London masons launch drive for City-wide publicity

A major publicity drive is to be launched by London Masons, involving Lodges taking on charitable projects in the 32 London boroughs.
    RW Bro the Marquess of Northampton, the Assistant Grand Master, who has special responsibilities for the capital, proposed the plan at a recent meeting of London Management.
    The plan will be promoted through the Visiting Grand Officers, who look after London’s 1,800 Lodges and 200 Chapters.
    W Bro Graham Roper, Information Officer for London, said the aim was to achieve publicity in the many local papers that serve the vast London area.
    He explained: “Once we get Lodges to agree to support a community project in a particular borough, we can generate good publicity through this local media.
    “The first task is to ensure that the Lodges respond. However, many Masons who are members of London lodges live outside the capital and only come into town for masonic meetings.”
    He added: “We could get some very interesting charities to support, perhaps minority organisations that do not often attract large donations.”
    London’s size and diversity has, from a masonic point of view, been difficult to co-ordinate for public relations, but constitutes by far the largest single group of Lodges in the UGLE.
    As such, the London Management initiative will enable a more focused publicity drive to be organised in particular areas, helping to promote the positive side of Freemasonry and the involvement of the Craft in local communities.
    Any London Lodge interested in taking part in this project should contact W Bro Graham Roper at London Management, Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen Street, on 020 7395 9297.

Open meeting for Stamford Hill Lodge

To celebrate its 70th anniversary, members of Stamford Hill Lodge No 5113 decided to do something different. They invited Masons and non-masons, including ladies to their meeting in the Indian Temple at Freemasons’ Hall in London.
    The guests toured the Library, Museum and Grand Temple, whilst the Worshipful Master, W. Bro Joel Keryell, opened the Lodge. After Masonic business the Lodge was closed and the visitors admitted to the Temple.
    A presentation was then given on Freemasonry and another on The Grand Charity. This was followed by a buffet luncheon, with favourable comments from the visitors on the day’s events.

Kent masons fund cathedral fresco at Rochester Cathedral

In a unique project Kent masons are to fund the first fresco to be painted at an English cathedral for 800 years Masons in the Provinces of both East and West Kent have agreed to fund a fresco to be displayed in Rochester Cathedral, which celebrates its 1,400 years’ existence in 2004. It is the first fresco to be painted at an English cathedral for 800 years.
    As a result, it was agreed to support a financial appeal by the Dean of Rochester, the Very Reverend Edward Shotter, and the Chapter, for a Baptistry to adorn the North Nave Transept.
    Because the Rochester Diocese covers both Provinces, West Kent was invited to join in, and each province has contributed £20,000, which has been converted into a covenant, making its value around £50,000.
    Following the statutory requirements of submitting the full proposal to the Cathedrals’ Fabric Commission for England, the concept has been warmly welcomed. The Commission particularly noted the “magnificent benefaction by the Masonic Provinces of East and West Kent to meet the cost of the fresco.”
    The fresco will be the work of the artist Sergei Fyodorov, a leading Russian iconographer, now resident in England. His work and design will make a major contribution to ecclesiastical mural painting in England.
    Fyodorov, 40, trained in Moscow and spent three years learning his craft from monks who specialised in ecclesiastical art. . His most important work to date has been the restored Danilov Monastery, headquarters of the Patriarch of Moscow.
    Fyodorov has carried out commissions for Winchester Cathedral, involving nine icons, and Westminster Abbey (two icons), but the Rochester project is his first fresco outside Russia.
    Rochester Cathedral, founded in the year 604, has one of the finest Norman Naves in England, and the fresco will complement this architectural style.
    The fresco has baptismal themes: the baptism of Jesus by St John the Baptist; the baptism of King Ethelbert – who gave the land on which the cathedral is built – by St Augustine of Canterbury, following the saint’s arrival in Kent in AD597. It also includes the baptism of around 2,000 Anglo Saxons.
    The fresco, which is due to be completed by the end of the year, is in a tradition that has remained uninterrupted in eastern Europe. The faded fragments of Romanesque wall painting at the cathedral have, in part, determined the fresco.
    They have their roots in the Byzantine wall paintings of eastern Christianity, which reached England from Sicily. The paint used will be coloured by natural minerals and painted on a skim of wet plaster.
    Michael Bailey, East Kent Deputy Grand Superintendent, said: “This splendid contribution by the Masons of Kent is a wonderful opportunity for practising those tenets as a lasting memorial.
    “It is even more appropriate in that Rochester, like so many other cathedrals subsequently built, was the home for many, many years of the Operative Masons. To this day many masons’ ‘marks’ can be seen in the cathedral. All the Masons of Kent can be justly proud to be publicly associated with this important millennium project.”
    The fresco will be seen by thousands of visitors each year, including the annual visit of around 20,000 schoolchildren and students who attend structured teaching visits.
    The work will be recorded by video throughout its various stages, because the undertaking of this style of work is so rare. There will be a formal Service of Dedication later this year.

