Needlemakers Newsletter March 2024

Needlemakers Newsletter

FOREWARD

As you will be aware I had not anticipated editing this issue of the newsletter. Due to the sad loss of Claire Cross, for whom there is an obituary in this issue, I am editing a further issue.

In this issue, we look back at the events of the last four months culminating in our Mansion House banquet.

We also have an article from Philip Grant on St James Garlickhythe, our livery church.

Once again, I trust that my successor will have an enjoyable and successful time editing the company newsletter.

Mick Scotchmer

MASTER’S BLOG

Photo by Kevin Zaouali

Dear Liverymen and Friends,

Installed as Master on the 5th October at Vintners Hall, everything went well and was great fun. I thought are you really ready to take charge of the Company?

No, but Fiona, our Learned Clerk, and Past Masters are on hand to guide me along my journey, with suitable advice.

I had no idea of the scale or diversity of the invitations that arrive as the email would say Keep the Date, but how do you keep the date when you have accepted an invitation already? This happened early on, I had accepted Dinner with the Musicians only to receive an email from Mansion House save the date which turned out to be the same date as the Musicians’ Dinner, so I said sorry but no. I am then told that the invitation is most likely to be Royal. I still said no but when it is the King and Queen everything changes. I had the honour and privilege to attend the Banquet at Mansion House, quite amazing and an honour.

Events from walking the whole of the Lord Mayor’s Show with fellow Liverymen Sue Sumners, Philip Law and Colin Lindsay and a stop for a pint and a pie in Fleet Street and back to

Mansion House to a visit to Old Bailey with a light lunch with the Judges then sitting in on a case of Child Manslaughter or Murder quite chilling but interesting. Then preparation of the Banquet on the 5th of March and for me what an amazing evening nearly a full house, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, the Sherriff, fellow Masters, Liverymen and great friends and my dearest friends John and Yvonne Spence. John spoke with such conviction and warmth it made the whole evening. My sincere thanks to everyone for your support and love.

The diary continues to be very busy, and I look forward to welcoming you to all future events and particularly all who are coming to sunny Essex in May.

Lots of love to you all.

Michael, Master.

NEWS AND EVENTS

Inter-Livery Skiing

The competition was started about a dozen years ago by the Ironmongers who are still the organisers of the event. My wife, Sarah, and I have attended almost every year.

From small beginnings, there are now over 30 livery companies who participate in it regularly. Typically, it takes place at Morzine in the French Alps over a three-day Wednesday to Friday period in the latter part of January. (This year it was 24-26th January. Next year's tentative dates are 22-24 January 2025)

Slalom racing takes place on the Thursday and Friday. This is preceded by a charity-based skiing event on the Wednesday which this year raised over £50K for the Snow Camp charity which supports the development of under-privileged young people in need.

One does NOT need to be a good skier to participate and have fun. Yes, there are some very good skiers, particularly young skiing enthusiasts who are liverymen of their Company through patronage. But there are numerous prizes to be won (for example, the fastest team of three whose combined ages exceed 200 years) and it is very much a "fun for all" event. There are social gatherings each evening, culminating in a large dinner for c350 people on the Friday evening.

Please let me know if you would like any further details or if you would like me to introduce you to the people at the Ironmongers Company who are responsible for the event - and who are always keen to hear from any livery company which is keen to join in.

Martin Miles

Claire Cross 1949 – 2024

Liveryman, Court Assistant and Past Honorary Almoner

Proposed by David Foster and Ken Craig, Claire joined the Needlemakers in 1989. She was appointed to the Court in 2004 and served as Honorary Almoner from 2013 to 2018, when she was succeeded by Liveryman Jill Cox.

Claire’s father Harry Cross joined the British Army and served in the Far East during the Second World War. He met Peggy, Claire’s mother, in India and they were married in London in 1948. Harry had joined the Metropolitan Police, but he transferred to the Kenya Police in 1953. On returning to the UK, he took a post with the Clothworkers Company and served with them for nearly 20 years. On retirement he was granted Membership of the Clothworkers. He was Master of Tower Ward Club in 1981/82.

