The Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers
CITY OF LONDON
Founded 1995 & Incorporated by Royal Charter 2009
Tour of St Bartholomew The Great – November 2022
Twenty-two Company members and their guests were given a guided tour of our Guild Church, St Bartholomew the Great, by our Honorary Chaplain, Fr Marcus Walker, one evening in late autumn. The darkness pervaded all as we gathered near the entrance of London’s oldest parish church still in everyday use, it having escaped many hazards over the ages, ranging from the whims of King Henry VIII to the outrages of Adolf Hitler.
We were on the eve of the 900th anniversary of the foundation of the building and adjacent hospital by Prior Rahere on 25th March, 1123, and our guide held aloft a copy of the recently published commemorative book, whose pages expanded on the outline of the tour itself.
The tour progressed round the building in a clockwise direction, passing Rahere’s tomb in the process and noting that his body uniquely lay with the feet pointing towards the altar, rather than away from it; past the Lady Chapel whose roof as a matter of urgency had very recently been repaired; and up the precipitous narrow staircase to the triforium, where there is the prospect of a new museum being created.
The building has seen many changes of use over the centuries, ranging from the provision of children’s education, through the housing of Benjamin Franklin’s printers’ workshop in the area of the Lady Chapel, to the use of the north transept by ironmongers. Many have been the visitors over the years, not least through the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Canon Hubert.
After the tour, we expressed our appreciation of the thoroughly interesting explanation of the history of the building; and those who did not have to hurry home to avoid the worst implications of industrial action on the railway network were able to eat a hearty meal at the nearby Butchers Hook and Cleaver pub.
Livery Companies and their Work with Charities
The attached document provide some information about the financial support that the Livery provides to various charities.
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Inter-livery Chess Tournament
INTER-LIVERY CHESS CHALLENGE 2022
he first Inter-Livery Chess Challenge took place on 14th July in the palatial surroundings of the Lansdowne Club in London’s Mayfair. The event was originally planned for 2020 but had to be cancelled due to Covid.
After some hard fought games, against the clock, the eventual winners were WCOTA Team 2 consisting of Paul Saunders and Ryan Andrews, both of whom had the benefit of some recent online chess under their belts.
The evening was enjoyed by all and it was very much hoped that it would be repeated in the future. Many participants remarked on how good it was to have the opportunity to play some face to face chess rather than just playing online.
Jeremy Norman (Organiser)
City Walk
A City walk has become one of the regular fixtures in the WCOTA social calendar, and is an event which has, so far, usually been blessed with good weather. This year’s walk, which was held on 5 July, was no exception, and a group of us gathered in the late afternoon sun for a pre-walk drink outside The Blackfriar Pub before heading off to learn about the lost River Fleet.
The walk was led by Paul Talling from Derelict London. Paul, who is a social historian and photographer of parts of London that are disappearing under new developments, had a fascinating story to tell, both personally and in relation to the River Fleet. We started the walk by the Embankment at Blackfriars, with a partial view of the Fleet’s outfall chamber into the Thames. Paul then explained the Victoria sewage system, before walking us to Smithfield market, stopping to explain the names of some of the lanes en route. Despite working nearby for a number of years, I had never noticed Turnagain Lane, and had no idea of the story behind the name. From Smithfield, we then walked up to the Clerk’s Well (at, guess where?) where the walk finished.
Some of the group not rushing to catch trains home, then enjoyed a convivial supper at Vivat Bacchus.
WCOTA visit to Chelsea Physic Garden
Several members of the WCoTA and their guests enjoyed a wonderful guided tour of the Chelsea Physic Garden on Thursday 19 May, organised by Bob Harland. The garden is reputed to be one of the oldest botanical gardens in the UK. Since 1673, when Chelsea was a village outside of London, Chelsea Physic Garden has occupied four acres of land on the edge of the Thames. First established by the Apothecaries, and long held by The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in order to grow medicinal plants, this extraordinary garden has had a wide reaching impact around the world.
