The Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers

Last night I had the honour and privilege of attending the Annual Young Pattenmakers' Dinner.

The Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Livery Companies or Guilds are part of an ancient system of trade associations which was established to control the manufacture and selling of specific goods and services. The Companies also protected the working conditions and wages of the people operating under the relevant trade. This system was common throughout Europe from the medieval period, if not earlier, but their active survival today is unique to London. The older Companies such as Grocers, Haberdashers, Ironmongers, Bowyers (long-bow makers), Cordwainers (fine leather workers) and Coopers (barrel-makers) - to name but a few - have been joined in the past century by Companies such as the (far less exotic-sounding) Tax Advisers and Information Technologists. 

That's all very nice but who the heck, I hear you ask, are the pattenmakers? What is a patten? Well, this is a patten:

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Pattens were protective overshoes that were worn over your regular shoe when you went outdoors. They helped protect your shoes from being dirtied and prematurely ruined by the muck of the streets, in the days before paving was prevalent. In the days of pattens, one could expect to encounter all sorts of unpleasant refuse in the streets, particularly due to the presence of horses and other animals, not to mention lack of sewerage, which meant that human waste was simply tossed out on the street. 

However, as paving became more common and the streets cleaner, pattens became no longer a day-to-day necessity. (I note that there is also a Worshipful Company of Paviors - those responsible for paving and maintaining roads. One has to wonder if there was - and is - rivalry between the Pattenmakers and Paviors...)

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Although pattens are extinct in today's day and age, the Pattenmakers still exist. They now have a close association with shoe makers and designers, as relevant, connected and still thriving trades. Meanwhile, the charitable and social functions of the Pattenmakers carry on. And one such social function is the recently instigated Young Pattenmakers' Dinner, an annual event started four years ago to allow curious friends of Pattenmakers to find out a bit about the Company and to get a taste of how they do things.

I was invited by a lovely young lady who has been working in my office over the summer. As a person intrigued by historic customs and institutions, I readily took up the offer. And I'm certainly glad that I did because I had an excellent evening, enjoying dinner and drinks and conversation with some of the interesting and varied people present.

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Oh, and the other thing to mention about the Pattenmakers is that, unlike many of the Livery Companies, they do not have their own hall. The reason for this is not recorded, but it is possible that it, like a great many others, was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and it was never rebuilt. As they do not have their own hall, they instead make use of the other Livery Companies' various halls. Last night's affair was held in the headquarters of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners:

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Yep, that's right. It's a freaking ship! The HMS Wellington, to be exact. Built in 1934, it acted as a convoy ship in World War II, and has been moored in the Thames since 1947 as the headquarters of the Master Mariners. A pretty awesome dinner venue, I'm sure you'll agree.

So I think I can safely say that last night was all a pretty unique experience. And that I kind of fancy becoming a Pattenmaker myself now...

The RAF's Sweethearts

This morning I went to the Remembrance Service at St Clement Danes, the central church of the Royal Air Force. The original church dates back to before the Domesday Book of 1086 but was rebuilt in the 1680s by Christopher Wren, with the steeple added by James Gibbs in 1719. The reason it is today the church of the RAF is because it was gutted after being hit by an incendiary bomb on 10 May 1941, and after the war it was rebuilt with funds raised by the RAF.

War damage at St Clement Danes (Image source)

Long-serving readers may recall the post I wrote about my father's parents, who met during World War II, when both served as part of Bomber Command - my grandmother on the ground and my grandfather up in the planes. Although they both thankfully survived the war, it was for this reason that I opted to go to St Clement Danes today. 

And it's also the reason that I have collected the two sweetheart brooches below.

The first (above) was bought shortly after I first read about sweetheart brooches, which were given my servicemen to their girls to wear whilst they were off fighting. The whole concept definitely spoke to my Romantic side and my mid-century interests. As an RAF-granddaughter, I took a particular fancy to the idea of having one representing the air force. So off I went exploring on Ebay, and found the one above. While I was on there, I also saw a wonderful, solid plane figurine, which very much appealled to me but I watched it soar above my budget in a bidding war... Never mind, the one above suited me just fine so I bought it up. It was a time when my grandfather wasn't doing so well, so I liked the idea of being able to pin this onto my jacket as a reminder of him.

That was quite some time ago now. Then about a year ago, on my visit to Australia, I was exploring an antique shop in a county town when I came across this with my mother:

Just like the one I had spotted previously on Ebay but had been completely out of reach! The question of whether it is a Hurricane or a Spitfire is up for debate but, either way, it's just lovely and perfect. (Yes, my grandfather flew a Lancaster but this brooch makes me happy, nevertheless.) My dear mother got it for me as an amazing, treasurable birthday present. For a while it was almost a permanent fixture on one of my favourite jackets but now I wear it more sparingly, after I had a scare with it when it dropped from my jacket. I realised a short while later and thought I'd lost it for good. Thank the heavens and the good people of Carlisle (where the incident occurred), as some stranger had handed it into the staff at a shop I'd been in and I found it held at the Information Desk. I wonder if the person who found it knew what it was or thought it was just some funny little plane? Either way, I almost cried when I realised it was gone, and then again when I safely recovered it... Imagine what it would have been like for a girl who had actually been given a brooch by her sweetheart who was off fighting to lose such a thing. I'm sure one couldn't but think it was a bad omen.