Claire was born on 2nd October 1949 and grew up in Kenya. Those were happy years for Claire, spending time with family and watching African wildlife just the other side of the garden fence! When she came back to the UK, she went into the banking industry, working for Hill Samuel, TSB and Barclays, eventually transferring to the Royal Bank of Scotland as Client Query Investigator within their Security Services. She loved travelling and spent time with her cousins after they settled in Canada.

In 1976 whilst working in the City she became a founder member of the Society of Young Freemen (before the name was changed to The Guild of Young Freemen) and served as Chairman in 1982. There she met Sally Anne Hill, (before she

was married) and they became good friends, working together on SYF events.

Sally Anne writes: “I was a Broker in Lloyds of London, living in West Norwood and Claire and I met at her home in Streatham; she would cater, I brought the wine, and we did the mailings together. Claire was always large but incredibly fit and sportive; she played hockey every week and swam regularly.”

Claire joined the Broad Street Ward Club in 1984 and became Master in 1991/92. She joined Tower Ward Club in 1985 and was its Master in 2001/2002. From 1978 onwards Claire acted as, and enjoyed being, Honorary Secretary and/or Social Secretary for the SYF and for the Ward Clubs.

During her time as a Liveryman, Claire regularly attended functions, including the Annual

Banquet, and she signed up for several of the Masters’ Holidays; Madrid in 1997 with PM Tony Floyd; Prague in 1999 with PM David Ezekiel; Vienna in 2002 with PM Michael Copsey, where one of the highlights was tea with the Ambassador; and India in 2006 with PM Henry Milward. In 2000, Claire left the City and joined Surrey County Council as Functions Organiser to the Chairman. She enjoyed getting to know the County in which she lived.

Whilst playing Bridge at the Lensbury Leisure Centre 20 years ago, she met Daniela Carden. They formed a successful Bridge partnership and became close friends. Even when she became a wheelchair user, Claire continued to attend Bridge and Social events as often as she was able but in the last six months of her life, she was virtually housebound.

However, Claire was a very private person and did not disclose her problems to anyone.

Claire’s cousins, Angela and Jennifer both live in British Columbia, Canada, with their families They are very appreciative of the enormous support that Daniela and her husband have provided in helping with funeral arrangements and going through paperwork. It was good to meet them all at the funeral and to

hear about their fond memories of Claire in happier times.

A service was held at South West Middlesex Crematorium, followed by a wake at Richmond Bridge Club in Twickenham on Wednesday, March 6 2024. The Company was represented by PM Simon Fradd, Liveryman Suzy Webb and myself; representatives of Tower Ward Club were also there, together with members of the Bridge Clubs to which Claire belonged.

Gill Loftus – Hon. Almoner

Claire Cross

Lunch at Ironmongers

A small group of Liverymen met for a very enjoyable lunch at Ironmongers Hall in early February. The informal lunch programme offers an excellent opportunity to meet fellow Liverymen in smaller informal situations, as well as to visit other Livery Halls. Please look out for the next one and try and come along.

Pippa Rousselet, Court Assistant

St James Garlickhythe

All livery companies of the City are Worshipful and this stems from their religious roots and the regularity of Christian worship amongst their early members. St James Garlickhythe is the livery church of the Needlemakers and several past and present members of the church are or have been liverymen. This brief history is of a parish church in the very heart of the City; one which is the chosen church not only of ours but of more than a dozen other livery companies including two of the Great Twelvethe Skinners and the Vintners - and of the thirteenth as well, the Dyers.

From where does the odd name come? Hythe means landing place and it is clear that a point nearby on the Thames was where garlic was landed. Why? Because this is where a great deal of the wine was landed which is why the Vintners have their hall so close both to the landing site and to Garlick Hill which leads up from it. The garlic which came on the same boats was almost certainly bound for apothecaries and others for medicinal use rather than for the cooking pot. The church is dedicated to St James the apostle and is a stop (or perhaps a starting point) on the pilgrims' route ending at the cathedral of Santiago da Compostela in northern Spain. Visitors may have their credentials, or pilgrim passports, stamped with the impression of a scallop shell which appears in many places in the church. A statue of St James as a pilgrim has stood on top of the clock on the tower for many years.

