cgareatrust

RENT CEREMONY 2008 – BATHED IN SUNSHINE

There was no problem with the weather this year as the Trust celebrated its annual Rent Ceremony in central Covent Garden in traditional style under bright blue skies and bathed in warm sunshine.

Cllr Louise Hyams, the Lord Mayor of Westminster (who also happens to be a Trustee) and Peter Moore, Town Crier for the Mayor of London and the City of Westminster (to name but a few of his many titles), led the procession down New Row and King Street into The Piazza.

In his wake were Trustees, Trust members (including the Rev Simon Grigg of St Paul’s, the “Actors’ Church” in Covent Garden), families and friends, all kept in step by the traditional marching jazz band – including former Trustee Tim Wacher on trombone, and celebrated trumpeter Digby Fairweather. Trustees and friends carried the traditional “rents” – 5 posies of spring flowers (this year beautifully scented roses) and 5 red apples to signify the area’s former incarnation as a fruit and flower market – which are generously provided each year by the New Covent Garden Market Authority.

At the end of James Street, the procession paused to pay the first two “rents” to Adam Smith and Simon Radford of KBC Asset Management, representing Lothbury, the freeholders of the terrace of Georgian houses on which the Trust holds the headlease. The “rents” were handed over by Trustee and local resident David Shamash and his wife, Diana, together with local resident Amanda Rigby and her delightful young daughter Felicity.

The procession then continued around the Piazza and through the Central Market building, gathering a crowd of fascinated tourists and Londoners on the way – several of whom joined in the parade as well as photographing it, particularly one very persistent Japanese lady (it would be interesting to know how she explained the proceedings when she returned home!). A couple of pauses outside the London Transport Museum and St Paul’s Church portico allowed the jazz band to display their talents to the growing throng – and for them to catch their breath.

Once into the North Hall of the Central Market, the final three “rents” were paid to Gary Marcuccilli, Managing Director of Covent Garden London (Capital & Counties, who are the freeholders of the Central Market, Bedford Chambers and the Museums Block – together with many other adjacent buildings). The “rents” this time were handed over by Trustee Jo Weir who is also chair of the Covent Garden Community Association, former Trustee Rowena Lusty, former Trustee Sylvia Marder and her husband Bernard, Trust member Derek Lane who is husband of the Trust’s Administrator Sarah (who carried the Trust’s flag) and Margaret Pargiter, widow of the Trust’s former Company Secretary Mike, who sadly died in the spring and was always such a colourful figure at previous Rent Ceremonies.

The Trust’s Chairman, Raymond Cooper made a short speech during which he paid tribute to Sylvia Marder who had recently celebrated her 80th birthday. Sylvia was the solicitor who drew up the leases for the “Protected Lands” when she worked for the GLC before the Trust was founded 20 years ago. The Rent Ceremony, which has been celebrated every year since 1994, was also her idea.

The invited guests then adjourned to the courtyard of the Crusting Pipe wine bar for refreshments and a slice of a delicious celebratory cake to mark both Sylvia’s 80th birthday and the Trust’s 20th anniversary. Everyone enjoyed a further lively “set” from the jazz band which soon gathered a very appreciative crowd, not only in the wine bar but also around the balcony above.

Covent Garden Area Trust
13 New Row, Covent Garden, London WC2N 4LF
Tel: 020 7497 9245
Fax: 020 7240 2405
Registered Charity no. 299874