Master Water Conservator

Janie Hill, Consort to the Master Tallow Chandler, very kindly invited all Consorts to lunch at the Tallow Chandlers Hall.   This is very conveniently situated opposite Cannon Street Station Underground and is a beautiful building, set back and accessed through a courtyard. The Tallow Chandlers' Company was formed in about 1300 to regulate oils, ointments, lubricants and fat-based preservatives and to manage candle making using tallow (animal fats). They were granted full livery status by Edward IV in 1462 and are Livery Company No 21. Tallow candles played a key role in the compulsory street lighting for the City of London, and the Company suppled the City Watch with 60 men.   Interests expanded to cover a wide range of domestic goods, including sauces, vinegar, soap, cheese and herrings. With the advent of new candle making materials at the end of the 17 th Century, such as spermaceti and paraffin wax, however, tallow fell out of favour, and lighting further progresse...

From this ... By kind invitation of Lady Lauriston, Prime Warden of the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers, 18 Consorts were greeted at the Dutch Church in Austin Friars with a warm welcome by Richard Turner, Clerk, bearing coffee and biscuits.   We eventually took our places at tables to be faced with a bundle of reeds and a large bundle of damp rushes freshly garnered from Oxfordshire.   Yeoman Member Anita Vozik, assisted by the company’s Trade Advisor, Ellie Morgan (and her rescue dog Otto), showed us how to construct the base framework for our rush mats.   That part was easy! Then we wove damp rushes, under and over, and under and over …   That part was simple too – but whenever we had to add another reed that was when I found it very confusing.   Eventually our mats reached a size where we had to thread through further stays at the corners.   And we continued going round … and round … and round …   It was like grappling with an octopus! ...

  City of London and Livery Masters were invited to celebrate the anniversary of the opening of Guildhall School’s transformed training facilities, including state of the art concert hall, theatre and studio theatre, in addition to associated rehearsal, administrative and teaching spaces. A jazz reception provided an opportunity to catch up with everyone on music issues, including the value of music teaching in schools and colleges.    We were then ushered into the concert hall where the programme started with the world premier of Stannum by Hollie Harding.   It was a celebration of metal bashing, loud and soft.   This was followed by Mendelsohn’s Overture from a Midsummer Night’s Dream.    In addition to the feather-light strings evoking fairies, we heard the hee-haw braying of the donkey and the enchanted wood.   There was a novel presentation of Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music with 16 individual solo parts as was originally intended, ra...

The Lady Mayoress invited members of the Livery to her home to share a feast of music in the Egyptian Hall.   It was held in aid of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal with its vision and ambition to create a Better City for All through four strategic pillars   - inclusive, healthy, skilled and fair.   It is supporting National Numeracy, Mental Health Research and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award as well as other charities. Eileen, my Consort, and I attended on behalf of the Worshipful Company or Water Conservators, along with many other Masters and Livery members.   The evening was chaired/choreographed by the Lord Mayor 2016-17 Sir Andrew Parmley and included a wide selection of high quality performers. The Lady Mayoress gave a personal introduction of her appreciation of music as a child.   She emphasised the value of music in helping the development of personal skills, confidence, creativity and team working.   We then heard from five violinists and cellists from ...

The Master, Wardens and Clerk of the Water Conservators had the honour to be invited to the presentation of Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli, along with representatives of each of the 13 Livery Companies of which the Lord Mayor Elect (LME) is a member.   It was hosted by the World Traders who are the Mother Company of the LME and we were welcomed by the Master.   Because of the large number of “the Great and the Good” that had to be invited each Livery company was restricted on who could attend. The Worshipful Company of Carpenters provided their hall for the event.   Their first hall was built in 1429 and survived the Fire of London but was severely damaged by fire in 1849.   The second hall was burnt out in 1941 and the third hall finished in 1960.   18 different types of wood were used in its construction and it is a show case for the craft of carpentry. The LME was introduced by Alderman Sir David Wootton who provided a succinct history of the lives a...

  We were pleased to welcome Dr Adam Read who is the Chief External Affairs and Sustainability Officer at SUEZ Recycling & Recovery UK to present this webinar.   Adam is a Member of the SUEZ UK Management Team with responsibility for external affairs, communications, and sustainability. He has been with SUEZ UK for six years after a successful career in academia, local government and environmental consultancy stretching back over almost 30 years.   He leads the company’s work with the UK Government on the development of the new Resources & Waste Strategy, Extended Producer Responsibility, Deposit Return Scheme, and Plastic Tax. In his presentation he reflected on the success or otherwise of these initiatives and awarded marks out of 10.   He awarded high marks for intention and low for delivery.   He also identified the opportunity for the waste management sector to deliver Net Zero solutions.   He was concerned at the delay/lack of investment i...

  At relatively short notice and with a high level of secrecy, Livery Masters were invited to attend a reception and dinner at the Mansion House. We were not to tell anyone about it as information was slowly fed out, which caused several challenges as there were other Livery events planned on that evening. It was a white tie event, which necessitated a quick decision to buy or hire. Having not made a significant clothes purchase for years I argued with myself that it was an investment so long as I stop putting on weight. Upon arrival, we were able to see the Anointing Screen created for the Coronation on display in the Salon Vestibule. The Screen had been gifted for the Coronation by the City of London Corporation and participating Livery Companies, including the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators. The Screen was prepared by the Royal School of Needlework with a central design of a tree and includes 56 leaves representing the 56 member countries of the Commonwealth. ...

