16th Inter-Livery Pancake Races

Shrove Tuesday dawned dry and bright, but chilly, and saw the running of the 16^th Inter- Livery Pancake Races in Guildhall Yard.  The event was organised by the Worshipful Company of Poulters, and was held in Guildhall Yard by courtesy of the Chief Commoner.  It was attended by both the Sheriffs and some 40 Livery Companies.

The Constructors’ team, which is pictured above, was Junior Warden Derek Farrow, Liveryman Dragan Krstevski, Freeman Georgina Walker and Liveryman (and Novelty Runner) Ben DeSanges acquitted themselves splendidly.  Although we didn’t win this year, Georgina came an incredibly close second in the Ladies Race, as can be seen in the photograph on the left.  Ben had used the power of modern graphics to depict himself as the Elizabeth Tower in the Palace of Westminster (more commonly, but incorrectly, known as “Big Ben”), and Dragan Krstevski came straight from the Airport having flown in from Dubai.  He surely must have felt the difference in temperature more than most of us.

The art of pancake tossing is not particularly onerous, but many of the teams received penalty time points.  This year, unusually, one team was also disqualified, although history, as far as the writer, our Team Leader, was concerned did not relate quite why, although they must have seriously infringed the rules somewhere.

Next year’s races are on Tuesday, 16^th February 2021, and if we are again invited to participate, we will be looking for an Ace team.  The Senior Steward would be very pleased to receive offers from members of the Company to participate.  We will be looking for the Master (or his depute), A Liveryman, a Lady member or lady partner of a member, and a Novelty runner, who will need to suggest a novelty costume that is either related to construction,  the Master’s theme for the Year, the Company’s activities or the Lord Mayor’s chosen charities..