The route of the procession is the same each year, as it has been since 1952. The timings vary each year depending on the length of the procession and other factors such as the fact that in 2006 the Show fell on Armistice day and began with a 2 minute silence. The date of the Show is always the second Saturday in November, by the way.
The timetable for 2008 is shown below (and on the map) as a guide. The timetable for 2009 will be similar but not exactly the same, and will appear here in mid October.
| Head of procession |
Lord Mayor passes |
Tail of procession |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Mansion House | 11:00:00 | 12:06:20 | 12:09:16 |
| Cheapside | 11:07:22 | 12:13:42 | 12:16:37 |
| Grandstands at St Paul's | 11:11:18 | 12:17:38 | 12:20:33 |
| St Paul's Cathedral | 11:13:02 | 12:19:22 | 12:22:18 |
| Pageantmaster's Court | 11:16:13 | 12:28:33 | 12:31:28 |
| Ludgate Circus | 11:17:52 | 12:30:12 | 12:33:08 |
| Temple Bar | 11:25:15 | 12:37:35 | 12:40:31 |
| Royal Courts of Justice | 11:26:27 | 12:38:47 | 12:41:43 |
The Lord Mayor stops at St Paul's for about six minutes before continuing on to the Royal Courts, and will be delayed by that much at subsequent stops. Those timings are shown in italics. The Lord Mayor spends just under an hour and a half at the Royal Courts, then there is then a six minute journey to Temple Place, where the coach rejoins the end of the procession:
| Head of procession |
Lord Mayor passes |
Tail of procession |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Temple Place | 13:00:00 | 14:06:20 | 14:09:16 |
| City Boundary | 13:00:27 | 14:06:47 | 14:09:42 |
| Blackfriars Railway Bridge | 13:08:43 | 14:15:04 | 14:17:59 |
| Puddle Dock | 13:10:07 | 14:16:27 | 14:19:22 |
| Wardrobe Terrace | 13:11:09 | 14:17:29 | 14:20:24 |
| Godliman Street | 13:13:04 | 14:19:24 | 14:22:19 |
| Distaff Lane | 13:14:07 | 14:20:28 | 14:23:23 |
| Mansion House | 13:22:49 | 14:29:09 | 14:32:05 |
The alert reader will notice that the tail of the procession gets back to Mansion House one minute and 13 seconds later than last year. Frightening though it may seem to anyone like me who can't catch a train without running, the times really are worked out with that precision and they really do stick to them. The Show has over 6,000 people in a procession that stretches over 3 miles, some of whom are used to marching and some of whom are used to rollerskating. It takes a huge amount of invisible effort to keep everything in step and everyone in the right place. When you see the Pageantmaster he will wave from a Land Rover and look calm, but you can assume that he was a lot less relaxed first thing that morning.