Autumn 2005 NewsletterThe Master’s MessageSince my last message to you, Summer has come and gone, and on my journeys between Hampshire and the Metropolis the colours of Autumn are already very much in evidence. There have been a number of highlights in recent months, not least of which was my invitation to attend the Banquet of the Worshipful Company of Insurers as one of their official guests. This delightful event took place at the Mansion House and I am delighted to tell you that our own Banquet will take place there next year on Wednesday 25 th January. Please make a note in your diaries! I also spent a delightful evening at the Ironmongers' Hall at the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants' Master's Dinner. One of their founder Liverymen, Denise Fellowes, is Head of Consultancy at the Centre for Charity Effectiveness at the Cass Business School of the City University. At our Spring Court Luncheon she addressed us on t he ways in which members of our Company might have the relevant skills which would be of valu e to the teaching, research and advisory services that they offer, and I know she would be very pleased to welcome new volunteers. In May I attended a Service for the Sons of the Clergy at Saint Paul 's Cathedral and I shall be in attendance at another service there in October to celebrate the 400 th Anniversary of the granting of the Royal Charter to the Worshipful Company of Butchers. We shall be celebrating our 25 th year of the Livery in March next year and we will be holding our own celebrations to mark this equally prestigious event. Our Spring Livery Dinner in June was held in the wonderful hall belonging to the Apothecaries, of which I am a Yeoman, and we were very fortunate indeed to have Sir Oliver Popplewell as our speaker. I had already had the good fortune to hear him speak at the launch of his autobiography entitled “Benchmark—Life, Laughter and the Law”, and knew he would not disappoint us! I am a little disappointed that so few of the Company attend these important occasions, and I would welcome some feedback from members to help the Court to identify which events may prove more popular in future. The election of Sheriffs for the forthcoming year was held on 24 th June and commenced with b reakfast on HQS Wellington, the home of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners. I attended the election of the Lord Mayor on 29 th September, and for the future I would urge all Liverymen to attend and exercise their right to vote at this most impressive ceremony. This year saw the first trip abroad for the Company when twenty seven of us set off for a most informative and highly successful trip to Burgundy. We were blessed with continuous sunshine and an equally continuous flow of wine. Our lunchtime tasting and picnic in the vineyard at the Domaine Jacob, so ably organized by my good friends Jean-Michel and Christine, was truly memorable! My thanks also go to John Owen-Ward who master minded the entire operation with his usual quiet efficiency.  The Master presenting John Owen-Ward with a token of appreciation during the Company's Trip to Burgundy
The annual Church Service was held at Saint Mary Aldermary on 12 July this year, and was followed by a river trip on an evening which must have been one of the warmest of the year. Again it was a great pity that so few members of the Company supported such a well organized and enjoyable event. There are still a number of functions for me to attend and also a Company visit to the Magic Circle s cheduled for Tuesday October 4 th. This will be followed by the Installation Dinner at Vintners Hall on Tuesday 25 th October. In conclusion may I say how much I have enjoyed my year as Master. I am indeed honoured to have been able to represent the Company at so many prestigious events, to have had the opportunity to meet so many interesting people and hopefully to have spread the arbitral word. It has been a great privilege. Burgundy WeekendEarly on Thursday 9 th June 27 members of the Company and their friends flew from Heathrow to Lyons where we arrived to a warm sunny welcome. We were then driven in our luxury coach to Le Hameau restaurant in Romaneche Thorins where we were to experience our first insight into the splendid hospitality which our Master and John Owen-Ward had arranged for us. A three course lunch was combined with an introduction to wine tasting followed by a sampling of Beaujolais wines from the well known producer Georges Duboeuf. Although many of the party we already well versed in the joys of wine tasting for us lesser mortals this early tuition proved invaluable. The Hotel de Baranges in Buxy was our base for the next few days and turned out to be a 19 th Century chateau with elegant rooms and a lovely garden, well located for a trip into the village to explore the ancient buildings and local shops. You can tell that the writer is female! Dinner was in a delightful old restaurant Aux Annees Vins where we had an excellent meal which commenced with a delicious potato and smoked salmon terrine. Friday dawned dry and sunny for our visit to Francois Freres Tonnellerie, a barrel-making factory in Saint Romain. This taught us the importance of selecting carefully chosen French oak with the correct grain, precision cut and weathered for several years. A circle of staves is placed over a fire to bend the wood and the rings are then placed to maintain the shape and the barrel internally “toasted” to make it watertight. I imagine their working practices fell somewhat short of our own Health and Safety standards as was evidenced by the number of missing digits! They don't normally “do” tours and we were grateful to Ann that her personal contacts enabled us to participate in such an interesting visit. We then continued to Domaine Lucien Jacob at Echevronne, a small village to the north west of Beaune where Jean-Michel gave us a most knowledgeable tasting of the wines in his cellar and ably answered some very erudite questions! We then emerged into the sunlight for a three course picnic in a dappled clearing overlooking the Hautes-Cotes de Beaune. The setting could not have been more idyllic nor the weather more superb. The drive back took us through Mersault and Givry, amongst other famous names and it was magical to drive past so many villages which previously had only been labels on bottles to me! In the evening we returned to Mercurey (another famous name) for dinner at the Val d'Or and tasted on e of the best wines we had during the trip — a 1999 Les Coteaux des Moines from Bouchard Pere et Fils chosen for us by John Owen-Ward. Saturday took us back to Beaune and a visit to the famous Hospices, built in 1443 by Nicholas Rolin, Duke of Burgundy as a hospital for the poor and funded by also offering beds to the wealthy in exchange for bequests of land! This means that it is well funded by local vineyards to this day. It has a beautiful central courtyard surrounded by the w on derful multicoloured tiled roofs that have become a hallmark of the regi on and it is c on sidered to be a jewel of medieval architecture. Every Autumn it hosts the aucti on of wines which sets the prices for the ensuing year. After lunch at Le Cellier de la Cabiote close by and yet another superb tasting of six whites and six reds we fell back out into the street just in time for some retail therapy at the Beaune Saturday market. There were some very tempting goods on offer but we thought it a little antisocial to transport garlic and rather smelly cheeses all the way back to England.  Members enjoying their trip to Burgundy
Our faithful coach took us back to Buxy and after a quick turn around and a glass of Montagny Premier Cru on the terrace we continued on to a charming canal side restaurant in Remigny where we had perhaps our best meal. A starter of home smoked salmon was followed by a delicious steak and local strawberries, all washed down with the usual excellent burgundies. John was delighted when Ann expressed her thanks to him for arranging the trip so expertly and she presented him with a jereboam of Gevrey Chambertin on the strict understanding that he would carry it back home himself! Past Master Bill Armstrong then thanked Ann on behalf of the party for deciding to take us to Burgundy.