  As Master of the Water Conservators I was privileged to be invited by the UK Water Partnership (UKWP), together with British Water, UK Water Industry Research, the Future Water Association, the Water Industry Forum and Spring to a Water Industry Summit held at the offices of ARUP in London.   The aim of the Summit was to shape a collective response to the current challenges facing the Water Industry. In addition to about 100 representatives squeezed into the conference area at ARUP, a further over 70 participated online (including many from the Water Conservators).   The day started with an overview of the issues from Sarah Hendry, Chair of UKWP.   Representatives followed it from England, Scotland and Wales (Nigel Watson - Northumbrian Water, Rosemary Greenhill - Scottish Government and Gail Davies-Walsh - Afonydd Cymru) addressing sector challenges and opportunities. Gail subsequently spoke to me, as a student on her MSc studies at the University of Birming...

  Members and friends of the Company gathered in Black Friars Lane near the route of the River Fleet where we were greeted by Nick Royle, Clerk (Chief Executive) of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries.  While Nick introduced us to the building on part of the site of the Black Friars Proiry we kept a watchful eye for high speed cyclists.  The site included a factory for manufacturing pills, drugs and medicinal compounds needed by the medical profession as well as until recently a shop to sell the products.   The drug factory, built in the 1780s, was on the ground floor underneath the Great Hall. We learnt that the current Hall is the oldest remaining Livery Company Hall in the City of London, having been acquired in 1632.   It was originally the guesthouse of the Dominican Priory of the Black Friars but the original Hall burnt down in the Great Fire of 1666 and was rebuilt in 1672. Although damaged in the Second World War, much of the external façade of...

The Thames Fishery Research Experiment started in 1967 and has been held every year since 1972. The key objective of the Experiment is to establish the environmental conditions of the Thames through determining the number and size of fish species returning to the river at Gravesend, during a 4 hour period on an incoming tide. On 14 October 2023, 11 teams comprising a total of 75 Anglers (8 adult teams and 3 school age teams) caught 167 fish of 7 species (2005 was the record year with a catch of 882 fish).   This years’ variety of catch demonstrated the improving biodiversity of the Thames. There are seven awards and the Biodiversity award is supported by the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators for the catch which most demonstrates the continuing healthiness and improvement of the River Thames. This year’s winning catch (1 eel, 1 flounder, 3 pouting and 1 whiting) was by a member of the Charles Stanley Angling Team. Tom Flood, Walbrook Warden, presented the prize to the wi...

I was invited to a symposium organised by the RSC (for cultured readers not the Royal Shakespeare Company but the Royal Society of Chemistry), putting sustainable technologies and finding cleaner chemical solutions front and centre of thinking and action.   You may like the “Secret life of Champagne” presented by a past RSC President above; it was more interesting than a picture of Burlington House. Participants came from a range of backgrounds including industry, regulators and universities.   The presentations were truly international, reflecting the need to address sustainability globally: ·          The Role of Agricultural Wastes for Bioenergy in a Circular Economy - Sugarcane waste as a biofuel.   Issues included the loss of nutrients and the efficiency of energy conversion. ·          Using simple organic carbon molecules for low temperature hydrogen evolution and homogeneous cata...

Masters of all the Livery Companies were invited to join the Master Musician, Dean and Chapter of St Paul’s for this most majestically musical of evenings. The large and colourful turnout of the Livery matched the splendour of the building. The music was provided by an orchestra of young players and the beautiful singing of the anthems by the choir. I was told that the solo chorister achieved “B”, as opposed to the usual “B ♭ ”.  I was impressed even though I probably could not hear it. Freemen of the Musicians’ Company, including Edward Elgar and Hubert Parry, had composed m ost of the music.   The prayers were led by the Musician’s Company Chorister.   We appreciated the depth of sound of the organ when we sang “All people that on earth do dwell” to the “Old Hundredth”. It was a memorable occasion and congratulations to the Musicians’ Company for organising the event, especially against a backdrop of major transport challenges. The Musicians hosted us all at a re...

I was invited to join this conference by the Office of Product Safety and Standards in the prestigious setting of the Mansion House.   Regulators and policy makers from around the world attended.   In addition to 18 very different national presentations and perspectives, we had a series of discussions around the theme of effective regulation for growth, trade and innovation.   There were representatives from the World Bank and OECD, as well as UK organisations ranging from the Health and Safety Executive to the Consumers’ Association and Trading Standards Officers. It was very interesting to hear how regulation is evolving in many countries, with the legislation developing in response to need.   The EU and the UK are working especially with third world countries to develop health and safety, environment and consumer regulations.   There was a strong commitment to communication and engagement with the regulated and the public. It was observed that there is an...

A group of Consorts visited the Royal Society for Blind Children Life without Limits Centre.   The Centre has a striking entrance from the Thames Path, just past London Bridge.   Inside it is bright and airy, and very orange!   The Centre is cheerful and colourful to assist users to find their way round the various areas. We were greeted with a welcome coffee and given an opportunity to chat to staff.   Shalni Sood, the Centre’s Director of Philanthropy and a force to be reckoned with, told us how she was able to charm media mogul Richard Desmond into donating some of his property to be converted into this Centre, and raise the requisite £1.2m in a matter of months.   She was able to persuade many architects and construction companies and financial services to provide their assistance free of charge.   And so a basement car park was transformed into this vibrant centre providing support for 6,500 young people with impaired vision up to the age of 25. It...