York's Mansion House is throwing open its doors for an 'at home with the Lord Mayor' event this week (Thursday, 21 June).

The occasion will allow visitors to take a peek inside and find out what the Lord Mayor's home is really like. The Mansion House will be open between 11am and 3pm and admission is free of charge.

Traditionally, this is also a time when the Sheriff of York's Lady, this year Mrs Karen Hyman, hands over her 'staff of office' to the Lord Mayor's Consort, Mr Derek Waudby.

This particular tradition is one of the curiosities of life in the Mansion House. The staff is taken to the Lord Mayor's Day reception and is given to the Sheriff's Lady, who is at liberty to use it, as she thinks fit, on the Sheriff or otherwise, until the first Mansion House 'at home' day of the year. The thinking is that, by this time, the Sheriff will be sick of the sight of it and ready to promise his Lady that he will be very good for the rest of the municipal year! It can then be handed over to the Lady Mayoress or, as is the case this year, the Lord Mayor's Consort, to enable them to keep the Lord Mayor in order.

The present staff was the gift of Alderman Richard Towne in 1726 and replaced a more ancient one that had become decayed through old age - and not by use on the Lord Mayor! It is made of the finest Indian ebony wood tipped with silver at each end and is said to have been taken in battle when borne before an Indian Emperor.