The ritual is always the same. It is an early Saturday morning and Graham Worrall leaves his Black Country home, catches a bus to Wolverhampton railway station and then a train to London. Once aboard he meets up with some 14 others and the socialising starts. It lasts throughout the day as each goes to their various Saturday lodges and then meet up for the return journey, to arrive home in the early hours.
    Graham is a 60 year old former Treasurer, Secretary and Master of the Tulse Hill 4462 Lodge, holding London Grand Rank, who describes himself as "a typical Freemason". He is also former Master of Dudley Priory Lodge 5545.
    He is proud to be a Freemason, describing his life as "Have apron will travel". Not only that, but he cares passionately about the Craft. He introduced his son Andrew, aged 31, to the Dudley Lodge and he is now a Lewis - a member of the Craft who is the son of a Freemason (a lewis is a contrivance for gripping heavy blocks of stone for lifting, and parallels could be drawn between father's lifetime work in the construction industry, his son's employment in the steel industry, and much masonic symbolism). And his pride does not end there, for he desperately wants Freemasonry to flourish, to be more open and to tell the world what good works are done throughout the Craft, not only for brethren but for the "outside world".
    Graham is a softly-spoken son of the Black Country who has spent most of his life in the construction industry. He enjoys "the crack" (a construction industry term for discourse) and he enjoys life. And life to Graham is the Craft. Asked how much of his life is taken up by Freemasonry he replies: "Well. . . thinking time - a lot!"
    A one-time Staffordshire County sprinting champion, he joined the Technical School at Wolverhampton at the age of 13 and had to choose which "technical" section to follow, so he took Building and was taught the basic trade, being tutored in such crafts as bricklaying and plastering. When he left, he went to work for McAlpine's which was then a relatively small firm that grew and grew, and he ended up as chief surveyor for the Midlands. Five years ago, like a lot of companies, it was re-organising and, in his own words, he "became surplus to requirements". He spent a year or two doing consultancy work and then went to sort out a problem at a company that lays concrete flooring. A couple of months later the phone rang and he was asked if he would return to Stanford Construction to help with the estimating side of things. He now works there full-time.
    His love affair with Freemasonry began 26 years ago. "I had a good friend who lived in Walsall, who was a member of a London lodge and I visited one or two functions as his guest and then two years later I joined his lodge, Tulse Hill". This was shortly after its 50th anniversary and it is now approaching its 75th. He went into the chair in 1982 and has also served as Treasurer for three years then Secretary, relinquishing that four years ago, but he is still Festival Secretary. "My wife, Gillian, arranges everything and I take the credit!" he joked, adding seriously: "Without the ladies we would not be able to function." Graham went on to join Dudley's Priory Lodge also, after the first year becoming Junior Warden and, for the last two years, Master, handing over to the new Master in November of 1997. "I joined to sit on the back benches but it did not quite turn out that way. Nevertheless, I enjoy it and have done what I have to do."
    He mused on the fact that his London lodge was flourishing while Dudley, "like so many" was experiencing "some difficulty", recalling how during his chair the Midlands lodge invited non-masons into white dining meetings. They were shown the first video on Grand Lodge and were told a little about Masonry. "It did not get results" he said, "but I know of other lodges where it has". It was here that Graham's eyes began to twinkle and his Black Country tones went up an octave as he began to enthuse on a topic close to his heart. "The only way we are going to encourage more people to join is by being more open." he said, emphasising the point by prodding his forefinger into the palm of his other hand. "We have to be far, far more open." He added: "I know from when the Duke of Kent decreed we should be more open in the 80s that things changed, but my view is that we have a long, long way to go. I am still not convinced we are open enough. I know many members of lodges who have not visited other lodges, and if we cannot communicate with ourselves, we cannot communicate with others!"
    In America, he said, masons even have number plates on their cars which proclaim their membership. At installations, wives and families attend and "just don't see the secret bits" and there are neon signs guiding the traveller to lodges. "I'm not advocating we go quite that far," he laughed, " but we have got to be forward-looking. Perhaps it is the older brethren who will find it not to their liking but I do think we have got to start with ourselves and communicate."
    Would he advocate bringing the Press into meetings? "I don't see why not. Most people who are not masons do not realise the good that is done for the general public. Their first reaction is we look after ourselves, but we contribute to many things such as hospices and a great deal more. Many outside charities have received moneys from individual lodges as well as Grand Lodge, and the thing we don't do is get that into the Press, unlike Round Tables or Rotary clubs or whatever, who stand collecting on the street corners and the public see them and associate them with charity. We have got to get that to the general public, and by doing so we shall reach the right type of person who wants to join us."
    It was rather stating the obvious when he concluded: "I feel passionately about this. I wish I could come up with a magic formula that could change it".
    If anyone can, then it is Graham Worrall.