UPHOLDERS' ANNUAL INSTALLATION BANQUET: 13 APRIL

Coat of Arms of the Upholders' Company

On Wednesday the Upholders held their Installation Court and Banquet at the Hall.  The Hall, I believe, is a frequent choice by the Upholders for this key event in their Company year. This year they were kind enough to invite both myself and Alastair Ross, the Clerk, to be guests at the banquet..

Upholder is an archaic term for upholsterer and the Company has for centuries been closely involved with the furnishing trade.  Initially of course maintaining the guild monopoly in London and later more generally supporting the trade both inside and outside the City.  For more details go to http://www.upholder.co.uk/  

Additionally the Upholders are part of the informal Liveries Wood Group that carries out joint projects with the Carpenters, Furniture Makers, Joiners and Ceilers and Turners.  For more details go to http://www.branching-out.co.uk/

It was most stimulating talking to members of the Company in the Hall.  Many of them are eminent and leading personalities in the furnishing industry.  Their reaction to the furnishings and decoration of the Hall was very interesting and most informative.  It was also flattering to be told on a number of occasions how well the Hall was maintained.

The newly elected Master, James Kelly, and the Wardens made us most welcome and we had a most enjoyable dinner.  As I entered the Livery Hall I found a copy of Featherbedds and Flock Bedds, the Early History of the Worshipful Company of Upholders of the City of London by JF Houston at my place.  I have only had time to glance at it but it is clearly a well written and informative history, featherbedding takes on a sterner meaning.. 

One of those evenings where I was well looked after and learnt a little more about the furnishings of the Hall.  But equally importantly I was yet again as Master to hear the considerable admiration for the excellent service our Beadle, John Freestone, Head Chef, Gerald Quadros and the rest of the Hall catering team provide.  On this particular night Jon Perkins, the Butler, led the event.

DRAPERS' ACADEMY: YEAR 7 VISIT TO THE HALL 1 OCTOBER

Friday saw the first visit of a Drapers' Academy year group to the Hall.  This takes up a custom that most of the Drapers' schools, particularly those closer to London, arrange an annual visit for their entry year class to see the Hall and learn something about the Company's history, traditions and current work.

As many will recall Friday was a particularly wet day and the Drapers' Academy visitors got a little disorientated in the maze of alleys that surround the Hall.  Eventally a bedtraggled, but still remarkably cheerful bunch of eleven year olds, led by Mr Cormac Fanning, Assistant Vice Principal in charge of Year 7s (11 to 12 year olds who are just starting off in the Academy), entered the Hall having toured Copthall Avenue, Throgmorton Avenue - a near miss- Austin Friars and Old Broad Street.

I am the only one not waving and not sure why!  Lunch in the Court Dining Room.
Photgraph by Penny Fussell

They were met by me in full regalia and quickly ushered upstairs to the Court Dining Room for a fish and chip lunch.  Alastair Ross, the Clerk and Penny Fussell, the Archivist, also acted as hosts.

As I have mentioned before, see my post on London Open House of 23 September, it is all too easy for those of us involved with the Hall on a day to day basis and aware of the maintenance tasks and so on, to lose sight of the fact that it is a magnificent building.  The Year 7's were a great bunch of enthusiatic eleven year olds and there was a torrent of questions. 

'Did I have to pay to keep the Hall going?' - fortunately not.

'How much did the chandeliers - Pavlenko's portrait of HM the Queen - and many other things in the room - cost?'  - I havev to admit to have made up a few sums based on the formula 'a lot.'

Was the portrait of Sir Ernest Pooley me?'  - He may be distinguished but I hope I do not look quite as old.

The fish and chips provided by Jon Perkins, and his team went down extremely well and the prospect of tables getting extra portions of chips in turn was very popular.

The meal ended and Penny Fussell showed the children round the Hall then it was back on the coaches waiting at London Wall and back to Harold Hill.  It was a great day and during the rest of the term Years 8 to 11 will also pay a visit.  It was the start of a great tradition.

Drapers' Academy year 7s heading off up Throgmorton Avenue and through the Drapers' gates to meet the coach at London Wall.  It is raining and the new Drapers' Gardens block looks most attractive with its pallette of greys that works very well in London.
Photograph by Penny Fussell