Ball Trucking golden Scania pulls the Carmen float

Royal Mail coach - a half millennium celebration

500 years for Royal Mail and 500 years for the Carmen, transport livery and boys in red entered floats at the head of the parade celebrating the new Lord Mayor of the City of London. 150 floats in total, 200 horse and 7000 people in the parade to showcase all things City of London, transport as its life-blood to commerce to the new Lord Mayor, Alderman Andrew Parmley.

Transport in red as the Royal Mail featured in parade slot fifteen with a 19th century horse-drawn mail coach to party the five hundred years of mail and express delivery with posties carrying giant copies of iconic special stamps from Penny Black to the Routemaster bus editions.

Moya Greene, Royal Mail’s Chief Executive, said:

We are delighted to take part in the Lord Mayor’s show as part of our 500 year anniversary celebrations. Even though today’s postal service is very different to the one King Henry VIII founded in 1516, we are proud of our heritage and have never erred from our core aim – to deliver mail safely, swiftly and securely.

Royal Mail has been headquartered in the City of London since 1635 following the opening of the first Letter Office at Sherborne Lane

The carmen livery with Master Marsha Rae Ratcliff were only two slots behind the mighty Royal Mail to reinforce the strategic importance of transport as the life-blood of the City Commerce in London.

Graham Cole OBE, known to millions as PC Tony Stamp in “The Bill”,  led the Worshipful Company of Carmen’s entry with an original ancient handcart loaded with “the King’s Chattels”. Then came an 18th century omnibus before a 44-foot euro trailer float depicting the Carmen’s journey from 1517 to 2017. The City’s skylines of the past and today were  linked by a bridge, from which Worshipful Company of Carmen greeted the crowds. Large model vehicles travelled on a spiral helter-skelter roadway encircling the old City, 20 dancers, performing throughout the 3-mile route, below grey clouds that failed to dampen the excitement of transport in the heart of the city.

The Carmen half-millennium

Master Carmen, Marsha Rae Ratcliff, 

The Worshipful Company of Carmen is the oldest transport organisation in the world, a driving force uniting the world of transport in good fellowship to improve all our lives’ journeys. The Carmen work as a real team, and are all thrilled to be celebrating our 500 years... of, together, carrying people and goods – and constantly looking ahead and pioneering to make transport even better than before.

Graham Cole said:

I was honoured to become a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Carmen in 2008. I love the City and all its history. I love transport and driving - the bigger, the better – and I have a racing licence. So to be a member of the oldest and most respected transport organisation in the world is very special for me. This is my third Lord Mayor’s Show. It’s wonderful! I love the bands, the pageantry and the crowds from all over the world. And to be involved in such a special year for the Worshipful Company of Carmen makes this even more exciting.

Half-millennium of the Royal Mail.

Royal Mail has been headquartered in the City of London since 1635 following the opening of the first Letter Office at Sherborne Lane, signalling the start of a deep association with the City.

Moya Greene, Royal Mail’s Chief Executive, said:

We are delighted to take part in the Lord Mayor’s show as part of our 500 year anniversary celebrations. Even though today’s postal service is very different to the one King Henry VIII founded in 1516, we are proud of our heritage and have never erred from our core aim – to deliver mail safely, swiftly and securely.

Royal Mail has been headquartered in the City of London since 1635 following the opening of the first Letter Office at Sherborne Lane

Royal Mail employees and supporters will accompany a 19th century Royal Mail horse-drawn coach along the 3 mile parade through the City. Horse drawn coaches featuring the Royal Mail livery were deployed for the first time in 1784 to transport the mail between Bristol and London.

The Royal Mail employees will carry giant copies of a selection of iconic Special Stamps including designs commemorating Winston Churchill, the Routemaster bus and the Penny Black, the world’s first postage stamp. Royal Mail Special Stamps were introduced in 1965 by then Postmaster General Tony Benn. They are designed to celebrate events and commemorate anniversaries relevant to UK heritage and life. Every new stamp design is approved by Her Majesty The Queen before it is issued.

Also joining the procession is Mason White, a nine year old stroke survivor who met Their Royal Highnesses, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall at a special reception to mark 500 years of Royal Mail. Mason, whose father works at Royal Mail’s Central London Mail Centre at Mount Pleasant, is a determined fundraiser. Dubbed Royal Mail’s “youngest postman”, he has raised over £16,000 (including matched funding from Royal Mail) for Royal Mail’s Charity of the Year, the Stroke Association.

Since Royal Mail’s partnership with the Stroke Association began in 2014, the company has raised £1.8m for the charity, enough to pay for 9,000 “Life After Stroke” grants.

Postman Mark Penfold, who earlier in the year completed a marathon 500 mile walk from Edinburgh to London to raise money for the Lily Foundation, a charity committed to finding a cure for into Mitochondrial Disease, will also be part of the parade. Mark has raised more than £65,000 including matched funding from Royal Mail.