RMBI chief on tough challenge communicating with freemasons

The toughest challenge faced by the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution (RMBI) is communicating with freemasons, according to chief executive Jane Reynolds.
    She told a meeting of the London Grand Rank Association (LGRA) that there was a great deal going on within the Institution.
    But, she added: “The biggest challenge I have is communication with the Fraternity, to make sure that people know how to get our help, and what sort of help that might be.”
    Communicating with London masons was “very difficult indeed.” For a start, there was no Provincial mechanism for talking to London masons.
    “In addition, the sheer number of people involved with Freemasonry in London makes it very complicated. Luckily, we seem to be getting the message through to people who belong to London that our help is available” she said.
    In London there were 397 annuitants receiving regular help from the RMBI, plus 223 residents belonging to London in the Institution’s homes. That costs the RMBI £1.3m a year alone.
    The RMBI was now the 66th biggest charity in the country out of 190,000 charities on the Charities Commission Register, and it was looking at developing its services in many different ways.
    Jane Reynolds said she wanted to dispel a number of myths about the RMBI. First, you do not have to be completely destitute to get into a home, neither is it just for the wealthy. Some 600 residents pay nothing at all.
    Nor is it obligatory for residents to leave anything to the RMBI in a will or to hand over their assets when they go into a home. It was also wrong to suggest that residents were restricted on what personal belongings they could take with them.
    She said residents could bring their own furniture, their cars and their pets. Some were even bringing their computers. It was also untrue that those who became too frail were asked to leave the home. Moreover, it was not true that those who did leave an RMBI home could not get back in again.
    While there was a long waiting list, if a need was especially urgent, that person would jump the queue.
    An innovation had been to set up a new charity called Masonic Care, for the mentally handicapped sons and daughters of Freemasons. A grant from the Grand Charity and generous help from the Province of Yorkshire West Riding had seen a home opened at Doncaster to this end.
    She added: “We are very proud of this new development. It is perhaps one of the biggest developments in the Institution’s history.”

Grand Master visits Dorset

The Province of Dorset received a visit from the Grand Master, HRH the Duke of Kent, who took a short break from his other official duties whilst in the Province.
    The Lord Lieutenant of Dorset, RW Bro Michael Fulford-Dobson, accompanied him. The Grand Secretary, VW Bro James Daniel, joined them. The Provincial Grand Master, RW Bro Harry Barnes greeted the Grand Master in the Masonic Hall, Poole, home of the Lodge of Amity No.137, the oldest in the Province.
    There, in the splendour of the mahogany panelled dining room the Grand Master was introduced to the Provincial Craft and Royal Arch executives and other Provincial Officers.

Masonic hall restoration plea follows Saffron Walden fire

It was probably a spark from a neighbour's bonfire that led to the almost complete destruction of the Saffron Walden hall last year.
    Outwardly, the dignified face of the masonic hall can be restored; inwardly, it is going to be difficult to recapture that sense of time immemorial that was conveyed by the original furnishings.
    The association that manages the hall on behalf of all the lodges, chapters and other degrees that consider it as their home, and had adequate insurance cover.
    The old furnishings, such as the Master’s and Wardens’ pedestals, which were the gift of the first Master of Walden Lodge in 1869, could be matched by a skilled craftsman, but are not something to be bought off the shelf.
    The timber columns supporting the celestial and terrestrial globes - not something seen in many temples - may be impossible to replace.
    Local Masons are appealing for anyone with a lathe that big, or with a spare bit of clay ground and a secret ambition to do some primitive casting (in molten brass, of course).
    The work in rebuilding and restoration will start soon, the plans are drawn up, discussions with the loss adjuster amicably concluded and, with a bit of luck, the hall will be in use again early next year. Those with access on the Internet can take an interest in their progress on www.saffronwalden.fsnet.co.uk.
    However, the Association needs help in financing some of the extras, which are sensibly added to the work of reinstatement, like a lift to serve the temple.
    Please send a cheque to “Walden Masonic Hall Association” to the treasurer: Ian Grieg, 4 Hawthorne Close, Sawston, Cambridgeshire, CB2 4TE.
    If you have a professional or craft skill which might be helpful to Saffron Walden in particular, or to masonic hall managers in general, please write to W H Jowett FRICS, 8 Broadley Green, Windlesham, Surrey GU20 6AL. Telephone: 01276-475128; E-mail: bill.jowett@btinternet.com

