We have been enjoying use of our new all-weather artificial turf pitch for a couple of terms now, but today the Lord Mayor of London, Alderman David Brewer, was to come and officially open it for us. Waiting for the Lord Mayor's car to arrive are boys from the PrePrep.
And here his official (notice the number plate) limousine draws up. As you can see, as the boys waved to him his party, not to be outdone on the social niceties, waved back just as vigorously.
As soon as his car came to a halt he was out and working his way along the line shaking hands with each of the boys. When the Lord Mayor visits he is usually accompanied by one of his Sherrifs - and you can see that gentleman getting out of the car to 'work the line' on his side of the car.
The Lambs, the boys in the Nursery, are a bit too young to come all the way down to the new pitch so they lined up to meet the Lord Mayor as he came out the front door. They were very impressed with his hat and his furred robes.
Looking very much like a distinguished visitor from the Middle Ages, the Lord Mayor processes down, accompanied by Mr Kelly, between lines of Year 3 boys. As you might guess from seeing the boys' rain gear, scattered heavy showers were very much in the offing; but being, as he said, "an all-weather Lord Mayor" the weather was not going to spoil the occasion.
Here you can see Alderman Brewer in his official robes. In his speech he mentioned that the last time he was involved in an opening ceremony here was back in 1984 when he was a Warden of the Merchant Taylors' Company. On that occasion he was accompanying the then Master of the Company, Lord Newall, who is the gentleman behind him with the umbrella. In the background you can see Year 4 boys in action in a games lesson: tennis on one half and cricket on the other.
Our all-weather artificial turf pitch is now officially open! In his speech he stressed the importance of sport in education and urged the boys to make the most of their sporting opportunities while they were at St. John's.
Once the ceremony was over he wasted no time in taking advantage of a sporting opportunity himself. Notice that the front foot is forward on the line of the ball ...
Our thanks to the Lord Mayor, Alderman David Brewer, for doing so much to turn an official occasion into a memorable and enjoyable one for us all, boys and staff, here at St. John's.
© St. John's - DTP, 2000 & 2006 - N. Pauli