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Beer from the Wood
Presenting the SPBW’s Best Beer from the Wood award for the Coopers’ Company — and why a society founded in 1963 to save wooden-cask beer still matters to the trade that makes the casks. Read the entry → -
A Chain for the Sheriff
The presentation of the Shrieval Chain of Office and Badge to Alderman Tim Levene at Fishmongers’ Hall — a badge by City goldsmith Grant Macdonald that sets heraldry beside the digital age. Read the entry → -
A Mile Under the Arches
The Bermondsey Beer Mile with the Innholders and the Coopers — 878 Victorian railway arches, two vanished giants of Southwark brewing, and the cheesemonger who began it all in 2009. Read the entry → -
A Beer the Colour of Red Wine
A St Abdon’s Day tasting of four British beers — Utopian’s lager, Harvey’s Sussex Best, and two from Burning Sky that introduced most of the room to sour beer for the first time. Read the entry → -
Second Sitting: Licensing and the Liveries
All four Ale-Conners join the hospitality liveries at Guildhall as the City’s new Licensing Policy consultation opens — plus Safety Thirst, the Corporation’s licensing map, and a joint working session with the City’s data team. Read the entry → -
Belonging, Before Breakfast
The launch of the City Belonging Champions programme: workplace ambassadors for the Square Mile’s opportunities, networks and civic life — and a strictly unofficial verdict on Deutsche Bank’s coffee. Read the entry → -
Planning a Year Worth Toasting
Laying the groundwork for 2026–27: all four Ale-Conners round a table at Guildhall for the first time in many years, then a visit to the Lamb Tavern in Leadenhall Market. Read the entry → -
A Day at the Cask Races
My first Coopers’ Cask Race as Event Director: £6,000 raised for charity, sixty cadets, thirty-two teams, and the Distillers crowned. Read the entry → -
First Pour: the City Beer Festival
Eight days after Common Hall, the office’s first engagement: the City Beer Festival in Guildhall Yard, welcoming the Lady Mayor and pulling the first official pint of the term at the Timothy Taylor’s stall. Read the entry → -
Returned as Ale Conner: Common Hall, 24 June 2026
Today, at Common Hall, I was returned unopposed as one of four Ale Conners for the City of London. It is still an honour, and one I did not take on lightly. Read the entry →
New entries as the year in office unfolds.