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The Company Officers

informative and enjoyable, and was made all the more interesting because our guide was one of our
own – Liveryman John Wilson, who has been a guide at Bletchley Park for many years. We also had
afternoon tea in the Mansion on the estate.
The New Member’s Evening was again held (through the good offices of CA Jane Wright) at the
University of Westminster. This is separately reported on as part of our Outreach initiatives.
We held another Lunch Club at Ironmongers’ Hall on 16 May, which was attended by 22 members
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and their guests, all of whom seemed to enjoy the event.
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On 22 June some of us ventured to the City of London Gin Distillery. Needless to say, the trip was
quite quickly filled to bursting point (who says that the Constructors’ don’t like a drink?). The event
was both informative and enjoyable.
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28 June saw the Networking Event, which is separately reported on in the Outreach section.
In July we also held two “sporting” events and an evening walk to celebrate
the 350 anniversary of the Great Fire. The Company Golf Day was held
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on a reasonable day in mid-July at Croham Hurst Golf Club, Croydon. The
occasion was enjoyed by all and we were joined by the Master for a
splendid Summer Meal that was provided by the catering team at Croham
Hurst. The Constructors’ Cup was won by Melville Dunbar (left) and the winner of the Guests’ Prize
was Joe Allen. The Great Fire Walk was one of a series managed by the Worshipful Company of
Chartered Architects and took place on 27July. It was more than fully subscribed. The weather was
relatively kind to us and our excellent guide was able to take us around the Livery Halls that survived
the Fire.
29th July saw the third Constructors Sailing Event take place in the
Solent. Ten intrepid sailors spent a full day in two yachts sailing from
Portsmouth to Cowes on the Isle of Wight for lunch and back again. The
weather was set fair and the wind blew (up to Force 7) so some exciting
sailing was enjoyed by all! Even Ben Ainslie and his winning UK Americas
Cup Boat must have heard we were on the water as they performed
manoeuvres close by.
The final event of the Master’s year was another Constructors’ Lunch at Ironmongers’ Hall. 22
members and guests, including John Kernot, the winner of the business card draw at the Networking
Event, enjoyed another splendid lunch, which rounded off yet another year of informal events.

LUNCH CLUB
One of the new initiatives that the Company started in 2013 was that of a regular informal lunch club
to be held some 5 times a year in Ironmongers Hall. This has proved to be a very popular event
which is almost always fully booked and provides a splendid opportunity for regular networking and
outreach. Many members also take the opportunity to invite guests as we keep the cost of the event
as low as possible. We do this by a careful selection of location and leaving members and their
guests to decide and pay for whatever type of beverage they want to accompany their lunch. This
allows people who work to return to work after the lunch and those who do not have to do so to
enjoy a glass of wine with their meal and if they wish, continue to network in a nearby establishment.
We typically have around 20 members/guests attending our lunches, and one of the advantages of
the Lunch Club is that it has attracted some members who might otherwise not attend a function
probably because – as its name suggests – it takes place during the day and therefore does not
require people to travel home late at night.

16 | Autumn 2016 | The Journal of the Worshipful Company of Constructors