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THE SALAMANDER | JULY 2017
Steve Tamcken
Clerk.
Worshipful Company of Firefighters
The Master and the Company have been
involved in many events throughout the year
celebrating the 350th Anniversary of the Great
Fire of London of 1666, There has even been a
new musical piece written to commemorate the
great fire. The Master was privileged to hear its
debut, and I have a copy of this if any member
wishes to hear it.
Our own Fire Lecture departed from its normal
format to allow a playlet to be presented, as
well as the other joint venture with the Bakers of
the full play at a wonderful Dinner at the Bakers
that was enjoyed by all.
The Lecture’s success this year as well as
those of the previous years was down to the
hard work and dedication of Past Master Alan
Wells, who has seen his brain-child grow into a
major contributor not only to the City’s annual
Calendar but also to our own Charitable Trust.
He has decided that it is time for him to relinquish
the reins and enjoy a well-deserved rest from
this task. The Company owe him a great deal
of gratitude and I am sure we all wish him well.
The Fire Lecture will be taking place again this
year on October 4th (please book early for your
tickets via myself), under new management led
by a team of members by Graham Maltby, and
I am sure that this will continue PM Alan’s good
work.
Speaking of changes, the Annual Ball has also
been revamped, and will this year be in the
form of a Friday / Saturday golf break outside
of London at a 4* hotel, and again after many
years of successful stewardship, PM’s Vivian
Jones and Bryan Spearman have handed on
the baton to Court Assistant Jon Hall.
The onerous task of organising our presence
at the Lord Mayor’s Show has also been
passed on very successfully to Court Assistant
Richard Bratton, after many years by PM Peter
Cowland, but only after his final swansong as
the organiser for the joint float at last year’s
show for the Bakers and the Firefighters.
This year’s major dinners were all successful,
with the Installation Banquet being held at the
Insurance Hall, with 100+ members and guests
dining, and the Massey Shaw at the Honourable
Artillery Company in City Road. The Dinner
for Liverymen was again oversubscribed and
continues to be a great favourite amongst the
Liverymen of the Company, and thanks must go
to our Constable Tony Skinner for all his hard
work in organising this.
Other notable events during the year were
the visit to the St. Bride’s Church/London
Gin Factory/Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (or as
I like to call it the Saints and Sinners event),
Common Hall, the Annual Carol Service, the
visit to Gatwick Airport and Fire Station, the
Thames River Police Museum at Wapping, and
my thanks go to all those who organised these
on behalf of the Company.
Your Events team have a varied social calendar
lined up for this year, so please make every
effort to support them, in their endeavours to
promote one of our core objective Fellowship.
Other Committees such as the Education and
Training and Public Relations and Marketing,
have also been very hard working behind the
scenes to further promote the Company and
some exciting developments will be announced
in the near future.
I would also like to thank the team that
support me, the Beadle, the Sentinels and of
course my Assistant Clerk, who have helped
me enormously. May I, as always, sign off
with the following words: It is a HONOUR to
be of SERVICE to you, I thank you for your
FELLOWSHIP, and look forward to another
year of HARMONY working with you all.
The Clerk’s Musings