There is evidence that there has been a church on the same site since the 12th century. In 1326 a wealthy Vintner donated funds for the rebuilding of that church so our association with the Vintners dates back to before that. Our association with the Joiners (now the Joiners and Ceilers) dates from 1375 – about three hundred years before the Needlemakers were founded. The church’s oldest registers date from 1535 and are said to be the oldest still extant in England. The present parish incorporates two other old parishes and their churches now long gone: St Michael Queenhythe and Holy Trinity the Less. We were linked until recently with St Andrew by the Wardrobe and currently have St Michael Paternoster Royal, also in the parish, under our care. It is almost as if we collect names for their novelty value. Six lord mayors were buried in the medieval St James and Dick Whittington, the most famous of them all, is buried in St Michael Paternoster Royal.

With the great fire of 1666 everything was swept away and St James, like so many of the City churches was completely destroyed. Fortunately for later generations, and like many of the other new churches, its replacement was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and reopened in 1683. The tower, by Nicholas Hawksmoor, was added in 1717. Today the church is called Wren’s Lantern because of the amount of light which streams into it through the clear high windows on the south side. They were positioned high enough to be above the adjacent buildings and were enabled by the highest church ceiling in the City bar, of course, St Paul’s.

Until 2012 St James’s tower had never had bells but this was rectified that year when the Royal Jubilee Bells were commissioned. This ring of eight bells, cast in Whitechapel, was first seen mounted in a barge leading the Queen’s flotilla in the jubilee procession down the Thames. They were later brought into the church for dedication and were then hung in the tower.

Ringers from all over Britain as well as from abroad come to ring the Royal Jubilee Bells and they will be rung in celebration of the installation of the new Rector on Monday 15 April.

St James has a comparatively small regular Sunday congregation, but the numbers are swelled by the other services which are held throughout the year and by midweek services attended by City workers. In December 2023 more than 800 people attended services at St James, many of them livery carol services. Once a month a representative of the Intelligence Corps comes to turn a page of their Book of Remembrance which is held at St James. One of the joys of our services is the music. The organ which dates from 1718 is magnificent and historic but the baroque organ case and gilded pipes can only be appreciated from well inside the church. The Organist and Director of Music is Alderman Sir Andrew Parmley who has held the position for over forty-two years. The St James Choir – all professional singers – is augmented by three other choirs which all bring their own characteristics to our services.

In 1941 an enemy bomb caused some damage but much more was found to have been caused by deathwatch beetle. All had been fully restored when in 1991 a crane which had been operating on the other side of Upper Thames Street crashed down and sliced through the roof and the south wall causing extensive damage and, incidentally, bringing down the Murano glass chandelier.

Fortunately, there was no one in the building at the time

Recently the parish room and the old vestry have been refurbished to a high standard to allow them to be let for meetings, a new statue of St James is being carved to go on top of the clock, and there are plans for major refurbishments which will include the renewal of all of the lighting and wiring and, eventually the complete re-decoration of the interior. This is no minor matter as work on a Grade 1 listed building is not only hedged about with restrictions and caveats but it is complex and hence expensive. A good example of that is that surveys have found that no fewer than fourteen different types of plaster have been used at various times, so what to use now?

When you are next at St James, and the current plans are for the Annual Service on 3 October, please do not dwell on the present patches and blemishes but think how glorious it will look when totally redecorated and beautifully lit. Wren’s Lantern will surely shine again for many years to come.

