The year will be packed with attendances at fund-raising events organised by the City livery companies, and more than 600 speeches on subjects from financial matters to charity and patronage.

Staff in green and cream uniforms that matched the train's livery guided us to our cabins, in which armchairs and sofas by day convert to single beds at night.

He had already engaged a horse and buggy at the livery stable just around the corner from the bank.