September 2024
Margaret and I began my penultimate month as Master in Verona, about to return to England after our brief visit for the opera. The next day, Monday September 2nd, a virtual meeting of Officers and the Clerk sorted out the confusion that had arisen over that week’s activities as a Calling Notice sent out while we were away had included the wrong date! The results included double booking for dinner the following Thursday. Peter Harrison, my immediate predecessor as Master, valiantly volunteered to replace me for dinner at the Tower of London as part of the new ‘Escape from the Tower’ charity fund raiser for the British Legion, replacing the previous ‘Jail and Bail’ annual lunch. This meant that I could attend the dinner with the Court of the Carmen, the invitation to which I had already accepted. Next, on the morning of Thursday September 5th, I attended the first meeting of the Corporate Sponsorship Group. Work continues on corporate membership and on procuring the sponsorship which is so vital, especially for the bi-annual Duke of Edinburgh Future of Energy Conference next scheduled for November 2026. My dinner that evening was a great success. Carmen Hall can only hold 40 for a meal and we were on separate tables of six, in my case shared with four current Masters and a past Master Carmen. The five current Masters all knew each other well after many meetings in the previous few months so there was an element of returning to school after the August break and much sharing of ‘holiday stories’! For once I was on time, indeed almost early, so I had considered whether I should drop into El Vino’s until the official start time of 6.30 pm - only to see a large group of dinner guests already nursing champagne glasses in the Courtyard and full view of Fleet Street! I have been learning, slowly, that one livery practice for events is to pay relatively little attention to official start times. On Friday, September 6th, Margaret, Maia, Theia and I were once more walking the Ridgeway, which is reported elsewhere, with my week ending on Sunday, September 8th when I attended the Merchant Navy Day service at the national Merchant Navy Memorial in Trinity Square Gardens on Tower Hill. The memorial bears the over 35,000 names of merchant seafarers from the two World Wars and the Falklands Campaign for whom there is no grave but the sea. My task was to lay a wreath on behalf of the Company but on arrival I learnt that our wreath had already been claimed! Fortunately Commodore Bill Walworth took charge and we both joined the procession of wreath layers at the end of the service. The service was accompanied by a Royal Marine Band with the large congregation including many veteran and naval uniforms, including several admirals. I had a very amusing chat with a recent captain of a cruise liner with over 6,000 passengers, which she had found fascinating but hard work …. before being promoted to administration. Each year a reading is included about an action involving a ship and its crew named on the memorial. This year the reading concerned two engineer officers whose ship was lost in the D-Day landings, now eighty years ago. It was among the most impressive of the remembrance services I have attended as Master and I was in a reflective move when I returned home for a late dog walk in the countryside. I had hoped to make an appearance at the two day Armed Forces Sustainable Energy Association conference that began the following Monday, September 9th, but personal business kept me in Buckinghamshire. I was, however, able to attended the Modern Livery Companies dinner in the Farmers and Fletchers Hall that evening. The thirty four modern companies take it in turns to host these dinners, of which there are two each year, so making it a seventeen year cycle, though this will lengthen as the number of livery companies increases. This was another enjoyable evening among an increasing number of familiar faces, as well as a sprinkling of newly appointed Masters. I had an interesting chat about a very worthy cancer awareness project that was published shortly thereafter and encourages livery members to attend tests available at several locations in the City. The dinner venue was in the basement of a relatively modern (1960s) hall, with the highlight a trio of lady opera singers who entertained us in grand style after the meal. Personal matters also meant I was unable to make the in person Industry Group meeting in Carmen Hall the following day but I was available for the first Welcome Meeting for recently elected members of the Company, also in the Hall, on Wednesday September 11th. This innovation gives new members the opportunity to meet the General Purposes Committee and the Chairs of the various committees, with each Chair giving a brief explanation of the role his or her committee plays. The aim is to encourage those new to the Company to become actively involved in our committee network and the initial results have been encouraging. I cannot overemphasise the importance of both new and newly active members to the future of the Company. When I rang the doorbell at Carmen Hall to gain entry before the start of the Welcome Party I was rather surprised to be told there was no Fuellers meeting that evening but there had been one the day before….. and so assumed a late cancellation and started to walk back to the underground station. Fortunately I met the Clerk on his way in and he was able to sort out the earlier misunderstanding. The moral may be that it not always sensible to arrive early for a livery event! |
