That Was 2020 – That Was: Master Gordon Masterton
Was 2020 a year to remember or a year to forget? Most of us would say the latter. It’s easy to find the downsides in 2020, harder to find the upsides, especially if grief has become personal. But many have also made big transitions in…
Engineering Ethics: Liveryman Prof David Bogle
We Engineers like to think of ourselves as working ethically. The good news is that a recent IPSOS-MORI survey found that 89% of the public trust engineers, putting us third highest in the list behind only nurses and doctors. But a few high profile disasters…
London Bridge: PM Richard Groome
Past Master Richard’s interest in the story of London Bridge had a great deal of personal affinity; his father Leonard (one of our Founding Members) had been the City of London’s project engineer for the latest bridge, and Richard had assisted as a teenager in…
More Chaplain’s Ramblings
A further lock-down has now started, certainly for those of us in England. This will affect some members who might just have been plucking up courage to go out a bit more, even if only to eat in a local pub! Fiona and I are…
London would be a flatter place without Lifts: Liveryman David Cooper
The first skyscraper (for present purposes, a building over 100 metres in height) within the City of London boundary was the original St Paul’s Cathedral, the spire of which was 150 metres tall and the tallest building in London from 1310 to 1666 when it…
A Company Library: Master Gordon Masterton
We are very proud of our talented and productive members, not least through the books they have written. Those listed below constitute a significant contribution to the dissemination of knowledge of science and engineering, and in some cases, other fields. It is said that everyone…
London’s Lost Underground Stations: PM Dr David Johnson
London’s underground railways date back to 1863 (being cut and cover construction) and the first tunnelled deep tube line, the City and South London Railway (CSLR), opened in 1890. This line ran between Stockwell and its city terminus (and railway company headquarters) in King William…
The “Engineers Hymn”: Chaplain Peter Hartley
A hymn that the Company has used from time to time at the Annual Service is known, colloquially, as the “Engineers Hymn!” It was, in fact, written by Richard Jones and appeared in some church hymn books from the 1970’s onwards. I’d never heard it…
Hiding from Covid: Liveryman David Shillito
Being typical of the 70+ “vulnerable” generation, my main interest in the Covid-19 pandemic lies simply in how to avoid catching it. So, following the example of our political leaders, I looked into the “science” of the transmission of the virus, only to be underwhelmed…
A Generous Act of Kindness: Master Gordon Masterton
The Company is most sincerely grateful to our Liveryman and Past Lord Mayor of London, Sir Francis (Frank) McWilliams and his family, who have very kindly donated the handsome model of Ironbridge that was presented to Frank by the Company in 1992 on his accession…