The 650th Anniversary of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers

9th June 2015

On not the warmest July day, The Worshipful Company of Plumbers celebrated their 650th anniversary with a service in the Temple Church and a reception in Middle Temple gardens. The Master Plumber with his Wardens, together with the Sheriffs processed into the Church and the Master of the Temple, the Reverend and Valiant Robin Griffiths-Jones, to give him his proper title, took the service. In his address he gave an entertaining acount of Magna Carta, a subject he specialises in having such a strong connection with it at the Temple and told a very good joke about the Archbishop of Canterbury. As with all good jokes one hears as Master it goes into a pot from which it might emerge at another dinner or lunch so I'm not revealing any more about it. 160 Livery Masters were attending as guests and after the service, beautifully sung by the choir, we adjourned to the gardens for a very generous selection of canapes where we toasted the health of the company with gusto. The Master Plumber presented all the guests with a specially made lead weight, a copy of a standard measure. Not the lightest gift to carry home on the tube but an extremely interesting memento of their celebrated history. A somewhat chilly evening in the gardens but as always very enjoyable