On Tuesday my daughter Naomi graduated as a vet from the Royal Veterinary College after 6 years of hard work. The college is the oldest vet school in Britain and was formed around 1780 first in Camden and later with a campus near Potter’s Bar. There were just 200 graduates and the ceremony was held in the Guildhall in the City of London.

The Guildhall is a wonderful building whose crypt dates back to the 13th century. The stone building survived the great fire of London and the Blitz of the second world war. The graduation took place in the Great Hall which dominates the whole building, and it is also here where great state banquets are held for visiting dignataries. Before and after the ceremony refreshments were held in the Crypt and the adjoining halls so we more or less saw everything.  I must say that the RVC organisation was superb and the speeches just the right mix of being witty and short. The most moving moment was to get all 200 graduates to swear the oath of the Royal Society of Veterinary Surgeons, only after which could they practice legally as vets.

 

Summer Exhibition Royal Academy

Summer Exhibition Royal Academy

The next day we visited the Royal Academy to see the Summer Exhibition. I hadn’t realised that many of the pictures were actually for sale, although they are not cheap. Prices range from 4,000 to 70,000 pounds for an original painting and from 400 pounds upwards for prints. We really enjoyed the exhibition however and despite what you hear the majority of the paintings are really excellent. Only with a few of the works did you get the feeling that they were taking the p.. !