Masonic website update

There is an opportunity to support fundraising for Beamish 2000, the millennium project for the Province of Durham (see pages 32-34), at www.arwhite.demon.co.uk/
    The International Masonic Poetry Society at www.masonic-poetry.org/ is extremely popular and subject to a hacking attack. When the domain name was available for renewal, it was obtained by another party and forwarded to an unsavoury site. Masonic webmasters should ensure that they renew fees promptly.
    In July, two Freemasons frustrated by the lack of current Masonic research and news on the web, launched thefreemason.com at www.thefreemason.com. A proportion of profits will be donated to Grand Lodge charities.
    A web site, www.lodgebanners.co.uk, has been set up to explain the origins of Lodge banners and badges. To include a Lodge banner, send a graphic to the site webmaster.
    The Province of Derbyshire has gone online since our last edition, whilst Cambridgeshire and Somerset have changed their addresses: Cambridgeshire is (www.pglcambs.org.uk), Derbyshire is (www.derbyshiremason.org) and Somerset (www.pglsomerset.org.uk).
    Hayle Masonic Complex, based at www.noon12.freeserve.co.uk/lodge/, is Cornwall’s first Masonic web site and provides information on the museum and some local Lodges.
    Lewis Masonic Publishing has a web site at www.ianallan.com/publishing/masonic/ from which books can be ordered online.
    Some Lodges and Chapters may experience difficulty in obtaining organists. MasonicMEDIA (at www.masonicmedia.co.uk/), provides appropriate Masonic music on CD. For your Masonic web site to be considered for inclusion in web news, please e-mail fmt@freemasonryonline.co.uk.
    Compiled by Roger JG Stevens, Old Cliftonian Lodge No. 3340, www.oclodge3340.org.uk.

Atlantic sailor vows to make second crossing attempt

It is a case of never-say-die for Bury mason Melvin Magnall, seeking to emulate 80-year-old Quaker Henry Wood, who sailed in a small boat with his family to America in 1682 to avoid religious persecution.
    Wood left his farm near Bury and established a new settlement on the banks of the Delaware River, New Jersey, close to Philadelphia. He called it Woodbury, after his own name and home town.
    Melvin, a member of Victoria Lodge 5504, became interested in Wood after he found two stone mullions from the window of the Quaker’s home while working at the farm in Tottington.
    He sold his house and also put his life savings into buying a sloop that he named The Henry Wood. In addition, he had a crew of 20 who would join him at various parts of the journey in batches of four to six.
    Unfortunately, after covering 2,500 miles in 30 days he hit extremely bad weather, had damaged steering gear and was running out of time to make it to Woodbury for the 1 July special celebrations.
    So, he was forced to abandon the adventure two days after leaving Tenerife in the Canaries. However, along with 400 other people from Bury, he arrived in America by plane, where they were hosted by local families for more than a week.
    Melvin presented the two stones from Henry Wood’s home – one to the city, the other to the Quakers – before he and a crew of four flew back to Tenerife to sail the boat home after repairing the rudder.
    Not put off, Melvin vows to be back again for another try to cross the Atlantic in 2002.

Sussex Freemasons prove a knockout

The need for Freemasons to be out in the communities they serve has never been more important, and the Province of Sussex has done it in a highly publicised way.
    In what is believed to be the first of its kind by a Province, they formed a team to compete in an "It’s A Knockout" competition at Rochester Castle in the Macmillan Cancer Relief Corporate Challenge 2000 against 11 other teams.
    The Sussex team was formed of families as well as masons, and came a very creditable third to help fund 15 more Macmillan nurses for the South Downs.

