On July 4th, a highly trained squad of Glass Sellers gathered at Guildhall Yard to participate in our first-ever Cask Race.
The event was hosted by The Worshipful Company of Coopers and supported by the Lady Mayor of London to raise charity funds and support a social event which would bring Livery members and families back together after COVID. In its 5th year, there were a record 32 teams competing, ranging from the defending champions Merchant Taylors, to Glovers, Leather Sellers, Bakers, Innholders, Engineers and many more.
Drawn in Pool D, the enthusiastic Glass Sellers rolled our casks with style to win the first race handsomely against the Engineers, Waterman & Lightermen and Communicators. Everyone was somewhat in shock, including ourselves. It seemed our hidden talents had finally been set free to showcase the amazing teamwork that can be created from a strict training regime, where in truth, we had only watched a YouTube clip we found the night before on the event!
Perhaps still recovering from the shock, or peaking too soon, we drew breath and fell back in the next race to 3rd place before finishing well with 2nd in the last race, narrowly beaten by the Beefeaters at HM Tower of London. The trick seemed to always be in the cornering, and we had much still to learn. When all the scores were in and confirmed, the Distillers pulled through this year as champions for 2026. We came in 10th out of 32 teams and wandered off to a quiet bar in Liverpool Street to celebrate our newly found skills and, thankfully, no injuries.
Our thanks to Renter Warden Richard Gundle for bringing us together on a memorable event. For all those tempted next year, it is a real fun morning out together, with participation open to all levels of fitness given the complete amateur level of everyone involved behind the cask. Roll on 2027…!
