Institute of Couriers chairman Carl Lomas paid five shillings to enter Guildhall Yard, enacting the obligation placed on carters. Carl chose the classic Honda CX500 courier bike as his cart for the Carmen ceremony. The courier motorbike carried special 500 year logos to celebrate the half-century of the livery of Carmen.

Lord Falkland has delivery for Lord Mayor at Cartmarking 2017, direct from BFPO Army post office

Lord Mayor receives delivery from Institute of Couriers at Cartmarking's quincentennial ceremony with Master Carman Marsha Rae Ratcliff in attendance

The cartmarking event is without doubt the most ceremonial transport event of the year and saw a bumper turnout of fellows and members in this very special five hundredth year. IOC President Viscount, Lord Falkland and Carl Lomas were there with Hon fellows Sir Peter Hendy and Mike Brown. Talk focused on LoCity, Sir Peter running a Euro six engine in a traditional Routemaster for his personal entry to Cartmarking.

From left to right: Tracey Worth, Col. Andy Moffat, IoC President Lord Falkland, Carl Lomas, Lt. Col Brett Duxbury, Tracey Aust

Fellows gathered from across the UK. Apprenticeship Trailblazer chairman Justin Moore was there, ‘As retail shifts from high street to home delivery today's courier has never been so busy, The Institute of Couriers is working towards a host of new qualifications from express trailblazers to apprenticeship degrees and qualifications with government in the form of the new trailblazer for BIS'. LEPs from the Golden triangle, D2N2, were at the centre of discussions on strategy for the future.

As top brass mulled the solutions to strategy it was the classic Honda CX500 courier bike that took centre stage of the ceremony of transport. It was fully loaded with panniers and top-box from the eighties & attached to the modern day with FORS logos either side. Carl Lomas comments on the courier bike, ‘The CX was an iconic machine of the eighties working courier; shaft drive reliability with water cooling and frame strength to carry a great deal of pannier luggage.’