19 June 2008
21st Century Lord Mayor David Lewis gives vehicles through the
ages their traditional “cart mark”
THE annual Cart Marking ceremony took place at Guildhall Yard
yesterday (Wednesday, 18 June) when over 40 vehicles were branded
with the letter Q before an audience of over 1,000 restored and
special vehicle fans.
Lord Mayor David Lewis said: “This ceremonial celebration is a
reminder of the role of Transport in the Square Mile’s history.
“While city commuters are worried about the Tube, trains, buses,
queues at Heathrow - and when Crossrail will be built, the annual
Cart Marking ceremony has a long history and is a great chance for
everyone to see some really unusual vehicles from the past.”
For centuries, the City of London Corporation controlled all
carts and carriers in the Square Mile and each licensed vehicle
bore an individually numbered brass plate. Every year all the
registered vehicles were brought to Guildhall to be branded with
the year’s letter.
Carts and carriers are no longer managed by the City of London
Corporation and its head, the elected Lord Mayor spends 95% of his
time supporting the 21-st century financial services industry based
in the UK but some cars are still branded by Worshipful
Company of Carmen for ceremonial purposes as a reminder of their
centuries of service.
Ends
Lord Mayor David Lewis is pictured branding the mark on an 1890
two-horse Landau
For more information on Cart Marking see
http://www.thecarmen.co.uk/fellowship/carts.shtml
For more information on the Lord Mayor see
/Corporation/business_city/lordmayor/
Note
The City of London Corporation – which the Lord Mayor heads- has
three main aims: to support and promote the Square Mile as the
world’s leading international financial and business centre; to
provide the highest quality local government services for the
Square Mile; and to provide valued services to London and the
nation as a whole.