Brigantes News 2022
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HMS Bangor
Attached is an update from the Commanding officer of HMS Bangor
World Traders Tacitus Lecture
From The Master.
In February Ian and I attended the World Traders Tacitus lecture at Guildhall.
A truly scholarly and gripping lecture was given by Professor David Olusoga. After dinner we were privileged to attend a small group for dinner with him and other Livery Masters, together with the sponsors.
HMS Bangor
This is the email and photograph that the Master has received from the Commanding Officer of HMS Bangor thanking the Company for the Port that we presented to the ship.
Dear Master,
I hope this email finds you and the Company well. I’m getting in touch to say that I took Command of HMS Bangor yesterday from Joel for the next 4 months and therefore just settling back into the Ship and routine. We are due to go to sea on the weekend and blow out the cobwebs before starting a week of assessments to make sure we are at the correct operational level.
Thank you very much for the bottles of port, which I was able to bring out with me and we will save the bottles to celebrate the Queen’s birthday later in the year and of course raise a toast to the Company. Once we have settled in I will make sure that we get a full update out to you with pictures of what your Ship and Crew 8 have been up to.
Kind regards,
Rob
Lt Cdr Rob Couzens Royal Navy | Commanding Officer | MCM1 Crew 8 |HMS BANGOR| BFPO 222 | “Tenax Propositi – Tenacious of Purpose”
Pancake Race 1 March 2022
The Company will be entering a team for the Pancake Races to be held at Guildhall Yard on 1 March 2022. The Master will be competing and leading the team but we also need two liverymen (One male and one female) to take part as well as a novelty runner in fancy dress!
All those who take part in the race will be provided with a ticket for lunch afterwards.
If you are interested in taking part please contact the Master or Assistant Michael Ashdown mjashdown@hotmail.com
Spectators are welcome to attend the race but if you wish to partake of the lunch you will need to buy a ticket in advance, last time the tickets for lunch were £30. If you would like to request a ticket for lunch please contact the Clerk.
Playing Cards
The Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers
25th Anniversary Playing Cards
In support of the Tax Advisers’ Charitable Trust (TACT), as part of The Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers 25th Anniversary Appeal, The Charities Committee of The Company has sourced the design and production of a commemorative twinset of playing cards.
There is still time to order these limited edition sets of cards which are bridge deck size and packaged in a decorative tuckbox. Both the cards and the tuckbox are printed to acknowledge the celebration of 25 years since the founding of The Company and its Charities. The backs of the cards reflect the Livery colours, badge, and motto. The Court cards are bespoke to reflect various forms of taxation through the ages, along with a specially designed ace of spades.
The twin pack sets make a wonderful keepsake to celebrate the 25th anniversary and will also make superb corporate gifts or personal gifts. By purchasing these cards you are enabling TACT to increase its charitable grants and donations across a variety of deserving causes in London.
The price per twinset is £20.00. plus an additional contribution of £3.50 per set towards postage and packaging. For bulk orders of 20 sets or more, postage will be approximately £20.00. Orders will be dispatched upon receipt of payment.
To order your set(s) please complete the form below and send it, via email, to lorraineparkin6@gmail.com, please make payment upon placing your order.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Name …………………………
Number of sets required
@ £20.00 per set =
To be collected on 14 December
Mailed (UK) @ £3.50 postage and packaging per set
or £20.00 per bulk order of 20 sets =
Please provide your delivery address …………………………………………………………………………………………
Grand total
Payment is to be made to the Tax Advisers’ Charitable Trust.
HSBC, sort code: 40-03-17, account number: 01134493, reference: cards
Women in the Livery and High Civic Office in the City
In January 2021, Past Master Erica Stary published her paper – Women in the Livery and High Civic Office in the City.
