Page 9 - A4 Journal 2018 R16

The Master’s Year

Our next informal event was a tasting of Spanish wines organised by our Master, Tony Ward. Having found the wine bar in
the bowels of Leadenhall Market we were informed and entertained by a very knowledgeable young lady sommelier from
the wine bar and tasted some exquisite Spanish wines, all of which were accompanied by an appropriate tapas selection.
In April we were very pleased to visit BRE, courtesy of another of our members – Dr Deborah Pullen. We were shown around
many of the specialist laboratories and also visited the original scale model of the Möhne Dam – one of the objectives of the
famous Dam Busters raid by 617 Squadron during World War II – the scale model having been used to develop Barnes
Wallis’s famous “bouncing bomb”. The visit proved to be most interesting and informative to all who attended,
and a splendid buffet lunch was laid on by BRE during which we were able to talk with some of their younger
graduates, some of whom might be encouraged to apply for one of many scholarships and awards.
At the end of April there was another of our informal lunches at Ironmongers’ Hall. It was attended by 20
members and their guests and, yet again, seemed to be enjoyed by all present.

May and June saw the ascendancy of our more sporting members. On
16 May a few of our number ventured to the far north (of London) to
take part in the Inter-Livery Clay Pigeon shooting event. Whilst we did
not win (by quite a margin) a good day was enjoyed by all and the team,
led by CA Henry Lamb, vowed to do better next year. On a hot and
humid day in June we also posted a team to take part in the Inter-Livery
Rifle shooting event, held, by courtesy of the RAF Target Rifle
Association, at Bisley – the home of Rifle Shooting in the UK. Again, we
were far from winning, although one of our number, Simon Odam did
win with the cowboy guns, but our team, PM John Trussler and Court
Assistants Henry Lamb and Iain Meek said that they enjoyed the day.
We even let Simon join the United Guilds team for the day, which raised £5,000 for the RAF Benevolent
Association.

On 14th June a select band of members took a river boat trip down the Thames
from Westminster and visited the Old Royal Naval College (the alma mater of
your Editor). It was a chance in a lifetime to see the ceiling “up close” from the
raised platform that had been erected to give the conservators unfettered access
to the ceiling, which was painted in the early 18th Century by Sir James Thornhill.
We were expertly guided by one of the conservators. Following a most interesting
visit some of us then decanted to the “Old Brewery” a public house in the grounds
of the Old Royal Naval College for some refreshment.

July saw yet more sporting events. The Golf Day was again organised by
PM Alan Longhurst and was held at Croham Hurst Golf Club. There were
competitions for both Constructors and their Guests, and, following an
enjoyable round of golf many of the players joined with other members
and their guests to partake of our summer dinner. Then at the end of July,
six intrepid sailors spent a couple of days on the Solent, courtesy of Junior
Warden David Sheehan. They spent the night at Cowes on the Isle of
Wight and the weather was fine, although the wind dropped on the second
day thus requiring them to use the boat’s engine to return to Haslar
Marina.
The year ended with yet another informal lunch at Ironmongers’ Hall. 13 members and guests enjoyed the lunch,
and, as ever, a few walked down to the Little Ship Club to continue the convivial atmosphere.

As is evident from the above, there was a broad selection of events, some of which were free, and others were at
a relatively moderate cost. Some should have been of interest to all whilst some were of a more limited interest.
However, the Master has expressed his disappointment that some of the events were rather poorly subscribed,
and the Events committee would very much like to understand from Members what sort of events they would
prefer the committee to organise as we would very much like to meet the requirements of our members and
thereby afford more members the opportunity to take part in our informal events programme.

Autumn 2018 | The Journal of the Worshipful Company of Constructors | Page 9