| The rest of the week involved another Ridgeway walk, more family business and a brief meeting of Officers on admin matters. My next appearance as Master was on the evening of Tuesday, September 17th when I was one of over 100 guests at a reception at Trinity House to mark the 30th anniversary of the National Coastwatch Institution (‘NCI’). HRH The Princess Royal, Royal Patron of NCI, was the guest of honour and she made a point of meeting and speaking to each attendee. We included volunteer watchkeepers, NCI Trustees and representatives from other organisations including HM Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Royal National Lifeboats Institute (’RNLI’), the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy, The Cruising Association, The Seafarers’ Charity and the Company! I had met the current Chair at the 200th anniversary of the RNLI earlier in the year and was interested to learn more about the valuable work the NCI carries out on and nearby our coast, which includes search and rescue incidents, many initiated by NCI watch keepers, with many lives saved as a result. When HRH asked me why I was on the guest list I explained the Fuellers energy background and we then discussed the final move away from coal in the UK, mentioned in the press that morning, at a time when world coal production remains close to an all-time peak. Margaret and I were back in London the following evening, September 18th, as we were the guests of the Worshipful Company of Lightmongers at their 209th Court Dinner. This was held at Tallow Chandlers’ Hall, one of my favourite venues which includes the oldest Court meeting room in the City. The dinner, which followed the Court Meeting, was a convivial evening, featuring some trout followed by slow roasted lamb, all accompanied by some very well chosen wine. I was lucky enough to sit next to a recent Master Lightmonger who proved to be another lawyer and so a very interesting conversation followed as we discussed the changes in the profession over the last several decades. The Lightmongers are next to us in the order of livery precedence so I have been fortunate to process and/or sit next to their Master on many occasions. The following day, Thursday September 19th, I attended the inaugural meeting of our Embassy Series group in Carmen Hall , with Court Assistant Iain Poole in the Chair and Ash Shastri, the Junior Warden, a leading member. Plans were discussed for the proposed series of embassy related events and I look forward to these coming into fruition in the next few months and years, thereby raising our profile for disseminating energy information in the diplomatic sector. After another Ridgeway walk over the weekend and various family matters my next event as Master was on Wednesday September 25th. The Company had been delighted to accept an invitation to be part of the 695th Lord Mayor’s Knowledge Miles series of Lectures with our subject ‘Energy Transition & The Role Of Hydrogen’. The Lord Mayor had, of course, given a lecture on the same topic for us at Imperial College earlier in the year. Ash Shastri, our Junior Warden, is an energy consultant and so volunteered to take charge of this important event. He and our guest speaker, Erik Rakhou, an Associate Director BCG, provided a balanced evidence-based perspective on the role of hydrogen and its ongoing evolution, with industrial innovation playing a vital role but at the same time facing economic and regulatory issues. The result gave the audience a flavour of the potential future for hydrogen and the real challenges that lie ahead, with an emphasis on the need for a fact-based, reasoned and respectful debate. The next day, Thursday September 26th, I attended a virtual meeting of the Trustees of the Fuellers Charitable Trust, to whom I act as an adviser. The meeting covered a number of routine matters including a Treasurer’s report, consideration of pending requests for grants and the potential appointment of new trustees following the end of the term of office of two trustees scheduled for the near future and the resignation of another due to an increased workload following the change of government. Past Master Chloe Andrews-Jones presided as Chair as efficiently as always, with news of the need to prepare even more paperwork to satisfy the ever-growing body of regulations and publications of ‘best practice’. Margaret and I then dined with friends from Washington DC at their London flat before heading off for another charity walk on the Saturday, September 28th. What had proved to be a busy month ended the following Monday, September 30th, with Common Hall, a meeting in the Guildhall to elect the new Lord Mayor and Sheriffs and to hear the valedictory speeches of the outgoing officers. This was preceded by the now familiar call to the Guildhall crypt to put on my Master’s gown and badge of office before joining the long procession into the Guildhall. Experience led me to arrive rather later than we were bidden, but still in plenty of time for me to enrobe and join the procession: my last experience of ‘hurry up and wait’ as Master (but for rather less time than before!). We then adjourned to Armourer’s Hall for lunch where we met several other fuellers and consorts, including Margaret. There were three tables in the dining room, each for the Master and other attendees of Common Hall from a livery company plus consorts. All in all very much a recommended way to follow processing in, then sitting and then processing out of the Guildhall in robes! By the time you read my final blog I shall no longer be your Master, having served (absent the unexpected) some 384 days in post. The limit of one year on holding office derives from the terms William the Conqueror imposed on the City when the decision was taken to swear allegiance rather than fight after the battle of Hastings. His advisers reasoned that a year was too short for an individual to gather enough support to challenge the Norman dynasty. In modern days the justification is probably that much more than a year of livery entertainment would be likely to be detrimental to health, or at least call for a period of dieting! In any event I would not have missed the last year, which has been, in the most part, a very special and enjoyable experience! |
