New Master's Dinner
Tallow Chandlers' Hall was the venue for the New Master's Dinner on a warm summer's evening on 18 July. As many Bowyers will be aware Tallow Chandlers' is a highly significant location for the Company. It has been used regularly by the Bowyers since 1947 and in 1968 the Bowyers' crest was incorporated in a stained glass window in the Livery Hall which depicts those companies who used the Hall regularly. It was therefore a most fitting location for Ian Spring to preside over his first Court Meeting and Livery Dinner as the new Master.
After a reception in the court yard and an excellent dinner of smoked salmon, roast lamb and passion fruit brûlée accompanied by some fine wines and our normal toasts, the Immediate Past Master, Mr Tony Kench, addressed the assembled company with a short resume of the new Master's biography wishing him the very best of luck, hoping that he would enjoy the privilege of Mastership of the Bowyers as much as he had done in the previous two years. As tradition dictates he concluded by proposing a toast to the Company before handing over the floor to the new Master. Paying tribute to the hard work of Tony Kench as Master and the legacy that he has handed over, Ian Spring thanked the Company for allowing him the honour of Mastership before undertaking to do his best to represent the fine traditions of the Bowyers and to continue to develop their significant achievements particularly in the field of charitable giving. Both speeches were met with loud vocal approval and applause!
The evening concluded with a Stirrup cup in the Parlour before the hardy headed off for a night cap to mark the end of one mastership and the beginning of a new one. It was thoroughly fitting and convivial occasion in the finest Bowyers' tradition
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