Philip R Grant, Liveryman and Church Warden

The Horners Annual Ralph Anderson Lecture 2023

In November, the newly installed Master and I were invited, along with a number of other Masters, Clerks and Liverymen to a lecture and supper, hosted by the Horners at the Royal Society of Medicine in Wimpole Street. As we arrived, we were greeted by our very own Claire Chitty (in her role as Assistant Clerk to the Horners), and by six Year 12 students from the City of London School for Girls, who looked very smart and were taking their meet and greet duties very seriously. One of the girls was our newest Bursary Student, whom I had met just a few weeks before. After a warm welcome from the Master Horner, and a glass of sparkling wine, we were ushered into the very comfortable Lecture Theatre. The subject this year was dear to my heart as it concerned horses. Master Farrier, David Nicholls (Master of his profession, not of the Worshipful Company of Farriers!).

He dispelled any doubts regarding the connection of his profession to the Horners: in fact, the two Livery Companies are very closely associated, being No. 54 (Horners) and No.55 (Farriers). He then proceeded with the aid of a superb PowerPoint presentation, to demonstrate various aspects of a Farrier’s work and the new materials which are now available to improve foot health in horses.

Horses’ hooves are made of natural plastic Keratin, a kind of horn, which is affected by moisture in the environment and the load and pressure applied to it. Hooves grow continuously, rather like our fingernails and, every 5/6 weeks, the hooves must be filed and the shoes replaced.

The earliest reference to horseshoes is 400 BC, when the Romans were forging their way across difficult terrain north

of Italy and building roads; their horses’ feet needed protection, for which they used plants, twigs, sacking and sometimes iron “hipposandals”. The stresses and strains on horses’ legs and feet, especially as they corner at speed, are huge. Different surfaces and weather conditions cause slippage and injury if the shoes are not correct for the job. For instance, rubber shoes are useful on cobblestones but disastrous on tarmac where they stick like car tyres and prevent a horse’s natural foot action.

Traditionally we think of blacksmiths hammering steel shoes into shape on a forge but the materials now being used include rubber, steel, aluminium and composite plastics, which are manufactured and fitted in a very different manner. However, progress in using the new materials is slow because

of issues around the environment, recycling and costs of materials and of manufacture. I was pleased to hear that the traditional sound of metal horseshoes, which distinctively heralds their approach on our roads, will probably be around for some time!

David explained how findings from research carried out on a variety of surfaces including turf, tarmac, cobblestones, sand and gravel, etc. help identify appropriate horseshoe design to lower the risk of musculo-skeletal injuries, optimise gait quality, improve performance in showjumpers and in galloping racehorses during training and racing.

An emerging market even offers Velcro-fastening Hoof Boots, which owners can change themselves, rather like we change our trainers!

David finished his fascinating talk by saying that there are many challenges facing the art of farriery today as we try to improve the life and foot health of our equine friends. The lecture was followed by a

delicious buffet supper in the amazing RSM Atrium where we were able to mingle with Masters, Liverymen and friends from other Companies.

Gill Loftus – Court Assistant and Hon. Almoner

Visit to City of London Distillery

A small group of Liverymen met at the City of London's only distillery to learn about the history of gin and to sample some products.

We learnt that a gin must contain juniper berries, 37.5 % ABV, and water. London dry gins also contain coriander seeds and angelica.

We then stepped into the still area to view the copper stills where the gin is produced. These are modern and have heated hot water jackets to aid the infusion of botanicals. The oldest coppers are called Clarissa, Jennifer and Elizabeth, the two younger ones are yet to be christened. Between them, they can produce 18000 bottles per day. We returned to our table where we tasted four gins and were told about the history of gin. Memory is a little hazy but I think these are the key points...

History:

• The word ‘gin’ comes from the Dutch word ‘genever’ which means ‘juniper’. The Dutch made spirits distilled with juniper berries from the Middle Ages.

• The British encountered gin during the Thirty Years' War (16181648) when they fought alongside the Dutch against the Spanish. They noticed that the Dutch soldiers drank genever before battle to boost their courage, coining the phrase Dutch Courage. They adopted the practice themselves and brought genever back to England, where it became known as gin.

• It wasn’t until William and Mary took over the crown after the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 that gin really started to become popular in England.