October 2024
| My last month as Master was very different to the first eleven, principally for two reasons: first my calendar year as Master ended on October 13th and as many of the subsequent invitations were ‘repeats’ it made more sense for the Master Elect to attend rather than me; and second the deaths of two very old friends, one my first cousin who had been living with us since the covid pandemic, led to Margaret and I both being heavily engaged in the ensuing arrangements, with the first funeral on October 11th and the second a fortnight later. As a result this report is in two halves: the first an outline of my relatively few final activities as your Master; and the second a synopsis of what I would have said in the Master’s traditional report on the year, given immediately prior to the installation of his or her successor, if a puncture on the M25 had not prevented me attending the Ceremony which marked the formal end of my appointment! Starting with activities as Master, the first in October was to attend, on Thursday October 3rd, a talk by Reverend Paul Kennedy, the Rector of St Vedast-Alias- Foster, the church where we hold our annual joint carol service with the Worshipful Company of Fan Makers. He had recently finished a sabbatical in which he visited Assisi, the birthplace of the Franciscan movement, famous for its five values: service to the poor and marginalised; affirmation of the unique worth of each person; appreciation for beauty; reverence for all creation; and faith in a personal and provident God He then travelled, accompanied by two ambulances, one pick-up truck, six drivers and floor to ceiling supplies, to Ukraine. After delivering the supplies he stayed with the husband of the Ukrainian family currently staying at his London rectory. It was an inspiring evening, with some amusing anecdotes about the many dangers faced in Ukraine and the fortitude of the local population struggling to maintain independence from the Putin regime. After a week of personal matters I was next on Fuellers duty on Tuesday, October 15th for our Industry Group visit to the Energy From Waste (‘EFW’) site at Greatmoor. The site is half an hour from our house in Buckinghamshire and I was fortunate to organise the visit for the day on which the BBC Climate and Science reporting team announced its analysis that burning household rubbish in giant incinerators to make electricity is the dirtiest way power is generated in the UK. The team had, unfortunately, failed to mention that the waste being burnt at Greatmoor would otherwise be destined for landfill and so its conversion into energy represented, in comparison, a considerable environmental improvement! We met Stephen Rawlinson, the manager of the site and our host and guide, for lunch at a local restaurant and the detailed conversation, which included a pointed criticism of the BBC as well as some very technical discussions on the conversion process, some of which I think I understood, continued through a very pleasant meal and a thoroughly enjoyable (and for me very informative) visit that lasted well into the late afternoon. After a long introductory talk on the details and results of the EFW process we had a guided tour of the site. We started in the control room with a run through of the technology and its application and then progressed through a site that was not only enormous but also notable for the very small number of operatives involved. I was very impressed and the group thoroughly enjoyed an industry visit with a guide whose in-depth practical and technical knowledge and very detailed explanations were very much appreciated. One ‘highlight’ was confusion about those expecting to be met at Aylesbury railway station, which turned out to be six rather than four. I managed to ferry all of us to lunch after Ash Shastri, the Junior (now Senior) Warden and Fueller Tony Griffiths nobly volunteered to travel in the back of the car, normally occupied by our two labradors. The logistics improved on our later than expected return journey! Stephen told me afterwards how much he had enjoyed the technical discussions as the visitors to the site are, more often than not, from local schools!   The next day, Wednesday October 16th, I attended the Energies Industry Club lunch and sat on the Fuellers table for an enjoyable meal and catch up followed by a speech by Professor Paul Monk, the Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. This was an interesting talk, albeit more about the problems Net Zero faces, both domestically and internationally, than the solutions, which seem likely to be varied and emerge, absent material change, sometime in the future. The table conversation was, perhaps, more down to earth, while some scepticism about the new government’s direction of travel.Margaret and I then celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary, followed by two days walking the Ridgeway with Maia and Theia for charity. My next appearance as Master was at the Livery Climate Action Group conference, on Tuesday October 22nd at Merchant Taylor’s Hall, where the Company had been invited to provide a panel to discuss energy within the conference theme of ‘Planning for a Resilient Future’. Past Master Averil Macdonald chaired our