again shown the 'feel good factor' continues to exist within the Company.  All the major events have been over subscribed and the smaller and more diverse easily filled.  Let me remind you tickets are issued on a first come first served basis, avoid disappointment book early!  Recruiting has progressed well and a further 17 Members joined the Company in 2004.  However several resigned for good reasons so please continue to propose suitable candidates in order to reach our authorised target of 300 Members.
Finally to all those who have not completed and returned the Gift Aid declaration please do so.  The Charity Fund benefits considerably through claims to and payments from, the Inland Revenue.

John White

Paviors Lecture 2005  Prof Tony M Ridley delivered the Paviors Lecture 2005 at Imperial College, London on 14th February.  Same address as previous years but a larger lecture theatre to accommodate the numbers of Paviors and Students attending.  Tony Ridley is one of the foremost transportation experts in the UK and gave an interesting and entertaining account of his career and his thoughts on the future in his talk "Is the Future Paved with Gold".  A lively Q&A session followed.
In an innovative approach a reception and dinner was held in the Rector's Room for Paviors and their Guests, with Prof Nethercott relating his tale of  a "lost soul looking for accommodation" on his appointment to the College.  Our thanks to Imperial College for a most interesting and entertaining venue.

of intrepid Paviors, Miles Ashley, Ian Lumsden, and Martin Snaith to Northern Ireland in December.  The group was accompanied by Ian Andrews and Chris Russell.  The party put up at the Causeway Hotel which is within an ejected shell case of the World Heritage Site, the Giants Causeway, and a tottering return from the Bushmills Distillery.

The first day of our shooting extravaganza started as a howling gale with rain thrown in for good measure.  Nonetheless the intrepid band set out to the little village of Upperlands which has the oldest operating linen factory in the UK, and probably produced the collar pads in your suits!  There we met one of the founding family Directors of the company, Major Wallace Clark, who was our host "on the bogs" for the day.  What we are after is a little bird called a snipe which sits in the long grass, peat and reeds and then explodes into the air when disturbed.  The theory is that one

or two of the group beat through the bog with a dog to flush the birds towards the "guns".  In reality as one falls into ditches and bogholes it becomes a question of survival.  However your intrepid band, skilfully led by Wallace Clark and  Mark Mackinley, arranged large "wisps" of snipe to appear for us to try to shoot.  By about 3pm exhaustion had set in and we repaired to Wallace's charming house for a "wee toot".  The general view was that we must have seen over 100 birds.  Regrettably the bag was a mere 12!  An unforgettable experience for all and very good fun indeed.

The second day was happily one of blue skies and reasonable temperatures.  Some of our colleagues walked the Giants Causeway to clear their heads after

Anyone recognise "red socks"?

an early breakfast.  Thereafter the party made its way to the Dudarave Estate of Sir Patrick and Lady Macnaghten, with its superb Palladian mansion at its centre.  We were greeted by the keeper, Ian Chapman, and set to work to achieve the agreed bag.  Initially the effects of the previous night's entertainment were clearly in evidence, but slowly concentration and confidence returned to give just returns to the keeper's art of presenting a steady drift of birds over the guns.  The day seemed to pass with rapidity with a series of superb drives in the beautifully wooded setting above the Village and Distillery of Bushmills.  Alas it eventually came to an end after about four hours of shooting and the party repaired into the haven of the house as the guests of the Macnaghtens for a late and very extended lunch.
A veil is drawn over later proceedings and the only decisions made were to thank both Major Clark and Sir Patrick and Lady Macnaghten for superb arrangements and hospitality and to fix the date for a return at Wednesday 7^th December 2005.  Those wishing to attend should contact Martin Snaith in the first instance at m.s.snaith@bham.ac.uk.  Numbers, as last year, are very limited.

The 11th Inter-Livery Clay Shoot will be held at the Holland & Holland Shooting Grounds on Wednesday 18th May 2005.  There were some 380 guns from 56 different Livery Companies at this event last year, at which a Paviors team won a prize of £500 (donated to Charity).  This year the  Paviors would like to be able to enter three teams of four.  Would all of the Pavior Shooters please note and contact Ian Lumsden to register their interest.