Thankfully, I'm not such a girl and I'm blessed to not be personally affected by war. Instead, I wear my sweetheart brooch in honour of all those from the RAF and other members of the armed forces of this country and others who have died young due to the horrors of war and conflict throughout history.

The exquisite War Memorial in the Freemason's Hall, Great Queen Street
(Photographed on my visit during this year's London Open House weekend)

A League of Their Own

I'm going to Chicago and Boston in five weeks' time (squeee!) and, when I told a workmate this the other day, he suggested that I go to a baseball game while I'm there. At first I was dismissive but then he carried on to tell me that both cities have lovely old baseball fields (which got me more interested) and it's just such a uniquely all-American experience. In our conversation, I did comment, 'well, I love A League of Their Own...' and now, the more I think about it, the more I want to go to a game. Naturally, I will pretend to be going to the baseball in another era and be suitably attired for that fantasy, rather than the modern day.

The conversation also got me reminiscing about A League of Their Own and I ended up having to watch it this weekend. If you don't know of it, it tells a fictional story about some of the young women who were recruited for the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was established during World War II to keep baseball running while the boys went off to war. They're the Rosie Riverters of the sports world, basically.

When I was young, my sister and I used to pop our favourite films in the VCR and act them out in front of the telly. This one got the treatment many a time. It was released when I was about nine years old and I couldn't tell you exactly what it was that appealled to me about it then. I'm sure I probably enjoyed seeing the girls kicking butt and matching the boys at their own game, even before I really had any idea about feminism:

Though I must confess I did like the uniforms, even if the girls in the film are outraged when they are first revealed:

I'm sure I liked the feminine, pretty dresses:

I seem to recall I particularly liked Dottie's elegant style, and do to this day (even though Dottie's old-fashioned decisions on life somewhat bother me):

Check out that awesome monogramme on her cardigan!

Even her farm-girl clothes are impossibly elegant (and check out the kitchen decor while you're there)

And I definitely liked the dancing:

But really, when you think about it, what's not to love about this film?

Classic wartime-look advertising

Road trips, old school buses, cardigans and lovely prints...

Trains, cars and dapper men with suitcases

Commentators in hats, mid-century microphones, telephones and binoculars

Kissing the sailor boys

More lovely clothes and beautiful old luggage (like you just don't get these days)

Bedtime routines with pin curls, silky slips, etc

If you've not seen it, I can't recommend it highly enough. As this post is already damn long enough already with squillions of pictures, I hope to come back with a post to tell you a bit more about what I've been reading about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. But until then...

Jubilee Flypast

I'm probably the last blogger to say it, but hope everyone had a fabulous Diamond Jubilee weekend, however you celebrated and wherever you are in the world. One of my quiet highlights of the festivities was the flypast on the last day. I was actually working that day but my few colleagues and I who were in the office all climbed up to the fifth-storey roof terrace at 3.30 to see if we could spot the planes flying over on their way to Buckingham Palace. As it turns out, we were directly under the flight path so got to watch as the Dakota and two King Air aircraft flew over, followed by the Lancaster,  Hurricane and Spitfires rumbling over, and then the Red Arrows whizzing over, letting out their coloured trails just after passing us. It was pretty special! Like our own private airshow. 

Seeing (and hearing!) the Lancaster is always pretty special for me and makes me a bit emotional because my wonderful grandparents met when my grandfather was flying Lancasters in World War II.

My grandfather with his fellow pilots in front of a Lancaster

My grandmother enlisted in the WAAF and began as a Telephone Operator in Balloon Command, the unit responsible for controlling barrage balloons. She then trained as a Radio Telephone Operator and moved to Bomber Command, instructing the men up in the planes. Christened Edith, she was a Birmingham girl who trained herself to speak properly and earned the nickname Vicky, as she spoke as well as Queen Victoria.

My beautiful grandmother after the war

My grandfather, Ken, also enlisted when the war began. He began training as a pilot in Australia and then completed his training here in England. He was posted to Bomber Command in the RAF, based at Lichfield. He rose to the dignified position of Squadron Leader and bravely flew out on countless operations, from which thousands of men never returned.

My handsome grandfather in uniform

Apparently, the two met after my grandfather heard my grandmother's voice over the radio and, rather taken by it, sought her out when his plane was back on English soil. They began dating but had to keep their romance under wraps as there would have been trouble if they were found to be fraternising.

