Carpenters’ The Company BROADSHEET

Carpenters’TheCompanyNo. 46 July 2012BROADSHEETand Report to the LiveryThe Master Hugh Lancaster and his wife LornaMessage from the MasterHugh Lancaster reports: PastMasters told me that my yearwould pass very quickly, but Ifind it difficult to believe thatit is nearly over! It has been agreat honour and a wonderfulexperience to be Master of thisgreat Company, particularly inthe Queen’s Jubilee year, and Ihave been supported in my dutiesby my wife, Lorna, and a highlyefficient and unfailingly patientteam. Furthermore, I considermyself particularly fortunatethat amongst the more than 100Livery companies, I happen tobe the Master of the Carpenters’Company. Until very recently, itwas the only Livery companyto fund its own dedicated craftschool, although recently theGoldsmiths opened their Centrein Farringdon.They kindly invitedme, the Deputy Master, the Clerkand the Principal to their firstopen day, which was a mostenjoyable visit.We also have the RustingtonConvalescent Home, which offerssuperb convalescent care at asignificantly subsidized rate and isavailable to everyone.There are veryfew similar opportunities availablein the country and many letters ofappreciation from those who havestayed there are testament to theoutstanding care they received.Thehome was founded by past MasterHenry Harben and we celebratea centenary of our trusteeship on8th August.300 years ago in 1712, Sir JohnCass was Master of the Companyand his fortune was used to setup a charitable foundation. I wasinvited to their ‘Founder’s Day’ andwe invited some of their Trusteesand executives to a Court lunchfor the unveiling of a stained glasswindow in our Hall dedicatedto Sir John Cass; his Foundationgrants awards for students at TheBuilding Craft College, which aregreatly appreciated.Lorna and I have visited manyLivery Halls and the Master’s wifehas been increasingly involvedin supporting the profile of theCompany. For example, she hosteda lunch, which included the Lady p2Mayoress, preceded by a tour of

Message from the Master continuedthe Building Craft College, andthe letters she received followingthat visit were unstinting in theiradmiration for the College.We alsohope that The Lord Mayor will visitthe College in November.We had strong support fromthe Livery for The Lord Mayor’sDiamond Jubilee Big CurryLunch at the Guildhall in aid ofthe Army Benevolent Fund andfive Riflemen from 4 RIFLES, ouraffiliated battalion, also attended.We are founder members of thisevent and it raised 230,000 for amost deserving cause.On 1st May our Craft Lectureon Caravaggio was presentedby Andrew Graham-Dixon, anacknowledged authority. It wasvery well attended and gave ariveting account of one of thegreatest of all artists and a manwho lived life very close to theedge (amongst other things he wasallegedly a pimp & killed a man in aduel!). It is easy to see why Andrewis such a popular TV presenter.Our Hall is managed by aformidably efficient team led bythe Beadle and it is a popularvenue for other Livery Companiesand of course we do not have tosearch our soul before committingit to purposes such as the CraftLecture and the Wood Awards.Such events do much to advanceour commitment to our craft.Guests from the Sir John Cass Foundation attended the March Court Luncheon.(Left to right) Richard Foley and Tony Mullee of the Foundation, the Master,Chairman of the Foundation Kevin Everett, Past Master Nick Evelegh and PastMaster Hugh Barnes-YallowleyThe Livery visit to Venice provedoverwhelmingly popular and wastaken up on a ‘first come firstserved’ basis. Len Conway waskind enough to give us a mostinformative and interesting tour ofchurches, and also demonstratedand spoke about restorationwork in St Mark’s Square. Wealso undertook a secret tour ofThe Doge’s Palace, which wasfascinating. In the evening, we metagain for an outstanding meal in awell known fish restaurant. A big‘thank you’ to Len, and also to ourClerk and his PA Caroline Stevensfor organizing it so efficiently.The visit of the Court to theAlmshouses was in May and weinvited the Mayor of Godalmingto the lunch afterwards.Thenew Mayor is a liveryman ofthe Stationers’ Company; she istherefore very attuned to theLivery Company world and gaveus a very good speech. Happily,half the almsmen were also ableto join us this year.The year is not quite over; we hada table for the Queen’s Jubileelunch in Westminster Hall andrepresentatives from the Hallstaff, Rustington, Wyatt’s Oyspitaland the Building Crafts Collegeaccompanied me.As always, it has been an actionpacked year and the Carpenters’Company continues to flourish;root and branch, may it continueand flourish forever!Building Crafts CollegeThe Principal, Len Conway, reports:There has been agreat deal of activity in the College during the summerterm following great challenges in recruitmentearlier in the year.The main site and the GibbinsRoad Annexe are now working near to capacity.Interest in the work of the College has been substantialthis year and the management team continues to2Carpenters’ Company Broadsheetbuild partnerships that should lead to greater studentrecruitment in the coming academic year. Meetingshave taken place with a range of organisations andcontractors regarding future training programmesand many of these centre on the development of theOlympic Park following completion of the Games.As a first step to this, College students have built,and installed, a new reception desk at the offices

