Ravenmaster Barney Chandler has just started ‘the most important job in England’

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If an historic prophecy is correct, Michael “Barney” Chandler has just bought the most important job in England.

The 56-year-old former Royal Marine is the brand new ravenmaster on the Tower of London, chargeable for taking care of the feathered protectors of the 1,000-year-old fortress.

According to legend, if the ravens depart the Eleventh-century tower beside the River Thames, its White Tower will crumble and the Kingdom of England will fall. In the seventeenth century, King Charles II was advised of the prophecy and decreed that there should at all times be six ravens on the tower.

“We take that responsibility very seriously,” stated Chandler. “And now that I’m ravenmaster, there’s that extra responsibility on my shoulders.”

As for the prophecy, he stated “we don’t know if it’s true or not, because we’ve never let the number drop below six — and it’s not going to happen while I’m here.”

Chandler, who formally takes up the publish on Friday, is likely one of the tower’s well-known Yeoman Warders, a part of a corps based in the fifteenth century. Also generally known as Beefeaters, the warders are all army veterans who gown in distinctive black and scarlet Tudor-style uniforms and carry out a hybrid position: offering safety, main excursions of the tower, and performing ceremonial duties.

He heads a workforce of 4 different Beefeaters taking care of the tower’s seven ravens — the six decreed by Charles II and a spare. They are Jubilee, Harris, Poppy, Georgie, Edgar, Branwen and newest addition Rex, who was named in honor of the coronation of King Charles III final 12 months.

The jet-black birds are a well-known characteristic on the landmark, which has served as arsenal, palace, jail, zoo and extra lately vacationer attraction.

Built by King William I after his conquest of England in 1066, it served as a royal residence for a number of hundred years, however is extra well-known as a jail.

The Tower is the place “the princes in the tower,” sons of King Edward IV, had been confined in 1483 and allegedly murdered by their uncle, King Richard III, and the place Anne Boleyn was executed in 1536 after Henry VIII grew bored with his second spouse. Other well-known inmates have included Princess Elizabeth, the longer term Queen Elizabeth I; Guy Fawkes, who tried to explode Parliament; and Adolf Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess.

Nowadays, virtually 3 million vacationers come annually to take in a millennium of historical past and see the glittering Crown Jewels, that are saved in the tower.

The official title of ravenmaster is just 50 years outdated, although the position is much older, and Chandler is the sixth holder of the publish. He is in cost of the well being and welfare of the birds, who often roam freely across the tower grounds by day and sleep in cages at evening.

Duties embody sustaining the birds’ enclosures, arranging veterinary checkups and protecting them ate up their most popular food plan of uncooked meat supplemented by the occasional deal with of a hard-boiled egg or a hard-tack biscuit soaked in blood.

“They’re carrion birds,” stated Chandler. “They’ll eat almost anything.”

The birds’ feathers are trimmed to stop them flying away, though they often escape. According to Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that oversees the tower, a raven known as Grog flew off in 1981 and was final seen outdoors an East End pub named the Rose and Punchbowl.

Chandler is endlessly fascinated by the extremely smart birds, which he says are as good as a 7-year-old youngster. Pressed on his favourite, he names the mischievous Poppy, who hops throughout the grass beneath the White Tower over and eagerly accepts his providing of a useless mouse as a snack.

He says the bright-eyed corvids are “probably one of the most intelligent animals there are. Sometimes, here, too clever for their own good. But for me that’s the attraction.”

Chandler, who served in Afghanistan and around the globe throughout 24 years in the Royal Marines, has been on chicken dealing with programs and had different formal coaching for his position. But he says “all the courses in the world doesn’t replace actually being here and being amongst the birds and knowing their habits.”

“You never know what they’re going to do,” Chandler stated. They’re all completely completely different, personality-wise. Some will play ball, however others received’t. It’s just the unpredictability, which can also be the attention-grabbing a part of the job.

“They’re always trying to catch us out,” he stated fondly. “They know what we’re up to.”