It’s been nearly 4 weeks since my bike ride efforts (more on the super amount now raised for our Charity Funds at a later date), and the pace of the Pavior Master’s life has picked up again nicely!

On Thursday 16th, a party of 25 Paviors visited Battersea Power Station, brilliantly hosted by Pavior Nacho O’Leary and his lovely assistant, Stephanie. We were treated to some fantastic views of the surrounding London skyline from the base of one of the famous chimneys, as well as a thorough inspection of the whole project. The attached photo shows the de-roofed main building walls now rather incredibly being supported by what used to be the roof beams (good that Tom Barton is in the picture as it was his company that came up with that idea!).

On Saturday 19th, seven of us including the Mistress were hosted in Kent by our Army Affiliate, the 3rd Battalion Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. We spent the day with them at Lydd Ranges, and the evening having supper in their Canterbury HQ Officers’ Mess. We, the Paviors Team, were rated best in the first aid section, but didn’t do as well as the other teams in either the rifle or pistol shooting competitions or the camouflaging section! The latter was very surprising after all the effort we put it, as demonstrated by the Mistress and me in the photo above.

On Tuesday 23rd, Caroline and I joined 700 other liverymen and their guests at Guildhall for an Agincourt Banquet. While it wasn’t a cheap ticket, the speeches, not least from an actor doing the Shakespeare Henry V speeches “Cry God…. ” and “St Crispins Day… ” from the balcony, were all very stirring! I know many of you know Guildhall, but if you haven’t been, hopefully the photo will give you flavour enough of its magnificence!

While there have been other events, including the Chartered Architects Installation Lunch at Stationers’ Hall and the Fuellers’ Annual Energy Lecture at Drapers’ Hall, plus several Paviors’ committees, I want to finish this blog saying how much I enjoyed our Paviors’ Annual Banquet at the Mansion House. I was anxious at the start as there was a taxi drivers’ protest delaying arrivals at the event but, in the end, everyone got there on time, and we were treated to some great entertainment and speeches. I’m certain there will be many more and better photographic memories than the one shown, but I like it the best of many taken by those of my family members. The Mansion House Banquet is rated by many Past Masters as the highlight of their year and after such a superb evening, I am no different!

It remains an honour and a pleasure to be the Paviors’ Master, and I look forward to sharing some more of my experiences with you all soon!

Best wishes
Terry Last