Last time Battleaxe said that she was getting a new PC. Indeed that is the case, but of course it has not been delivered yet… so the old regime continues. This week we had another day out in London, this time meeting my nieces Nicola and Sara, plus Sara’s husband Nick. He is currently Master of a City Livery Company, the Leathersellers, so will write a bit about that. We also had a trip to Charleston to see an art exhibition, Cedric Morris and Arthur Letts-Haines. No, don’t ask me, I had never heard of either of them. The weather is absolutely freezing cold, but we saw loads of snowdrops at Charleston. Here’s a pic to start us off. Could Spring be on the way?
First, London. Sara and Nicola are the daughters of my late sister Pat, who sadly died in 2019. We don’t see that much of them, their lives are so very different from ours. Sara and her husband Nick live on their family’s farm in Bedfordshire, and they also have a family leather business, Tustings, which makes high-end bags and accessories. Nicola lives with her husband in Essex. The best thing was when I told them about my wildlife work at Mallydams. I don’t exaggerate at all, my words were met with a row of round-eyed, totally astonished and uncomprehending faces. ‘What?’ gasped Nick, the farmer… ‘You don’t mean to tell me you save feral pigeons?’ ‘You mean you actually release them again?’ The reaction was pretty much the same when I mentioned foxes, gulls and even seals… They assured me that there are plenty enough seals already, without saving more….
Sorry folks, here’s one of the latest arrivals at Mallydams… there are currently seal pups filling every pen! I do feel that seals deserve to be saved, because so many of their troubles are due to human interference. By the way, I have learned that this one is lying in the ‘banana’ position, which indicates they are comfortable and relaxed.
Feral pigeons? Even though I have said in the past that they have lovely personalities and are very dependent on people, there are, eeer, an awful lot of them…
Anyway, as I said, Nick Tusting is now Master of the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers – just for a year. Battleaxe knows very little about City Livery Companies. It is not a world that she has ever come into contact with. I know a bit more now. There are 111 companies, ranked in order of significance, wealth and age. The Leathersellers, founded in 1444, is number 15. It is a massive organisation, with its own Hall in the City, and a foundation including several schools and a very substantial charitable grant programme. Nick’s role occupies him for around three days a week. As well as many dinners – that night he was out, I think, with the Pewterer’s Company – and ceremonial duties, he chairs the Court (the Board) and numbers of other committees. There are many ancient and arcane ceremonies – unfortunately I have no photos of Nick in his fur robes and floppy hats. In 2024 he rode in a carriage at the Lord Mayor’s Show – he said why, but I can’t remember. I found a YouTube of the parade and screen-grabbed this – I don’t even know if it is the right carriage. Probably not, it seems to be full of women – but you get the general idea…
It was all very interesting and an insight into lives several light-years removed from ours. The world of Livery Companies has traditionally been very secretive, and it is hard to find any objective information about them. Articles on Google vary from conspiracy theories to sycophantic eulogies from City insiders… It is clear that the largest companies, eg the Mercers, are immensely wealthy, with portfolios of prime central London property, but equally, they pay out many millions in charitable donations. The best reference I could find was this, but it doesn’t tell you much more than I have said already. And here’s Wikipedia
The next day was sunny, albeit freezing cold, and Philosopher and Battleaxe went to Charleston. It is not a long drive there, but the traffic was absolutely horrendous. There was a massive tail-back on the A259… some piddling roadworks. It really annoys me – it is a narrow, two-lane A road, but a few years ago they decided to build a very lavish cycle track, meandering through the fields at the side of the road. All very good, but the road itself was crying out for improvement- the slightest hold-up, and the traffic builds up into a whopper of a jam. After that, it was good to have coffee and cakes at good old Middle Farm, and a look round the wintry garden at Charleston.
Cedric Morris and Arthur Letts-Haines are two artists, who, among other things, founded the East Anglian School of Art in the 30s. Their pupils included Maggi Hambling and Lucien Freud. Morris painted mostly flowers and birds, Letts-Haines was an early surrealist. Philosopher wanted to see Morris’s townscapes, but none were on display. I liked this painting of birds by Morris:
Neither of them were totally great painters but the exhibition was interesting, and it was good to be out in the sun.
Finally then, my latest spaghetti cat acquisition. Have never seen this model before, and it is in excellent condition. Battleaxe is very pleased.
