Date/Time
Date(s) - Wednesday, October 18, 2023
10:30 am - 4:00 pm
Location
Drapers' Hall and St Lawrence Jewry, London
Categories
This event has now closed. If you wish to attend, please contact the Deputy Clerk as she may be able to add in some additional bookings, dependant on catering. Don’t miss the start of the Carmen’s year on Wednesday 18 October 2023.
Welcome your new Master by participating in the historic Installation Ceremony combined with the Company Rededication at the recently renovated St Lawrence Jewry. Then join us for a sumptuous lunch in the magnificent Drapers’ Hall. The cost has been kept at the same as last year – £120 per person (inc VAT).
The programme will be:-
10.30am – Gather at Drapers’ Hall for the procession to St Lawrence Jewry
11.00am – Installation of the new Master and Rededication Service
12.15pm – Cart Hiring Ceremony in Guildhall Yard
12.30pm – Procession from St Lawrence Jewry to Drapers’ Hall
12.45pm – Reception
1.30pm – Lunch
4.00pm – Carriages
Book Now! Use the form at the end or click here. The deadline for booking is Tuesday 10 October 2023.
The procession, headed by the outgoing Master, will start from Drapers’ Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, EC2N 2DQ and will walk to St Lawrence Jewry, Guildhall Yard, EC2V 5AA.
St Lawrence Jewry is the newly renovated church that we all look at across Guildhall Yard at Cart Marking. A church has been on this site since the 12th century. The first was destroyed by the Great Fire of London and was re-built by Sir Christopher Wren and was one of Wren’s most expensive City Churches. It is now the official Church of the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London.
Following the Service, the new Master will hire his vehicle for the year in the unique annual Cart Hiring Ceremony in Guildhall Yard, before leading the procession back to Drapers’ Hall.
This yea
r’s vehicle is an Electra Commercial Vehicle ‘Refuse Collection Vehicle’. Equipped with a Dennis Eagle OL10 Narrow body and Beta 2 bin lift, these fully electric trucks are used by Veolia to collect household waste in the Square Mile City. They were the first vehicles of this type to operate in the country and are helping to improve air quality as the City of London works to become a net-zero carbon operation by 2030.
Back at Drapers’ Hall, join the new Master, Wardens and fellow Carmen for a sparkling reception followed by a three course lunch in the impressing surroundings of their Livery Hall whose vast ceiling is adorned with scenes from Shakespeare’s plays, ‘The Tempest’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, with some of the Company’s finest silver displayed around the walls. Marbled-columned, galleried, gilded and hung with royal portraits, this is where the Monarch and other heads of state have dined and the Hall has appeared on television as Buckingham Palace.
This year’s guest speaker will be Professor Michael Mainelli. Born in the USA and educated at Harvard University, Trinity College and the London School of Economics before coming to work in the City in 1984, Michael has been Alderman of Broad Street Ward since 2013. He served as one of the two Sheriffs of the City of London from 2019 to 2021 – living in The Old Bailey for an unusual two year term due to the Covid pandemic. He is currently Senior Alderman Below The Chair and will be, subject to election in September, the next Lord Mayor of London.
The lunch will also be an opportunity to welcome our newest Liverymen and learn more about and donate to the Master’s chosen charities for the year, The Carmen Benevolent Fund and The Carmen Heritage Trust.
The cost is £120 per person (including VAT) – the same price as last year! Payment is required before places can be confirmed. Direct Debits will be taken on Friday 6 October 2023.
Dress is Morning Dress or dark Lounge Suit. Ladies are invited to wear hats if they wish.
Don’t miss out! Book your tickets using the form below. If you wish to complete a form and return it to the Deputy Clerk, please click here. The deadline date for booking is Tuesday 1