Richard's latest updates :
28 March 2014 -
I travelled to Wigan and then a short taxi ride to the Haydock Thistle for the Lancashire and Cheshire Association Dinner Dance. The last time I was in Haydock was to be in the winner’s enclosure with my horse at Haydock Park Racecourse.
We had a very enjoyable evening and I was well looked after by my hosts. The event was very well supported.
I left before breakfast Sunday to get home before lunch. It is a pity the clocks went forward and an hour was lost!
2 April 2014 -
Tonight was the Dinner of the Thames Valley and Wessex Associations. It was a full house of 80 for an informal dinner in the magnificent surroundings of Wokefield Park in Berkshire. A very impressive place, the main mansion is a truly magnificent old building. Although evening dress it was an event without formality. I left at the end of dinner and once I had discovered that our table had lost the quiz and I hadn’t won the 6 foot high teddy bear in the raffle. The remaining participants settled down to a concert by an Elvis tribute.
3 April 2014 -
I managed to get to two receptions this evening.
The first was the VAT Practitioners Group. They held their annual President’s reception in the magnificent setting of the Old Hall in Lincolns Inn. This is the oldest part of Lincolns Inn and is panelled with stained glass windows and magnificent portraits of judges. It figured in the opening of Dickens' Bleak House as it was where the case of Jarndyce v Jarndyce was heard. The Hall was built in 1485. I arrived early and was made very welcome. As soon as the President’s speech was over I made my apologies and scuttled over Waterloo Bridge to the British Film Institute and the President's Reception of the Association of Taxation Technicians. I arrived there just in time for the President’s speech and then stayed to hear the entertainment which was Joe Stilgoe playing the piano and singing music from the films. A thoroughly enjoyable evening.
4 April 2014 -
This was the occasion of my President’s Lunch for kindred institutes and associations. 21 of us met at the Goring Hotel for an excellent meal and very good company. Guests came from the Upper Tribunal, CIPFA, various Treasurers Associations, RICS, RSA, Institutes of Taxation, Internal Auditors and IT, IPTI and others. A very good mix and the opportunity to return hospitality shown by other bodies during the year. The setting was very good but it was a shame the weather was not good enough to allow extensive use of the garden. The President of the Institute of Clerk of Works was very excited to find that we and his Institute were formed in March 1882 and was wanting to know which day so we could establish the senior Institute!