However, they stayed together and, once the war was over, they were married. The rest, as they say, is history, with children and grandchildren, and incredibly full and generous lives which still carry on today, into their nineties. I'm very blessed to be related to such a wonderful, beautiful pair, and to still have them in my life.

The lovely couple

And that's why I get emotional whenever I see a Lancaster!

Random Reasons to Love London # 5

18th-century engraving of St John's, Smith Square (Image source: Wikipedia)

The other day, I went to a meeting in Westminster with a couple of colleagues. Once it was over, we went for a slight detour on the way back to the office in order to walk past St John's, Smith Street. Tucked away in the terraced streets to the south of Westminster Abbey, this was one of the churches built under the instruction of the Commission for the Building of Fifty New Churches, a body established under an Act of Parliament in 1711. Only just over ten were actually built but they are some of the most striking of London's churches. Others include Hawksmoor's Christchurch, Spitalfields, which will be known to anyone familiar with Brick Lane, and St George's, Bloomsbury, also by Hawksmoor, with its wonderfully playful spire...

St George's, Bloomsbury (Image source: World Monuments Fund)

But I digress. My colleagues and I went to have a look at St John's, Smith Square, built to the designs of Thomas Archer, and completed in 1728. Again, it is a strikingly playful, Baroque building. The legend goes that Archer approached Queen Anne to ask her thoughts on the design of the church. Not particularly interested, her response was to kick over her footstool so that it lay upside down, with its legs in the air. She gestured at it and said, "like that". It henceforth adopted the name of Queen Anne's footstool. After this amusing beginning, however, the story of the church becomes much sadder in the 1940s, as it suffered a direct hit in the Blitz. It was extensively but sensitively restored in subsequent decades, and has served as a classical concert hall ever since.

St John's today (Image source: London Traveltips)

My colleagues and I admired the church from the outside and then one of them decided he'd try and ask at the reception desk if we could have a look inside. Unfortunately we were turned down, as there were apparently preparations going on for a concert and it was necessary to make an advance appointment in any case. Fair enough.

However, as we were walking away from the building, a gentleman came up and asked, "Did I just hear you asking if you could have a look inside?" Thinking he was another architectural enthusiast also interested in having a look, I responded with "Yes, but we were turned down, sadly." To which he responded, "Well, I'm the director, and it would be my pleasure to take you up." Wasn't that a stroke of luck? And what a lovely chap.

He showed us into the church and told us various fun facts, including the proposal suggested in the 1960s to have had Picasso paint the ceiling! That would have just been mind-blowing! My colleagues and I wonder if there's concept drawings lurking somewhere in archives because it would be fascinating to have a sense of what that would have been like. Still, the building is striking enough in its own right so perhaps it's just as well that plan didn't go ahead, as it might have just been an overload!

The interior of St John's, Smith Square (Image source: Venues London)

After our brief, spontaneous and exclusive tour, we thanked our unexpected host and headed off. But what a treat we had, thanks to a friendly and hospitable stranger!

(And, kind of on the topic of things to love about London: in preparation for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, don't forget to enter my giveaway! Only a couple of days left...)

Liverpool-bound

I'm heading to Liverpool this weekend for a girly "City break" with friends.

Diagram of Mersey Tunnel - looks to be contemporary with its 1920s-30s construction! (Image source)

We're staying in a hotel which was described in a review as "Isambard Kingdom Brunel meets Carrie Bradshaw".  As one of us is a structural engineer, one of us is a surveyor and one of us is an architectural historian, and as we're fully intending to be drinking cocktails and being stylish as always, we decided that it was the perfect place for us!

But before then, and in honour of Remembrance Day, I thought I would share some details from the Cenotaph in Liverpool. (Image source can be found here)

Distracted at the Imperial War Museum

As part of a current work project, I've been spending lots of days at the Imperial War Museum recently.  Considering how highly I regard the museum and its collection, I must say I'm feeling pretty chuffed about getting to work on it.  It's been quite a challenge to not get distracted by the exhibits though...  And the shop...  But I've been pretty good, just buying a couple of postcards to add to the little collection of pictures which adorn my desk at work.

I'd already had this poster up for a while, long before starting on this current job:

Now I've added these two:

The one below wasn't available as a postcard or poster...  So I have to confess I ended up buying a whole little book of British wartime posters in which it features.  It never actually got used as a recruitment poster because it was considered to be too risque - the blonde bombshell, it was nicknamed - but ain't it just fab?

All that aside, one of the definite perks of my job is getting to climb onto the roofs of all sorts of buildings.  Here's the view from the top of the museum, down into the central exhibition space... except I then realised you could get the same view from the top balcony inside the building, which is accessible to all visitors.  Plus, I caught my own reflection in the glass.  Oh well...