One of the enjoyable aspects of being Master of a livery company is being invited to events that one would not normally attend. Not coming from a fruit background but hailing from the legal world, it is a voyage of discovery for me when I am invited to fruit events.
The first such outing was an invitation of John Scott, chairman of the Markets Committee of the City of London Corporation, to attend a dinner in the Guildhall. Not only did I meet several Fruiterers, but a number of market traders specialising in fruit and vegetables I had not previously encountered. Their tales were fascinating and novel. One or two seemed to think I had magic powers as Master to cause their gripes about the running of the markets to disappear down the proverbial rabbit hole. Sadly, it is not one of the powers granted to me. If it were I would put it to great use in other areas too!
My next event took me a little further from London to Cumbria to present the Fruiterers’ Cup to the Best in Show at the International Marmalade Festival at Dalemain, Cumbria. A greater contrast to my usual City hunting grounds could not be found than the beautiful northern shores of Ullswater. The festival was in its tenth year. This quintessentially, eccentric English occasion has grown very impressively from 60 local entries in its first year, to over 3,000 from 30 countries. Hon. liveryman HRH The Prince of Wales has visited and the Queen is reported to be interested in its works and success and likes to be kept informed.
The winner of the Best in Show, apart from being holder of the Fruiterers’ Cup for a year, (but in actual possession of it only until the press and media had finished) gets their marmalade made by liveryman Peter Wilkins’ family company, Wilkins of Tiptree, and sold on their behalf by no lesser grocer than Fortnum and Mason.
Fortunately, I did not have to judge 3,000 marmalades, but I was one of the adjudicators of the “Marmalashes”, a competition between marmalades from Australia and England with fellow adjudicator the Australian High Commissioner and two well-known marmalade experts providing the technical assistance. The result was in the end a diplomatic draw! Has anyone out there heard of Buddha’s hand? I was told it is a little known tropical fruit that on tasting made a fine marmalade.
The last event was the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch to raise money for the Army Benevolent Fund. This year the Fruiterers participated for the first time by organising stalls selling fresh fruit baskets of unusual fruit of incredible quality from Spitalfields Market, strawberries from liveryman Velasco’s Spanish farm, and Tiptree and Belazu fruit products, including strawberry gin. Liveryman Sue Handy provided eye-catching young dancers from her ballet school dressed up in colourful costumes to help sell the products, and apprentice Elliott Porter produced a fantastic banner.
HRH Prince Harry attended and visited our stall and was particularly impressed, along with everyone, by freeman Peter Thomas’ display of fruit and vegetables for curries, many of which not even some Fruiterers had seen before! Altogether the Fruiterers’ efforts raised a fantastic sum of over £4,000 for charity and all participants who helped are to be congratulated. It was a day enjoyed by all.