A barrel is started.... and finished at Saint Roman
Time for a chat... and a well-earned lunch So Sunday finally arrived and we sadly put our bags back on the coach to return to Lyons via the scenic route through Beaujolais leaving pinot noir country and returning again to the land of the gamay. We stopped for lunch at the Cafe des Sport at Fleurie, after which we still had plenty of time to sample and buy innumerable different beaujolais at the local Co-operative. We were fortunate that it was open on a Sunday afternoon! We then continued on our way through Moulin a Vent, Saint Amour, Chiroubles and another tour of Beaujolais labels this time, finally to return to the airport to find that the plane was delayed. So we did have one technical hitch but it in no way detracted from what had been the most informative and convivial trip I have experienced in a very long time. Our thanks go to Ann and John. Jenny Jones Nautical NotesThe Cowes Sail and Power Race for the City Livery Companies was held over the weekend of 20/22 nd May this year at the world-famous centre for yacht racing on the Isle of Wight. The Arbitrators' Company was represented by Pelagic Rainbow, a Moody 36, owned and skippered by Past Master Michael Wilkey, who is also a Rear-Commodore of the City Livery Yacht Club. Some seventeen yachts vied with each other to arrive first at the start line, with the course being signalled by code from the shore some minutes prior to the start gun. It was essential for the sequence of buoys to be plotted accurately, with particular attention to the direction in which they were required to be rounded.  In rising winds and with a heavy sea breaking over the decks, skippers and crew pushed their boats to the limit, whilst also having to calculate whether to use engine power when going against the wind, all of which was within the rules of the race! Boats risked their sails and rigging in order to gain an advantage, and after several hours of hard racing, the wet and tired crews took the finish line gun and headed for their moorings. More than 160 members and guests had a wonderful Gala Dinner at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club later that evening. It was a long wait for the winner to be announced, especially as we thought we were in with a chance. And so we were, for the winning Livery Company boat on handicap was Pelagic Rainbow of the Arbitrators, followed by boats of the Lightmongers, the Innholders and the Guild of Freemen. It was a great pleasure and privilege to be a member of the Arbitrators' winning crew. Liveryman Donald Vincent-Gill (Right) Past Master Michael Wilkey holding the Lord Mayor's Cup for 1st place, with first mate Mrs Susan Wilkey holding the Champion Cup, presented to the winning Livery Company, which this year was the Arbitrators'. Spring Livery Dinner
Company database and list of membersAt the end of June this year, the Clerk circulated members concerning the Company's intention to produce an updated List of Members this autumn, and to advise each member of their personal information that the Clerk currently holds on file. A tear off slip was provided to enable members whose details on file were out of date to advise the Clerk of any amendments she should make before sending the forthcoming List of Members for printing. There was no need to return the tear off slip if the details held on file were correct. This article is to remind members that the closing date for the return of the tear off slips was 30 September 2005, so any member needing to send amendments to the Clerk should do so without delay (see the Clerk's contact details on the back cover of this Newsletter). Members are also advised that under the Data Protection Act they are entitled to decline to have their personal contact details published in the List of Members. However, the Company takes the view that it is up to members to make that election if they do not wish their contact details to appear. The List of Members is only distributed to other members of the Worshipful Company, but if any members do not wish their contact details to be circulated within that select group, they should contact the Clerk without delay to make those wishes known to her. Otherwise, it will be assumed that members have no objection to your contact details being made known to other members of the Company in the forthcoming List of Members. In December 2004 the Clerk circulated a note requesting members to give their permission for other members to be able to look up their contact details on the website. This is a very useful facility, and members who have not already done so are urged to give their permission by registering at the Members' Area of the website (at www.arbitratorscompany.org), accessing their own details, and giving permission by altering the entry in the first box of their Profile. This gives 4 drop-down options, which could not be simpler. Members who have registered on the website may also check the details that the Clerk currently holds for them, and alter those details on-line if need be, without disturbing the Clerk. They can however only look up the contact details of those members who have consented to making themselves visible to other members of the Company on our website. So if you have not already given your permission, now is probably a very good time to do so.
Charitable Trust Prizewinner |
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