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c1930 Court in procession
It is the start of the legal year, when the senior courts of England and Wales return from vacation and hundreds of judges get dressed up in their finest robes and wigs to take part in a ceremony dating to 1897. The day begins by travelling from the Royal Courts of Justice at Temple Bar, London, to Westminster Abbey for a special service to pray for guidance in their judicial undertakings. Then the line of judges process the short distance to the Houses of Parliament (everyone here forming an orderly queue to get in), where they are treated to the Lord Chancellor’s Breakfast. This goes back to a 16th-century custom of fasting before taking communion at a church service, so it was deemed good etiquette for the Lord Chancellor to offer the assembled judges a bite to eat afterwards.