Women in the Livery and High Civic Office in the City
The paper is essentially an overview: it looks first at the momentous year for women in the City – 1983 and the background to that year, then at the contributions women have made from the early middle ages to the City’s prosperity and the background law which prevented them from doing more. It then explains the rationale behind the Lady Masters Association, and the relatively newly created City Consorts group (the members of which are mainly but not entirely women). There is also a short comment about women clerks and the emerging pre-year masters groups. Since a woman attaining high civic office often needs (or at least would think about obtaining, a coat of arms as it is traditional, though not compulsory) it looks at women’s lack of rights there. It does not look at the considerable amount of voluntary time and work put in by women (and men) who have been prepared to be and have been elected to serve as common councilmen and aldermen and in due course, if appropriate, as sheriff and/or Lord Mayor.
Weekend Walk – 12 May 2019
Once more, fine weather greeted us for another weekend walk. This time the route was along the Regent’s Canal, taking in both familiar landmarks, and not-so-familiar locations along the way.
The initial meeting point was the concourse of Paddington Station, busy even in the middle of a Sunday morning. Then UP the stairs to Paddington Basin, a canal humming with activity and boats whose owners were offering a diversity of refreshments, glinting in the sunlight.
Little Venice, with its range of very expensive houses was soon reached, and then the rest of the walk was in an easterly direction. Past a variety of animals on display at London Zoo, and the aviary designed by Lord Snowdon – although this was under repair, and there were no birds visible at the time – as far as Camden Market. Being a weekend, this was teeming with visitors, so a short diversion was taken to avoid the worst of the crowds.
There then followed a series of locks, taking us down to a slightly lower level, until the huge redevelopment of the St Pancras and King’s Cross area came into sight. This vicinity has changed beyond belief in recent years, and on display are many examples of the best of modern architecture. Who can believe what has happened to what once were enormous and rusting gas-holders? Or the area which was once full of coal, waiting to be loaded on to large steam locomotives, ready to head express passenger trains to Scotland?
It was an afternoon when important Premier League football matches on the last day of the season would prove to be an even greater attraction for some, but after a leisurely lunch in the shade from the sun, the rest of us progressed to the Angel, reached up a slight gradient to avoid a long canal tunnel where no tow-path ventures.
That may well prove to be the starting-point for our next weekend walk.
Inter-Livery Pancake Race – 25 Feb 2020
A very fun day was had by Company spectators and runners alike who attended and competed at Guildhall on Shrove Tuesday for the 16th Inter-Livery Pancake Races.
21 livery company teams entered runners who competed in this very colourful event with frying pan trophies awarded to the winner of each class. We entered each of the four categories of races – Masters, Liverymen, Ladies and Novelty and each of our runners performed admirably. We came second in the final of the Novelty Race, being within a whisker of winning our first trophy ever in the Races after 11 years of competing, and our Master just failed to make the final of his race by another whisker! Our Novelty race runner ran in a light weight (for speed!) cape covered with the emblems of the Lord Mayor’s charities and underneath it wore a T-shirt with our very own Owl motif from our Company’s coat of arms.
The weather stayed clear for the races themselves and afterwards our runners and spectators retired for a fine buffet lunch and wine in the ancient Guildhall vaults along with fellow liverymen of all the other teams. To warm us up we started with soup in a commemorative 16th Inter-Livery Pancake Race mug which we could take home as a souvenir and we finished the lunch with a very tasty pancake. We hope next year will bring that elusive trophy win!
Weekend Walk – July 2019
Our walk along the Regent’s Canal continued in late July, starting off from where we had left off in May – Angel station on the Northern Line, with its remarkably long escalator to the surface. At this point, the Canal itself is also buried in a tunnel, and where it emerges once more into the open air, its character changes considerably: many more canal-boats, in a wide variety of colours. Gardens extending from the back of terraced houses displayed a profusion of flowers, and the small walking group took good advantage of a pop-up café and then a larger establishment in Victoria Park. Here there was a choice of destinations: to the right, Limehouse Basin beckoned, whilst to the left lay the Olympic Park, in part re-tracing the steps we had taken back in 2011, when the Games themselves were still in the future. A hearty light lunch was consumed beside the water-side, before finally boarding the Docklands Light Railway at the charmingly-named Pudding Mill Station.
These weekend walks are always a good opportunity to meet fellow members, without the complication of weekday work commitments.