Swordplay

This rather silly illustration of a sword was the only one I could lay hands on quickly to illustrate the letter which I received this morning. I post this so that you all may realize that curious things do pass across the Clerk's desk from time to time.

Who knows, one of you may just have and answer to the nice man's request - a venue for a school of swordsmanship, a burning desire to join his organization or perhaps a polite suggestion as to what the Clerk might do with this singular approach.



Sir, the nice man writes,

I write to you as a result of my contact with the Cutlers' Hall on Warwick Lane and would be grateful for a moment of your time to consider a small request. I represent an organization who’s aim is to reintroduce back into our City a discipline who long ago were represented by a guild of London that has long since faded into memory - The Company of Masters, established by Henry VIII, which represented those who taught the gentlemen of the City how to wield a sword.

Schola Gladiatoria have created three chapters around the city who not only engage in academic research into the techniques of European swordplay drawn from manuscripts that still survive from the 15th century, but also translate this effort into a competitive discipline that is slowing growing in size across Europe. As a result I now have a desire to place our discipline back into the City by coaching a small group in the very centre of London.

As a result I contacted the Cutlers' Hall in the hope that they may be able to help me find accommodations for a small group to meet. I was very grateful for their reply, but unfortunately it seems that our meets may be a little too robust in nature to be accommodated by the delicate fabric of such a beautiful old building. However, this contact has spurred me on to contact you, the other Livery companies of London, in the hope that you may be able to offer advice or suggestions on how I might accommodate a small meeting in the City itself.

We don’t need anything particularly grand to house our efforts, such as a Livery hall or a sports centre. We actually tend to reflect a certain basic old school aesthetic that really only needs a roof over our heads and a couple of hours to train per week. In fact, in the main I’ve been hunting around for more humble unused spaces such as railway arches, bridge supports, basements, or even a pub with a large function room. However, I have found that to search for such spaces in such a large city is quite the challenge.

As a result I write to you in the hope that your membership may know of any suitable spaces that I might approach to reintroduce the traditions, heritage and history of European swordplay back into the centre of our City.

Thank you for your time any advice or assistance that you can offer.

Dr Gordon Hart,Schola Gladiatoria

Suggestions on one side of a piece of paper in a plain brown envelope (or the blog equivalent) please.