Art of the Apocalypse

This year’s summer exhibition at Freemasons’ Hall, London, will be "Trench Art", the evocative name given to objects made from the detritus of war, from the 16th Century to the present day.
    Fittingly, the 30 June to 19 September exhibition is at the Art Deco building erected as a memorial to those who died during the First World War.
    Trench Art is typically thought of as engraved artillery shell cases, or letter openers made from shrapnel, but it also includes unusual objects made from the wreckage of cathedrals or even from a ship of the Spanish Armada.
    Although Trench Art is best known from the First World War, the exhibition will include examples from wars as early as the sixteenth century.
    The exhibition is being organised by the Library and Museum of Freemasonry working with Dr Nicholas Saunders of University College, London.

Masonic Archives on the Internet

The first phase of the Library and Museum of Freemasonry’s lottery-funded project has been completed and the catalogue for 1,700 pieces of historic correspondence is now available on the internet.
    It can be found on the free Access to Archives (A2A) website www.a2a.pro.gov.uk which is part of the National Archives Network.
    The original documents are available at the Library and Museum.
    The letters include correspondence relating to many leading figures in eighteenth century history including politician, the Earl of Moira, the Prince of Wales (later George IV), the furniture designer Thomas Johnson and the silversmith Thomas Harper. They provide a fascinating insight into the world of the eighteenth century, touching on the expansion of the British Empire, the French Revolution and the slave trade, as well as issues of particular relevance to Freemasons.

Newham Collects Underground

Borough of Newham Lodge, No. 8627, has long supported London’s only children’s hospice, Richard House, and initiate Clive White came up with a novel way to raise further funds. He works for London Underground and arranged for lodge members - and collecting buckets - to be at Bank and Holborn stations for a day. Each collection raised more than £5,000.

Haberdashers’ Donation

When the Master of Haberdashers’ Aske’s Lodge, No. 3362, became aware of a financial crisis facing the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, he decided to make it his year’s charity. The Association has suffered a severe drop in income, partly because of the stock market decline, and is faced with having to close residential training centres. The Lodge took up the challenge and raised £5,000.

Charitable Cornish Bowlers

Cornish Masonic bowlers have continued their charity donations - this time with a £1,000 gift to the Cornish Urilogical Trust at Truro. Since 1998, the total donated to various charities by the Cornwall Masonic Bowling Association has reached £5,000. Pictured are Consultant Urologist Robert Cox (right) with the association’s Honorary Secretary, Roger Brunt.

Degree of Success

The First Degree Lecture Team from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Grand Stewards’ Lodge has worked more than 300 lectures since May, 1988, in 15 different Provinces, raising more than £17,000 for the 2005 Festival in aid of the New Masonic Samaritan Fund.
    The 300th working was at a meeting of Old Cliftonian Lodge, No. 3340, and the occasion was attended by the Bristol PGM, Dr. D.H. Fox, MBE., and his Deputy, M. J. Flynn, JP.
    The team is still available to accept lecture dates and interested Lodges can contact Keith Dibben on 01962 713846.

Canonbury Masonic Research Centre

Public Lectures organised by CMRC are held on Wednesdays - 7.00 - 9.00pm. Entry fee £6.
    19th March: Yasha Beresiner, LLB. Masonic Collectables & Memorabilia. Guests are invited to bring along Masonic memorabilia for identification and appraisal.
    16th April: Michael Edwards BA. PG Dip Film(Slade). QHP. On Contemplating the Heavens - Hermetic and Cultural Cosmology.
    21st May: Robert Cooper BA. FSA(Scot) Curator of Museum and Library, The Grand Lodge of Scotland. The Knights Templar in Scotland - Myth and Reality.
    18th June: Michael Walker, Grand Secretary, The Grand Lodge of Ireland. The History of Freemasonry in Ireland and our Future.
    The Fifth International Conference on Freemasonry is to be held on Saturday & Sunday, 1st and 2nd November, 2003. Papers are invited, from scholars whether Freemasons or not.
    Available now: The Canonbury Papers, Vol 1, The Social Impact of Freemasonry on the Modern Western World.

Centre for Research into Freemasonry Sheffield University

Free seminars:
    10 March: Prof. Roger Burt: Freemasonry and the International Migration of Cornish Miners.
    9 April: Robert Peter, University of Szeged, Hungary: Freemasons and the Mystical Enlightenment in 18th Century Britain.
    13 May: Dr Brent Morris: The Structure of American Freemasonry.
    For information: Amy Hall, Centre for Research into Freemasonry, Floor 14, Arts Tower, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN. E-mail: a.s.hall@shef.ac.uk, phone 0114 222 9890. Web site: www.shef.ac.uk/~crf.

The Cornerstone Society

The Cornerstone Society has now held two Master Classes, Climbing Jacob’s Ladder and A Vital and Immortal Principle, both under the expert tutelage of Michael Baigent. The first was over-subscribed so that a repeat was necessary, and in all some sixty brethren have now benefited from this pilot scheme. The Society is now exploring ways in which the participants can take back to their lodges what has been learned, and implement these lessons alongside the day-to-day conduct of ritual.
    The fourth Summer Conference, for Master Masons and above, will be held in the Grand Temple, Freemasons’ Hall, London, on Saturday 7 June. The title is The Paths of Heavenly Science. MWBro José Anes, the MW Grand Master of Portugal, will deliver a talk entitled An Hermetic and Templar Palace. This will be followed by the well-known author W. Kirk MacNulty speaking on A Philosophical Background for Masonic Symbolism, the Rev. Neville Barker-Cryer on The Grand Lodge of York Ritual - its Spirit and Form, and Bro. Lightfoote’s talk will be entitled A Matter of Degree. This will be followed by the customary question-and-answer session and a ritual workshop. Website - www.workingtools.org. Email - workingtools@aol.com
    The Cornerstone Society 68 Foxley Lane Purley Surrey CR8 3EE

Quatuor Coronati

Q. C. Corrrespondence Circle Ltd., in association with Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076, at the next three Lodge meetings, for Master Masons and above, will receive the following papers:
    Thursday 8th May, 2003 The Polite Revolution: The Formation of American Grand Lodges, 1778-1806. Speaker: S. Brent Morris.
    Thursday, 26th June, 2003 The Landscape Garden and Freemasonry. Speaker: Professor James Stevens Curl, Phd.
    Thursday, 11th September, 2003 The Scholar the Builders Rejected - the Life and Work of J.S.M. Ward. Speaker: Anthony R. Baker.