of the London Legacy Development Corporationand produced a number of occasional tables for thesame. After working in partnership with the Womenin Construction organisation, the College now has agroup of women students following an Introductionto Construction Course at the Gibbins Road Annexe.It is hoped that many will progress onto mainstreamcourses in the following year.The College has hosted a number of visitors this yearincluding the Deputy Mayor of London, Mr. RichardBarnes; the Chairman of Crossrail, Mr.Terry Morgan;local MP Stephen Timms; the Minister for Skills andEmployment, Mr. Chris Grayling; and Baroness Fookesof Plymouth.The College was also very pleased tohost a Masters’ Ladies’ visit in May. All visitors speakhighly of the staff, students and their work and allexpress encouragement of traditional skills teachingat the College.As part of the College’s student enrichmentprogramme, a number of guest speakers andorganisations have attended the College to givetalks and demonstrations to students.These includearchitects Hugh Petter, Giles Downes, John Burtonand Richard Davies; Ingval Maxwell from HistoricScotland; wood-carver Dick Onians; and a projectmanager from Historic Royal Palaces - Jo Thwaites.Advice sessions were also delivered by the TerenceHiggins Trust and Santander and Barclays Banks. Amost interesting presentation was given in May byFine Woodwork Instructor Colin Eden-Eadon with theMasters’ Ladies who toured the College in MayHamish Low on the discovery of the largest bog oaktree unearthed so far from the Cambridgeshire Fensand the proposals for its use.Over the Summer recess the College hopes tosupport organisations working at the OlympicGames by providing accommodation.The HeritageLottery-funded Skills for the Future programme willalso commence during the break. At this stage ofthe year, enrolments for the next academic year areprogressing well with especially good enrolment onto the fine woodwork, stonemasonry and historicbuilding conservation diploma courses.ObituaryJohn GallacherDied 11th January 2012The College was saddened by thedeath, in January, of the CollegeBuilding Manager John Gallacher.John was born on 17th August 1949in Greenock, Scotland. He served asBuilding Manager at the BuildingCrafts College for over 16 years,along with his wife Sue, at bothTitchfield Street and the presentlocation in Stratford.John joined the Army when hewas 23 and completed 22 yearsmilitary service. He served twotours in Northern Ireland in theBomb Disposal Unit and saw activeservice in the Falklands Islandsconflict with the Army Air Corps.He also served in the first Gulf War.During his time in the Army, Johnwon three boxing championshipsat fly weight.After leaving militaryservice, John joined the College asBuilding Manager and worked forover sixteen years in the role andduring this time became a Freemanof the Carpenters’ Company andof the City of London. John will bemissed by all staff at the Collegeand will be remembered by astudent award in his name at theAnnual Prize-giving Ceremony. Heleaves behind his wife Sue and hisson Stuart.Carpenters’ Company Broadsheet3

Stonemasons’ Trip to FlorenceIn October the StonemasonryDepartment study trip to Florencetook place.The group, lead byNigel Gilkison and Jim O’Brien,visited a variety of sites in Florencefollowing the theme of renaissancearchitecture with each student giventhe task of giving an introductorytalk for each building visited. Inaddition, the group visited themasons’ workshop of FlorenceCathedral where the currentconservation work of the CathedralWorks team was explained. It wasa great privilege for the studentsto see the work carried out on thisfamous building at first hand andthey had the opportunity to spendhalf a day with the masons.Later in the trip the group visited thestone quarries at Carrara, near Pisa,to see the processes involved in theproduction of the famous marble.Students toured the roof of Florence CathedralStudy Trip to VeniceThe College study trip to Venicetook place in April and includedstudents from the first year of theFoundation Degree in HistoricBuilding Conservation Course andCarpentry and Joinery.The themeof the trip was ‘Palladio’s Venice’and included a day trip to Vicenzato view Palladio buildings aroundthe town. On the second day ahistorical walk around Venice tookplace, taking in buildings from theByzantine period through to theBaroque.The students also had theprivilege of a special lecture in thelibrary of the Doge’s Palace givenby the Venice City conservationarchitects on current restorationprojects in the city, in particularthe controversial conservation ofthe Procurate Nove building in St.Mark’s Square.All students on the4trip were allocated a building atwhich they gave an introductorytalk when visited.The trip was agreat success with all elementsof the programme completed insplendid weather.Student drawing class at Palladio’s Villa Capra (La Rotunda) near Vicenza.Carpenters’ Company Broadsheet

End of Year ShowThe College’s End of Year Show was this year held atCarpenters’ Hall from 21st to 23rd June to coincidewith the City of London’s ‘Celebrate the City’ Festival.The Show was opened by the Master, who made awelcoming speech which was much appreciated.Following a lunchtime Reception and Private View,the Show was opened to members of the public.There was an excellent visitor response, primarilydue to the advertising promoting the Show inconjunction with the Celebrate the City programme.Students and tutors were on hand to talk to the 600plus visitors who came to the Hall, making the Showa resounding success.Freeman LoydGrossman triesone of the chairson displayWood Awards 2012The launch of the Call for Entrieswas held at Ecobuild in MarchCarpenters’ Company Broadsheet5