panel, assisted by Junior Warden Ash Shastri and Communications Group Chair Jon Clark. The main challenge was achieving net zero by electrification and one issue the potential for hydrogen to contribute. The UK’s priority should be the scale-up of low carbon technologies while the City should focus on delivering London as the centre for energy technology and related research. The capital required could, however, exceed £100 bn. Another day in which I learnt more about the hurdles we face than the solutions, though that so many are searching for the latter allows some optimism that mankind would meet the challenge, albeit without yet knowing how or when this will be achieved. The following day, Wednesday October 23rd, was undoubtedly a highlight of my year. Ash Shastri, Past Master Chloe Andrews-Jones and I travelled to Leighton Buzzard to have lunch with Honorary Court Assistant Roger Cloke and his wife Maureen. Roger had been in and out of hospital since the early summer and this was in part to celebrate his ongoing recovery but, more importantly, to thank him for his work preparing an accurate database of all the information that the Company holds on members with a view to this becoming the sole source of membership details used by the Company with the only exception of the financial data that is retained by the Hon. Treasurer. Roger has given tremendous assistance to the Company since he became a member in 1987, not least keeping an accurate membership database until he ‘retired’ some years ago. Sadly his work was not continued and this meant his latest task, when the administrative issue were first discovered (as I have described elsewhere) was, in simple terms, to bring his old records up to date. This was, however, no small task as involved obtaining and going through the minutes of Court Meetings, Ceremonial Meetings and membership applications over most of the preceding decade. In gratitude for, and recognition of, his extraordinary contribution to the Company over more than 35 years, presented him with a ceremonial plate featuring the Company’s coat of arms in celebration of the Company gaining livery status in 1984.  Ash and I then caught a train to London so we could joined the congregation for the service at the Holy Sepulchre for the Institution, Induction and Installation of our Chaplain, Reverend Nick Mottershead, as the Rector by the Bishop of London. We were joined by Elena Oderstone (then the Senior warden and now Master) and were rather surprised to discover that we were all required to join the procession at the beginning and end of the service in our robes and badges! The Clerk had forgotten to tell us but arrived in plenty of time with the inevitable heavy suitcase containing our robes and badges of office. The very traditional service followed with a splendid choir and all the formalities marking a thoroughly deserved appointment and I do hope we continue to encourage Fuellers to assist Hygiene Bank whether by donating or volunteering- or both!The day was the last on which I carried out my formal duties as your Master, albeit unknowingly and courtesy our puncture on the M25 on October 31st which meant I did not attend the Ceremonial Court when my successor was installed by Peter Harrison, my immediate predecessor. Nevertheless my formal duties as your Master finished on a high note!  |
| As far as the oral report I did not give at the Installation Ceremonial Court, my plan was to thank all of those present and the many who were not for all the hard work and time given to keep the Company on the onward and upward path we enjoyed in the course of my year. The Company only exists because we have so many active members and I was delighted to see a steady increase in our active membership, in particular in those engaged in the committees and sub-committees on which the future of our Company depends. As a retired City lawyer with an interest in, but only limited knowledge of, energy, based primarily on information obtained through my 42 years of membership of the Company, I am very aware how important it is that you should all be treated with the respect you deserve, with your views both sought and taken into account and decisions made on a collective basis, not least so the Company to benefit from advice from those Fuellers with special skills and experience, whether knowledge of energy matters or the logistics required for successful events. I was privileged to host both the Duke of Edinburgh Future of Energy conference last November and the Annual Energy Lecture in March, which were both considerable successes primarily because of the considerable and time consuming efforts of the many members involved in their organisation, even though there are always lessons to be learnt when dealing with institutions outside the City. I also much enjoyed the industry visits and our knowledge series and am proud of the positive responses the Company made to the invitations by the Lord Mayor and others to contribute to other events and conferences, not least by taking advantage of the energy and logistic experts in the membership – of whom there are far too many for me to mention by name! In summary Margaret and I enjoyed a very busy and different year, while Maia and Theia now hope that every time they jump in the back of my car they are going for a long walk in the countryside, preferably followed by a night and breakfast in a pub ….. with another walk to follow! Thank you all for your assistance and support and long may you continue to assist the Company as we strive to achieve our Strategy, the latest version of which was approved by the General Purposes Committee in September and recommended to Court. James November 2024 |
