.   His dissertation subject was Precipitation and Flood Risk associated with Post-Tropical Cyclones in the North Atlantic Basin .   Leonard works as a land drainage engineer for the Government of Hong Kong.   We discussed the challenges he faces on a densely populated island with a rainfall of well over 2 metres each year, often in short bursts, resulting in flash floods.   He described their use of sustainable drainage and storage. Leonard was accompanied by his wife, Rita, a music teacher and we met up at All Hallows by the Tower, the Company ...

Members of the Company joined Eileen and me for a tour of St Albans City led by a City guide.   We met in the ancient market place and worked our way through the medieval and historic centre of the City.   We learnt that the City should have been called St Alban but there was a typing error in the document conferring city status.   We found the many inns had been turned into shops and overhanging frontages that had been replaced.   We saw the impact of using green timber, which was easy to work but distorted as it aged. After lunch in a traditional pub we toured the Cathedral seeing the many different styles of construction in the history of the building.   We learnt about the reuse of Saxon columns in the Norman part of the cathedral and the reuse of Roman bricks in the Saxon cathedral, reused again in the Norman cathedral.   Through the projection of coloured light onto the medieval wall paintings we saw the amazing scenes that have welcomed pilgrims for ...

Introducing the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators to the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress in the Mansion House is one of the most important occasions for our Livery Company.   I was accompanied by the Thames Warden Dylan Barker, Fleet Warden Carolyn Roberts and our Clerk, Christine Duthie in the North Drawing room where we were joined by the Lord Mayor Nicolas Lyons and the Lady Mayoress Felicity Lyons.   I introduced the Company describing its objectives and areas of interest and activity.   The Lord Mayor described his role and his links with the Merchant Taylors’ Company.   He acknowledged the work of the Water Conservators and the importance of our interest in water and the environment. I then read the declaration: My Lord Mayor On the 14th day of July in the year 1197, King Richard I, in order to improve his liquidity, sold the Conservancy of the River Thames to the Corporation of London for the sum of 1500 marks.  To acknowledge this important ...

We entered our cutter, Water Forget-me-not, in the Thames Traditional Rowing Association race from HQS Wellington, Kings Reach to Imperial Wharf, a distance of 4.6 statute miles, competing with other livery companies and rowing clubs. Meet the team: Graham, Cox; Phillipa, Stroke; Kallie; Danny; Sarah; Stephen; and Stephen, Bow (and making sure the cutter did not drift away while we posed for a picture).   I was the passenger/ballast. Some of the competition   Getting ready for the start    Tackling the wind and rain head on   Winners of the Mixed Crew, Port of London Challenge!