The Lord Mayor's Show

PRESS RELEASE October 2010

"New Coachman to lead State Coach in Lord Mayor’s Show"
 
 
The Lord Mayor’s State Coach will this year have a new man at the helm.
David Lawless, 32, from Alconbury near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire will take the reins for the first time at this year’s Lord Mayor’s Show on Saturday 13th November 2010.
David has the Lord Mayor’s Show and coaches in his blood – quite literally. He will be the second generation of his family to hold the title of State Coachman, following in the footsteps of his father John who drove the 250-year-old coach for 21 years (from 1971 to 1992) when he worked for the brewers Whitbread.
David’s company Waldburg Shires, which he runs with Elspeth Ross, has provided the six shires horses which pull the State Coach since 2007. David has been a walking groom for the past three Shows.
Speaking of his new role, he said: “I am honoured to have been given what is one of the most prestigious roles for the Lord Mayor’s Show. The State Coach is a real symbol of the Show and as the Coachman, you are seen as being in charge. It’s a very visible role and there is a lot of responsibility attached.
“In fact, it is a real team effort and what I do on the day couldn’t be possible without the close co-operation of everyone from the grooms to the coachbuilder, harness maker and brakemen.
“We’ve all been practicing for this year, with a new formation of horses for the Show. That’s been a real challenge but I am sure that on the day, it will all go smoothly.”
The Lord Mayor’s Show is the first public engagement of the new Lord Mayor (elected annually) as he travels through the City from the Mansion house to the Royal Courts of Justice and back to pledge allegiance to the sovereign. He is preceded by a three-mile long procession celebrating music, dance, culture and the history of the City and beyond. A spectacular fireworks show, set off from a barge on the Thames between Blackfriars and Waterloo bridges, at 5pm finishes the day off with a real bang.

PRESS RELEASE October 07

  "Waldburg Shires to pull Lord Mayor’s Coach"

For the first time in 60 years, there will be a new look to London’s Lord Mayor’s Parade. On Saturday November 10th, Elspeth Ross and David Lawless, owners of Waldburg Shires, based at the Shire Horse Society Centre at Sacrewell Farm & Country Centre, will lead their team of 6 Shire Horses at the head of the Mayor’s famous coach.

Recent tradition has it that brewery horses are used – Whitbread’s and Young’s to be precise – but for the first time in a generation the privilege was put out to tender and after a number of interviews and site visits from the parade organisers, Waldburg Shires was given the contract. “It was quite a tough procedure” Elspeth says, now fine-tuning her horses for the big day, “but it was well worth it and we’re all ever so excited!”

The big day!
There will be 16 team members on the day, all – as you’d imagine immaculately dressed. “Last month we all had to go down to London to be measured up for the uniforms, so that was very interesting and we got to have a look at the route. We’ll practise on it three times before the big day – but in the early hours, because obviously the traffic is just too heavy around the City of London in the daytime,” David explains.
The Lord’s Mayor Parade has been taking over the streets of London for nearly 800 years now and involves over 6,000 people, bands, more than 140 decorated floats, costumed performers and a gilded State Coach that the Lord Mayor travels in, pulled this year by Waldburg’s fine Shires from Sacrewell!

The Lord Mayor is required to swear an oath of loyalty to the Queen (in the presence of the Lord Chief Justice) at the end of the parade which runs from Guildhall to the Royal Courts of Justice. Spectators are welcome and best of all, unless you wish to sit in the grandstand, it’s free! The procession leaves the Guildhall at 10.50am for Mansion House. At 11.05am it leaves Mansion House and travels via St Paul’s, the Royal Courts of Justice and Victoria Embankment before returning to Mansion House at 2.35pm. There is also a fireworks display on the Thames between Waterloo and Blackfriars at 5pm.

Waldburg Shires are based at Sacrewell Farm & Country Centre, running the new Shire Horse Centre set up by the Shire Horse Society. There are currently 11 Shire Horses at the farm – a number of working horses not seen on the farm since the 1940’s.