Ironbridge Livery Weekend
6th June 2015Every year as many of the Masters as possible and some of the Clerks gather for a weekend at Ironbridge in Shropshire. The Ironbridge Gorge is the birthplace of the industrial revolution and today is an Industrial Heritage site complete with a Victorian town at Blists Hill and no fewer than ten fascinating mueums, including the Broseley Pipe Works.
The Livery Companies have been coming here for a weekend in June for many years to allow Masters to get to know their fellow Masters, some of whom are very new in the job and others are at the end of their year. I was the newest Master there, beating by one hour the newly installed Master of the Security Professionals. Two formal dinners held in the main museum area give you a chance to mingle and socialise and a programme of visits to the site and to a few of the museums is arranged for the Saturday and Sunday. It is a very special weekend and enormously helpful and enjoyable, whether you go at the beginning or at the end of your year. The Mistress and I met so many people, some soon moving on but others no doubt to be seen again during my year. The Master's year is all about meeting people and this is a wonderful beginning.