This time of year is always wonderful in the City as we gear up for the annual Lord Mayor’s Show.
Now just days away the Lord Mayor of London's State Coach is at a Guildhall in preparation for its annual outing! Along with the Queen's Gold State Coachand the Speaker's State Coach, it is one of the three great State Coaches of the United Kingdom. Unlike the other two (which are only used on rare occasions such as Coronations) the Lord Mayor's Coach is used annually at the Lord Mayor's Show, and as such it is deemed to be the oldest ceremonial vehicle in regular use in the world.
The coach was commissioned on April 4th 1757 and completed in good time for that year’s Lord Mayor’s show. It was constructed by Joseph Berry, of Leather Lane, Holborn, at a total cost of £850.
Since then, the coach has been used regularly, generally once a year, by successive Lord Mayors. It has been more or less regularly maintained over two and a half centuries of use, and periodically regilded. The last major overhaul was in 1952, when the carriage was entirely stripped down and cleaned, with parts repaired or replaced where necessary and the wood preserved and strengthened, before being regilded, revarnished reupholstered and reassembled. Overall, though, changes to the original design have been minimal: an interior lamp was added in 1939, and brakes were only installed in 1951.
I do hope you go to see it on Saturday at the show!