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The Master’s Year

I have some exciting events planned for this year. The Master’s weekend will be held in Guernsey
and I anticipate a wide range of evening and day visits which are intended to suit the whole age
range and disciplines of the Company. Knowing that I have the support of the Mistress, Wardens, all
the members of the Court, the Company and our Gallant Clerk will enable me to commit myself to
being your Master with all the effort that I can muster.

The Immediate Past Master reflects on his year

To date I have attended many dinners, luncheons and other events,
including lectures, awards ceremonies, receptions, a Treloar’s visit,
church services etc, but one of the highlights of my year was my
Master’s Weekend in Edinburgh, which was attended by 52 members.
The Sir Christopher Wren Banquet in Drapers’ Hall was well attended and
my principal guests were His Honour Judge Peter Rook and his wife.
Kirsteen and I thoroughly enjoyed the Livery visit to Ironbridge. It was a
full programme with a fair bit of eating involved!
There is no doubt that the Constructors are held in high regard by the
rest of the Livery. This was very apparent at Ironbridge which was
attended by around 90 of the 110 Masters. Our focus on education in
our industry has been noted – we are, of course, helped by the fact that we are a broad church
covering all aspects of construction meaning we can support a wide variety of individual professions
and trades. A number of other Masters made this comment about us during the weekend. Some of
them feel quite limited in their scope.
A number of the Ironbridge people highly praised the Constructors for our continuing support for
what is one of the UK’s most important heritage sites. We can hold our heads up!
A few weeks ago I had a particularly busy week – a Thanksgiving Service for the Lord Mayor’s year in
St Stephens Walbrook on the Tuesday, Court and luncheon and then the Sapper 300 versus Gunners
Charity Boxing Match and Dinner on the Wednesday, the Lord Mayor’s Prizegiving at the City of
London Freemen’s School on the Thursday and the Lightmongers’ Banquet in Mansion House on the
Friday. This probably equals the week when I attended 4 dinners with only the Thursday off for a
rest!
In the meantime, I intend to ensure that Court plays its full role in the governance of our Company
and I urge all members of Court to raise competent issues for debate such as the one regarding
movement from Freedom to Livery. The Wardens and I are working on this, currently gathering the
necessary facts and figures to allow us to properly consider the options to bring to Court for
discussion. I would also encourage all Company members to share their views and concerns because
if we don’t know of them we can’t consider them.
One disappointing note is the still relatively poor level of regular giving to the Charitable Trust. We
really must do better. I discussed this issue at Ironbridge with some of the Modern Company
Masters and a fair number of them believed that it should be a prerequisite to joining. This would,
however, introduce a degree of compulsion about which I know some of our members feel uneasy.

Autumn 2016 | The Journal of the Worshipful Company of Constructors | 5