Montserrat masons fight on after volcano disaster destroys hall

A fund has been set up to rebuild the masonic hall where St Anthony Lodge No 4684 EC met, which was covered in ash following the volcanic eruption on the island of Montserrat in 1996.
    The eruption led to the south and largest part of the island being declared an exclusion zone, and was abandoned. Two-thirds of the population left, and those that remain live in the north.
    A new site has been earmarke.d for a Masonic hall, and a plea for masons to help the fund has come from RW Bro Brian Parsons, District Grand Master of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
    Freemasonry is long established on Montserrat, through a patent of 1734 to James Watson by the United Grand Lodge of England. However, no masonic lodges were working on the island at the start of the 20th century.
    But in 1924 freemasonry resumed there and the following year St Anthony Lodge was consecrated. Unfortunately, three years later its first meeting place, was blown down by a hurricane.
    Later, a masonic hall was built in the capital, but a series of earthquakes badly damaged it in 1934, although it was restored.
    Contributions should be sent to J C Kelsick, PO Box 64, Brades, Montserrat, West Indies.

Charity walker’s long pilgrimage

Step off with the left foot. Well, that has certainly been the case for Nottinghamshire freemason John Slack, who has undertaken a 2,000-mile journey for cancer charities in memory of his wife.
    John has walked what in the Middle Ages was known as “Walking the Milky Way” from Santiago de Compostella in north-west Spain to Rosslyn, just south of Edinburgh.
    The walk was in memory of his wife Carol, who died of cancer in January 1990.
    John, 44, a builder with one daughter and two grandchildren, gave up full time employment to care for his wife.
    He has received help from freemasons on the continent and in the UK in a journey lasting more than 120 days. The aim is to raise £50,000 for the Carol Slack Charity Walk, a registered charity.
    On his way through Hertfordshire, John stopped off at Welwyn Garden City, where local freemasons helped him, including Provincial Treasurer W Bro Charled Bowden and Information Officer, W Bro James Young. He was put up for two nights by W Bro Bob Knights, MEZ of Winchmore Green Chapter 9116.
    Donations should be marked “The Carol Slack Charity Walk” and sent to Cyril Grice, 156 Victoria Road, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire NG17 8AT.

Assistant Grand Master leads top delegation to Borneo celebrations

The visit to Sabah, Malaysia, earlier this year of the Assistant Grand Master, RW Bro the Marquess of Northampton was the first to the region by a High Ruler of the Craft since that of the then Pro Grand Master, MW Bro Lord Cornwallis in 1985.
    Sabah is located in Malaysian Borneo at the eastern periphery of the District Grand Lodge of the Eastern Archipelago. The local masonic map in 1985 consisted only of three Craft lodges, Kinabalu 7047, Elopura 7545 and Beaufort 7989.
    Fifteen years on, this trio have been joined by Labuan 9652, Elopura Royal Arch Chapter 7547 and the yet to be consecrated Table Lodge 9717. In addition, there was a foundation stone ceremony for a new masonic hall at Kinabalu.
    Lord Northampton was accompanied by the Grand Secretary, VW Bro Jim Daniel, the host, District Grand Master RW Bro J.W.Y. Eu with his Deputy, W Bro Richard Ong Guan Seng and Assistant W Bro. Jack Wong Yow Fook, the District Grand Master of Hong Kong and Far East, RW Bro. Peter H.Y. Wong, the District Grand Master of North Island, New Zealand, RW Bro Ross Collins and the Deputy District Grand Master of Sri Lanka W Bro J.M.G Perera.
    The official engagement was the Installation Meeting of Labuc Lodge 9652.
    Following the meeting, instead of the normal Installation banquet, the brethren adjourned to the house of W Bro Fred Jinu for a “Kadazan Nite” arranged by the Kadazan brethren and their ladies, who were all attired in their traditional costumes.
    The next day Lodge Kinabalu held its emergency meeting, during which the AGM, the Grand Secretary, RW Bro Peter Wong and W Bro Richard Ong were made honorary members.
    The last official function in the itinerary was the Consecration and Installation Ceremony of Table Lodge 9717, warranted on 9 February 2000.
    In the installation ceremony that followed, W Bro Jacob Pang was installed as the Founder Master by the DGM. The meeting was attended by 25 founders and 69 visitors.