• One reason for its popularity was that William was Dutch, and the upper classes wanted to show their support for him by drinking a Dutch spirit. He also imposed a blockade on French imports – brandy among them. Beer was also heavily taxed. So, the price-sensitive urban poor moved on to gin.

• When Queen Anne (1702 -1707) removed a restriction on distilling gin in London, all hell broke loose - and hundreds of back street distilleries appeared. These were unlicensed – and created some very dodgy gin. Gin began to have negative effects on society, as depicted in Hogarth's "Gin Alley". Addiction led to lower productivity, violence, prostitution, and child neglect, and so became known as "mother's ruin.“

• Distilling technology in the 19th Century helped the development of London Dry gin – the most famous type of gin.

• Gin became popular among the Brits in the tropical areas of the Empire when it was added to the tonic water that contained antimalarial quinine. The quinine was extremely bitter, so the gin helped smooth its passage down the throat.

The basement bar at the distillery is an attractive place for a drink and is open to the public Monday-Saturday 4 pm-10 pm.

Assistant

Pippa Rousselet, Court

Norman Irons (1941-2023) –Lord Provost of Edinburgh 1992-1996

Anne Irons was admitted to the Livery and clothed as a Needlemaker in 1994. She and husband Norman enjoyed attending functions with close friends PM George and Milly Borthwick, who have been a great support to Anne in recent months. At a packed Memorial Service on February 22nd at St. Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, George had the privilege of speaking about his friend.

When we hear his name, many of us can picture Norman, wearing full Highland Dress, either at our Annual Banquets in Mansion House, or at our Installation Dinner.

Norman was born in Glasgow during the Second World War, the family moved to Edinburgh when he was three months old. He was educated at George Heriot’s School and, after studying in London and in Edinburgh, qualified as a chartered engineer. Having joined the SNP in the early 1970s, he won a by-election in 1976 and represented the ward for 20 years. It is said he pursued his politics with respect and courtesy for his opponents and always had the priorities of his constituents at heart.

Norman and Anne Irons

Being appointed Lord Provost was the proudest moment of his life.

For him and for Anne, it was all about the service of the people of Edinburgh; they both worked tirelessly to achieve this and to make the city ever more successful. Norman was renowned for his leadership, his commitment to public service and his dedication to strengthening international ties.

Daughter Elizabeth recalls: “He and my mother worked 365 days a year. He relished hosting royalty and heads of state from around the world but equally enjoyed meeting residents of Edinburgh, visiting retired servicemen, hospitals and care homes, and helping to support and raise the profile of local charities.”

After his term as Lord Provost, Norman was appointed Honorary Consul first for Denmark 1999-2012 and then for Hungary 2012-2018 and was also Dean of the Consular Corps of Scotland 2011-2012.

Norman died aged 82 after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. Keen to support research into the causes of Parkinson’s, he has donated his brain to the tissue bank at Imperial College London to help with research for a cure or for treatment.

Norman is survived by Anne, whom he married in 1966, daughter Elizabeth and son Kenneth.

Gill Loftus – Court Assistant and Hon. Almoner

NEW LIVERYMEN

At the January Court Meeting seven new Liverymen were clothed.

Chris Clark

Katy Clift

Sunil Kakkad

Simon Sadinsky (on left) and Constantine Innemee (on right)

Emily Sumners (on the left) with Helen Tomkys (on right) who recently became a freeman

Panos Lymperopoulos (on right)

USEFUL INFORMATION

Website news items

Current news items are to be found in the Members’ Area of the website.

Recent additions include:

The February 2024 Livery Briefing from the City of London with information on forthcoming events in Livery and City Briefings in the News and Updates Section. This includes an item from Liveryman Claire Chitty in her capacity as Clerk to the Fan Makers.

Also, in the News and Updates section, there is a link to the latest webinar from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama about opera studies and previous webinars.

Company Email addresses

The Company Contact Details section in the Company section of the website Members’ Area contains the Email addresses for those with positions in the Company.

Future Events

Future events can be seen on the Events page of the website which gives an outline of each event and booking details.

Next Edition

The next newsletter will be published in July.