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As we settle into 2026, please find below the link to this month’s Livery Briefing. Please do share the link with your fellow Livery and wider networks.

https://sway.cloud.microsoft/duq9ywQuKFJWuawh?ref=emailLivery Briefing – February 2026

Click Here to View the Briefing

Hannah Grace | Head of Events – Livery
Governance and Member Services Team | Town Clerk’s Department
City of London | Guildhall | London EC2V 7HH
Telephone: 07706 991820
hannah.grace@cityoflondon.gov.uk | www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

The London Bridge Museum Project is looking for new people Background For 2,000 years London Bridge has been fundamental to the development of London. The
capital’s location was defined because the Roman invading force in 43 AD chose to cross the Thames at this point.
The London Bridge Museum & Educational Trust came into being to meet the clear need to
record the history of the various bridges that have succeeded one another at this crossing point, and to tell how London Bridge made London a World City.
Initially, we hoped to establish a physical museum but this proved not to be possible, and in
light of the volume of global interest online a virtual online museum has been established.
The future
We believe that now we should
➢ develop and enhance the virtual museum, to meet both educational needs and the
passing interest of students and tourists, and
➢ explore better links with Lake Havasu City – the American home of John Rennie’s London
Bridge.
The need
We want to strengthen our team with some new and younger people who can bring the
creativity and energy needed
➢ to develop the Trustees’ thinking into an action plan,
➢ to talk to people who might help us, and
➢ to consider ways to finance these activities.
Trustees are unpaid and act on a purely voluntary basis.
If you are interested and would like to know more, please contact Andrew Dyke, ideally by
email at andrew@andrewdyke.london.

I very much enjoyed the BWC visit last evening to Charterhouse and
wanted to say thank you to the members who organised it. Obviously, I
went around with one of the two guides and cannot comment on the other
one but in my case I thought that it was very well done. It is a
fascinating institution and I found out a lot about the place from the
tour that was fresh and interesting.

I remember going with the Club some years ago on an afternoon visit and
this certainly gave a rather different experience – certainly one that I
am pleased to have the opportunity to enjoy.

So thank you to Kelly and also to her fellow organisers whose names I
haven’t to hand.

Ivan Whitting

Please pass on my thanks to the organisers. A fascinating insight into a different world. I now need to go back to see it in daylight!

Sarah EW

I very much enjoyed the BWC visit last evening to Charterhouse and
wanted to say thank you to the members who organised it. Obviously, I
went around with one of the two guides and cannot comment on the other
one but in my case I thought that it was very well done. It is a
fascinating institution and I found out a lot about the place from the
tour that was fresh and interesting.

I remember going with the Club some years ago on an afternoon visit and
this certainly gave a rather different experience – certainly one that I
am pleased to have the opportunity to enjoy.

So thank you to Kelly and also to her fellow organisers whose names I
haven’t to hand.

Ivan Whitting

Please pass on my thanks to the organisers. A fascinating insight into a different world. I now need to go back to see it in daylight!

Sarah EW

“Forging Kalevala in Music: Inside a Composer’s Creative Process”

Monday, 9 March 2026 at 18:00 for 18:30 (drinks and snacks from 18:00, talk begins at 18:30 – Duration: Until approximately 19:30/19:45)

Venue: Church of St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge, Lower Thames Street, EC3R 6DN (nearest Tube: Monument, London Bridge, Bank)

We are delighted that the Anglo-Finnish Society is inviting all Bridge Ward Club members to this event, which offers a rare chance to witness how music is created in real time. Composer David Pearson will share how he is approaching Finland’s famous national epic, Kalevala, as the foundation of a four‑opera cycle — a project echoing the scale and ambition of Wagner’s Ring. He will discuss the challenges and discoveries involved in:

– shaping a libretto from a vast and symbolically rich poetic source
– navigating the complexities of Kalevala Finnish
– interpreting the mythic and archetypal layers of the text
– structuring a monumental narrative into four coherent operas.

The talk will include musical illustrations and a live view of the composer’s working drafts, textual analysis and score materials.

Light nibbles will be provided, and wine will be available for a small donation.

The setting is the historic Grade I listed Church of St Magnus the Martyr, one of Wren’s finest post-fire churches. Its Nordic connections run deep – St Magnus was Earl of Orkney when the islands formed part of the Kingdom of Norway.

Arrive promptly at 18:00 to enjoy the church’s magnificent, world-famous model of medieval London Bridge (visit https://www.stmagnusmartyr.org.uk/ for more information).

Cost: Free – but please only book if you intend to come, so catering can be planned appropriately.

David’s background is in economics, corporate finance, culture change and leadership, but he has also studied music, and together with his interest in Finnish cultural history, this has inspired him to take on the task of setting Kalevala in music. He also manages to find the time to act as the BWC Treasurer.

To book your free place, please go to: Select tickets – Forging Kalevala in Music: Inside a Composer’s Creative Process – Church of St Magnus the Martyr