41. Gardeners’ Banquet

On Friday 10 February Georgina and I attended the Worshipful Company of Gardeners’ Banquet at Mansion House. It was as ever a most sociable and glittering occasion. We were entertained by two guest speakers, Dr Clare Matterson CBE, newly appointed Director General of the Royal Horticultural Society, and the Rt Hon The Lord Mayor, Nicholas Lyons.

After the dinner I was able to share some words with Lord Mayor due to a common love of the Irish poet William Butler Yeats. He had quoted from the Lake Isle of Innisfree in his speech which touched on the mental health benefits of gardening. I mentioned Yeats’ words in the Second Coming ‘the centre cannot hold’ which seem as pertinent now as 100 years’ ago, given the polarised and fractious public debate in many areas. The Lord Mayor commented that he was seeking to bring leaders together on an international scale. I mentioned that the Water Conservators were doing our bit in convening serious debate nationally in the water and environmental area (putting in a plug for our City Water Debate which the Sheriff and the Lord Mayor Elect are due to attend in the Lord Mayor’s absence). Given its extensive network of contacts, convening serious debate is a potentially most valuable role for the Livery movement.

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