Garden City goes to London

Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation was once again invited to join the pageantry, fun and spectacle of the Lord Mayor's Show, which took place on Saturday, 13 November.

This year's procession was the biggest ever in the show's 800 year history, with more than 8,000 people taking part, along with 325 vehicles, 77 floats, 20 marching bands and 20 carriages. The procession was 3.3 miles long and had to be slotted into a route of only 1.7 miles.

At 10.55am the procession began, marked by a thrilling aircraft flypast over the Royal Exchange, Mansion House and St Paul's Cathedral. The procession then followed a specially designed route through the streets of the City to the Royal Courts of Justice where it paused as the Lord Mayor took his oath of allegiance to the Sovereign.

At 2pm the procession set off on the return journey from Victoria Embankment to Mansion House, where the newly sworn-in Lord Mayor arrived to be greeted by the City Aldermen and Livery Company Masters in their colourful gowns.

On the day, the Heritage Foundation was represented by a fine body of volunteers , dressed as sunflowers and waving, jumping and dancing as they lifted the banner proudly for Letchworth Garden City.

Michael Savory, the 788th Lord Mayor of London, extended the invitation to the Heritage Foundation because Ebenezer Howard, the founder of Letchworth Garden City, was born in Fore Street in the City of London.

This year's show pulled in a crowd of more than 600,000 people.