With not an icicle in sight, sunshine and blue skies welcomed golfers to Foxhills, once they had endured the frustrations of the M25 at its worst.

With only minor changes to the original pairings 17 Distillers and 7 guests all got away on time, encouraged by the deceptive width of the well grassed fairways and large well tended greens. The undulating course was to prove a  stern test with its five par fives and three par threes of nearly 200 yards, and the half way house provided welcome rest and sustenance.

Christopher Carson is to be congratulated on being the champion golfer of the day, reining back, it is suggested, over the final few holes to avoid embarrassing others, as he recorded a magnificent 38 points, well ahead of the trailing field.

The winning team, with 120 points, were led home by Mike Walpole, who clearly brought the best out of his fellow players M/s Carson and Beadles and guest, Barry Melton

Guest of Peter Doran, James Stewart-Smith won the visitor’s prize.

The Foxhills’ staff made us very welcome in the warmth and comfort of their Manor House and a varied tasty lunch was enjoyed by all.

The following Liverymen played:- M/s Beadles, Bush, Rupert Bull, Campbell, Carson, Doran, Franklin, Ferguson, Garrard, Gibbons, Paul Hobson, Howell, Morton,  Mair,  Parker, Pugh, and Walpole.

Once again Graham Franklin was thanked by all for his efforts in ensuring the success of another most convivial golf day.”

Pictured left to right: Allan Cheesman; The Spanish Ambassador, His Excellency D. Carles Casajuana.

But what is clear (as we have available an almost full list with only a few gaps since the 1660s) is that we have had no Lady Master, so we can only hope that Susannah stays the course and the Court sees fit to elect her as Master – sometime in the mid-2020s at a guess.

Susannah took her seat on the Court alongside her Father, Past-Master David Grant. Then at the end of a busy and productive meeting, we appointed two new Stewards honoris causa (Allan Westray of the Wine Committee and Graham Franklin of the Golf Society); we also admitted four new freemen and six new liverymen (in fact only 9 people, as Professor Paul Hughes did both). And then the star event; the Livery was admitted to the Court room to watch the Installation.
My last act as Master was to remove my Badge and gown, and clothe Terry Barr as our new Master. His wife and two daughters with their fiancés were there to watch, Jenny already sporting her Mistress’s badge. Terry then presented me with the Immediate Past-Master’s badge and appointed the new wardens; the new team then retired for photographs, leaving me to adapt to my new role as Mr. Yesterday.

It was a little strange to walk into the reception and mingle with all the old chums just as I had done before I began life on the reception line as Renter Warden, over four years ago. A splendid dinner followed, with all the right noises, toasts and thanks made. The Master’s guest, HH Judge Charles Tilling, hit the spot with a pitch-perfect speech. Terry followed by presenting the Company Golf knock-out runner-up trophy to Cheng Loo, and the winner’s trophy to himself. He then took me by surprise by offering a toast to me and my Mistress, Elaine. She was not there to receive it so I had to drink for two and then offer her a proxy toast when I got home.

So ended a momentous fairy-tale year (and two weeks). All good luck and good health to the new Master; I hope he and Jenny enjoy their year as much as we have enjoyed ours.

Now back to real life.

This is the end of my one and only attempt at a “blog”. Our new Master will take on the mantle of reporting his activity periodically in a separate posting which he will call “Notes from the Barr”. I wish him all good fortune.

Now for some reason I agreed to continue this blogging business which was started so rashly by IPM Sills last year. I noticed in a recent minute from David a typographical error where he referred to it as a ‘blob’ rather than a blog and I think that will probably sum my efforts up. In fact I am probably already typing this in the wrong box and it’s going missing or appearing in the wrong place.

Any case here’s to a good year and watch this space – wherever it appears!

I, meanwhile, go with the Clerk and the Assistant Clerk to HQS Wellington (the floating “Hall” of the Master Mariners’ Company) on a sunny autumn day where the Scriveners join the Master Mariners in an excellent and informal spread – a joint reception where plenty of amusing tales of the merchant navy are retailed over a gin and tonic, followed by a jolly curry with plenty of wine, the Scriveners having their own room, the Mariners being in their main Hall. The tide was very full; the motion was pronounced, making many Mariners feel more at home than on dry land, though the reverse was true for me. It is a canny way of making one feel that one has sampled more of the wine than one should, as one lurches out into the afternoon sun, removing my badge for the penultimate time.

Unfortunately, none of the Wardens were able to attend so it was just the four of us. But Elaine made the presentation with as much ceremony as can be mustered over an onion bhajee and a cup of lassi. No, that is unfair culinary stereotyping in pursuit of a cheap joke; the cuisine at Cinnamon Club is superb, and came well up to its very high standard, and we had a splendid afternoon. We put both the world and the Worshipful Company to rights over a lengthy session. Sadly no-one took minutes so we cannot remember what the solutions to the ills of the world are. Distress and perplexity, crime and banditry, will just have to continue until we can get at Joanna Southcott’s box.

I am relieved to say my mobility was enough to cope with getting there, and even – not without difficulty and with aid of a walking stick – allowed me to process with the other Masters and Wardens of all the other Companies, including our own Liveryman Master of the Security Professionals.

I had not previously been in this Roman Catholic Cathedral (of the Most Precious Blood, since you ask), and it is a stunning building, despite remaining incomplete. It was consecrated in 1910, but work continued for many decades supplementing the interior with mosaics and brightly-coloured marble, off-setting the massive bare brick arches – as well as Eric Gill’s renowned Stations of the Cross.

As last year, the choirs from the Abbey and St Paul’s were added to the Cathedral’s own (where our Learned Clerk had been a chorister) and, supplemented by a musical congregation, the singing was outstanding. The new work commissioned this year for the service was by Ronald Corp and was an exquisite setting of Psalm 150, the closing phrases hanging in the air quite wonderfully.

The Master-elect and our respective Ladies did not attend the post-service lunch at Banqueting House as we had another function to attend (see above).

Then the Basketmakers’ dinner at the Skinners’ Hall was a new invitation accepted as a continuation of our policy to increase our recognition in the City and profile amongst the Livery Companies. So I accepted that, and passed the IWSC Banquet invitation to the Master-elect to fly the Company flag at Guildhall in what was essentially a Wine & Spirit Trade function, for which he is admirably equipped.

In the event, my recovery remained behind the game and I was still in severe mobility difficulty, so had to cry off the Basket-makers anyway. The Learned Clerk attended and can tell you about it.

And the Master-elect can tell you about the IWSC Banquet. Though I was deeply sad to miss our friend from Jerez, Mauricio Gonzalez Gordon, who was there as incoming President of IWSC for 2012. But in my condition, I would have missed him anyway. So it goes.