Lunch

The London Silver Vaults is one of those hidden gems, which came about entirely by chance, but now serves a pivotal role in its area, and if it hadn't existed, would probably have had to be invented! Many years ago a property developer acquired a plot in Chancery Lane, and due to the unstable nature of that bit of ground, was told by the planners that he had to use foundations two floors deep. Noting “the site’s proximity to the offices of all those wealthy lawyers, who infest the area” he decided to make a virtue of necessity and rather than using normal foundations, actually build in two levels of basements, and fill the lower one with a series of bank-grade vaults, which he would rent out to said lawyers. The scheme worked for a while, but slowly word spread and, little by little, leading London silver-smiths and jewellers began to rent vaults as a store for their stock. Their numbers grew, and inevitably, they began trading items, first between themselves, and then with the wider silver retail community. Today, the LSV are the nation’s leading silver wholesale market and quite a sight to see. Happily, one of the Master’s friends is Simon Surtees, son of the famous racing driver of yesteryear, John. After retiring from the track, John went into the silver business and Simon now runs the family firm, based primarily in the LSV. Simon has offered to give a dozen members and guests a private tour of the vaults, after which, our fine Clerk says that she knows a fantastic pub to which our party can repair for lunch. The Vaults building can be found at 53-64 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1QS. (The entrance to the building is actually in Southampton Buildings.) We will meet in the...

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