A Master's life isn't all glamour

Gathering of the 2026-7 Masters STE

22nd June 2026

Alderman Tim Hailes meets his year group

The Livery Communiity of Masters is split up into Year Groups to which you are joined for life, and each Year Group adopts an official name and establishes an informal secretariat.

Our Company's year starts in June which means that each Master Pipe Maker "overlaps" two Lords Mayor, who begin their terms in November. This year I have five months with Dame Sue Langley as Lady Mayor, followed by seven months when Alderman Tim Hailes is expected to be Lord Mayor, supported by our own Past Master Fiona Adler.

Past Master Tony Scanlan had five months with Lord Mayor Alastair King and seven months with Dame Sue. However, we generally "belong" to the year group in which our Livery Weekend falls, and so I am officially in the Lady Mayor's "Unsquared" Group of 2025-6 Masters who all went to Bournemouth.

Because we spend much time with the successive year group as well as our own, we usually join both groups informally. There is a WhatsApp group for each year which provides much information about events and social gatherings; it's not compulsory to get involved with these, but there are very few Masters or Senior Wardens these days who don't belong to at least one. They can be annoying, but they are also a good source of advice and help if needed.

On Monday 22 June, the 2026-7 Year Group organised a get-together in the Guildhall Club to hear from Tim about his plans for his year ahead. There was also a presentation giving some advice about the role of the Clerk and how to treat your Clerk properly! Drinks were served, and it was another opportunity to continue to put names to faces to Companies and make a few more friends and acquaintances.

I hot-footed (literally) across from the Garden Party at the Charterhouse (see previous blog post), stopping off at Wax Chandlers' Hall to say hello to their Beadle, Stanley, who was busy with a Candlewick Ward Club civic dinner. I arrived at the Guildhall just in time for the end of the formalities. It was good to have a few minutes to chat with Fiona, who is incredibly busy, and with Tim, as well as with Alderman Prem Goyal and various Masters and Senior Wardens who I have got to know over the last year, including Ginny from the Barbers, Kevin from the Environmental Cleaners, John from the Arts Scholars, Lorraine from the Chartered Secretaries and others.

Managed to get to Paddington for a Burger King (no food all day) and a reasonably early train home (2100) to discover that while I'd been basking in London, Bath had suffered the worst torrential downpour ever experienced, which had flooded through various open windows at home leaving Simon to wield mop and bucket, and had destroyed 40 metres of tarmac on the road from the station back to our village, leaving it closed indefinitely.

Life is always interesting.