The general public has no idea that behind the quiet façade of Gunmakers’ Hall, just north-east of the City, hides the nation’s secret testing labs for all illegal and counterfeit firearms, which are seized in the UK. Unsurprisingly, this fascinating facility is never open to them, but the Gunmakers’ Company, which owns and manages it on behalf of the nation, is discretely allowing up to ten of us to tour it, on condition nothing is said thereafter, and no photos are taken.

We will meet outside their Hall at 10.45am, ready to go through security, at 11am.

The tour itself will include not only the labs and a briefing from one of the staff, but also, oddly, a visit to see their pet snail, which is the world’s largest – goodness knows how it ended up living (and apparently thriving!) at Gunmakers!

Once the tour is over, we will all jump into a couple of cabs and go to our Hall, where the staff have laid on a full Christmas Lunch for us, down in the Club, with all the trimmings.

For security reasons, and because the labs are a working environment in which space is limited, our numbers for this event are restricted to just 10, so Members are asked not to bring more than one guest.