Dinner for the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights

The Worshipful Company of Shipwrights celebrated the appointment of Prime Warden John S Denholm with a dinner on Cutty Sark on Thursday 6 June 19. The last example of her kind, the tea clipper and national memorial to the Merchant Navy was a fitting place to honour the Chairman and Chief Exec of J. & J. Denholm Limited, a leading shipping company founded in 1869 – the same year Cutty Sark first set sail.

The evening started with drinks on the Upper Deck in glorious sunshine with the Shipwrights Flag Flying from the spencer gaff, with the whole congregation of Shipwrights gathering on the fo’c’sle deck looking across the Thames to Canary Wharf. A three course delight of a dinner was provided by caterers Party Ingredients, with impeccable silver service lead by maître d extraordinaire Matt Castleford.

The Shipwrights were ready to retire to the stirrup cup, but Mr Denholm had a surprise in store! Classically trained Clara Wilson posed as a waitress, dropping a large tray of cutlery shocking the room into silence and then puncturing the still with rousing renditions of traditional aria and of course, ‘That’s Amore’.

The Shipwrights Dinner must be one of my favourites so far with Royal Museums Greenwich, made easy by the precise and thoughtful planning of Shipwrights Clerk, Richard Cole-Mackintosh and assistants Anne Musgrave and Ann MacIlwraith-Christie. As always, big shout out to SLX Production for stage managing the night and to Simon Thompson and the Cutty Sark shipkeeping team for hoisting a new flag on The Sark, if only for one special night.