Tonight I was delighted to be the guest of The Master Pavior, Ms Susan Illman, on the occasion of their Autumn Livery Dinner held at the magnificent Goldsmiths’ Hall. On arrival I was greeted warmly by a member of the Court of the Worshipful Company of Paviors, who looked after me and introduced me to Past Masters and other Court Members.

I was very honoured to be seated on the top table, next to the Master, which enabled us to engage in interesting conversation and to get know each other better. We dined on spicy tiger prawns with a chilli lime dressing, duck ballontine with cranberry and pistachio stuffing and a dessert of apple tarte tatin with bay leaf ice cream, a wonderful meal accompanied by fine wines.

Following the sung grace, the Master proposed the toasts to the Queen and the Lord Mayor, after which we performed the ceremony of the Loving Cup, to the merriment of many guests. The toast to the guests was a wonderful piece of poetry written and performed by Assistant Caroline Dwyer which amused everyone, and the guest speaker was Dr Amanda Clack who spoke enthusiastically about diversity in our industries.

The Master closed the evening with a wonderful speech and invited guests to join her in a stirrup cup, ending another delightful and successful event.