It seems only yesterday that, in my first week in the Inn, I was asked to introduce myself in the Middle Templar. As I remember, I paid tribute to my predecessor, said how delighted I was to be here and what fun it was working in the Inn. The passage of the last year has done nothing to diminish those initial impressions. I write now some nine months on, just as spring is touching our wonderful garden, and I reflect that we have had a year of variety, we have looked to the past and we have planned for the future.
Our year of variety has, as the suggestion implies, been widespread. Middle Templars have travelled the globe, the highlight of which was a very successful Amity visit to Washington DC. Nearer home, our relationship with the Japanese Bar was strengthened by several visits to the Inn and the award of the Order of the Rising Sun to the 2023 Autumn Reader, Master Janice Brennan. The Inn Benched distinguished individuals from seven countries, including The Lord Chancellor. We excelled in competitions; retaining the Shakespeare Cup in a close competition with Inner; held some brilliant lectures of which the contributions of Professor Sir John Baker and Professor Emma Smith were most memorable of evenings, and the outstanding garden team of Kate and Fiona won the Cutler’s Hall prize for best colour in winter flowers in the City of London. This incredible and varied tapestry of achievement was on full display during our Open Day in September when several thousand visitors came through the Hall and Bench Apartments.
At the same time, we looked to the past. Very sadly, the year has been marked by the death of several long-standing and much-loved members and Benchers. The thanksgiving service held for Master Igor Judge in the Temple Church, and the reception in Hall, was attended by a capacity congregation of 600 and many more online. More cheerfully, we celebrated the 450th anniversary of the completion of Hall in November with a memorable and entertaining dinner in the Hall which would have been familiar to Edmund Plowden four centuries ago.
Much of our time this year has been devoted to looking to the future, and there has been no shortage of opportunity to engage in thinking about how we chart our path into the next few decades. Parliament approved the Inn’s strategy and plan covering the next five years; we considered and supported the Temple Church’s Restoration and Renewal Project; after a period of discussion, we decided to outsource the Inn’s catering services to Graysons, who currently manage the Law Society and British Museum, from the beginning of August; and we decided to invest in the restoration of 3 Temple Gardens which has fallen below the high standards which we have elsewhere on the estate. Underpinning all this is the need for sound financial management, and so it was very encouraging that, after a lot of hard work, we launched the Middle Temple Charity and the inaugural 1573 Appeal. This has been very successful, and we have already been the beneficiary of some very generous donations. We intend to maintain this momentum with regular appeals which will enable us to continue the multi-faceted work of the Inn.
It remains only for me to thank the staff who have worked tirelessly this year to deliver success in so many areas; this would not have been possible without such dedication and commitment. Happy reading of this edition of the Middle Templar!
Afternote
As this edition of the Middle Templar is being prepared to publish, we have learnt of the sudden and shocking death of our much-loved Treasurer, Paul Darling. Over many decades, and over the course of 2024 as Treasurer, he has been a stalwart supporter and leader of the Inn in many guises: as a member and Chair of nearly all our committees, as advisor, counsellor and friend, he has been a force for good in all he did. He leaves an irreplaceable void in our lives, and we send our deepest condolences to his wife, Camilla, his broader family and his many friends around the world.
