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Masonic News and Views
NORTH WALES HAS NEW PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER
EAST KENT WELCOMES NEW LEADER OF PROVINCE Michael Bailey has been installed as the fourth Provincial Grand Master for the Province of East Kent in a ceremony which took place at Margate, on the Kent Coast. The Assistant Grand Master David Williamson conducted the installation ceremony, assisted by the Grand Director of Ceremonies Jonathan Spence and the Assistant Grand Secretary Graham Redman, who read the citation. Around a thousand Freemasons, including representatives of eight other Provinces, packed the Winter Gardens Theatre, providing a colourful setting for what proved to be a memorable occasion. The Craft ceremony was opened by the Deputy Metropolitan Grand Master Russell Race. He and the Grand Director of Ceremonies are both ‘Old Boys’ of the Province and long-standing friends of the new Provincial Grand Master. In his inaugural address to those present, but clearly also addressed to the nearly nine thousand members of the Province, the new Provincial Grand Master outlined his aims and objectives for the future of the Province, emphasising his wish that the brethren of East Kent should first and foremost enjoy their masonry. With the future firmly in mind he established the need to look towards encouraging new members of the right calibre, those who are prepared to give of themselves within the community. He went on to recommend the need for a policy of mentoring and supporting younger members through their early years of lodge membership and outlined other plans designed to encourage and cement the fraternal bonds, thereby sustaining and developing membership.
NEW PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER FOR WILTSHIRE At the City Hall in Salisbury recently Peter Lowndes, the Deputy Grand Master installed Francis Wakem as Provincial Grand Master for Wiltshire. Over 600 Brethren had gathered, mostly from the County, but many had come from over 12 neighbouring Counties, Wales and the Channel Islands to witness the occasion. In his inaugural address Francis Wakem outlined his proposals for the development of Freemasonry in the Province, in the three areas on which he wished to concentrate, namely to increase the level of financial support given to the many worthy charities and good causes within the local community, to encourage more members to involve themselves in local practical charity work, and to actively involve family and friends in masonic activities and to encourage a wider membership of a worthy, enjoyable and open organisation. Referring to recruitment and retention, the new Provincial Grand Master said ‘For rituals to be entertaining and relevant they must be conducted to the best of our ability and in a manner that holds the attention of the candidate and the audience.’ All members should be encouraged – should be supported – should be given the opportunity to progress through the various offices to the Chair of their Lodge, he said. ‘We are not all good at the ritual. That must not be a bar to an enthusiastic mason from progressing. There is nothing wrong in sharing the work among different members of the lodge – it adds variety and increases the sense of brotherhood among those taking part. It ensures that the candidate has taken part in a well conducted ceremony and it helps a deserving Brother in progressing through his lodge – a Brother who might otherwise lose heart’.
WREN’S MASTERPIECE RETURNS TO LONDON Two ashlars were presented at the second regular meeting of the Temple Bar Lodge No. 1728 in 1878, which were two blocks of Portland Stone from the structure of the old Temple Bar Monument, designed by Christopher Wren. Sadly, over the long history of the Temple Bar Lodge, these original ashlars had become lost. However, the dismantling of the Temple Bar and its relocation to London last year, gave the Lodge an opportunity to replace these historic Ashlars. Having first obtained approval from the present City Architect, the stonemasons of the Cathedral Works Organisation who were working on the Temple Bar, were able to cut two new Ashlars to replace those which had been lost. These were then presented to the Lodge in October 2004. The Temple Bar was demolished in 1878 to make way for widening Fleet Street. Ten years later, it caught the eye of Lady Meux, wife of the brewing magnate, who had it removed and rebuilt in her Theobalds Park estate in Hertfordshire. In 2001 the Corporation of the City of London decided to fund the return of Temple Bar to the City of London. CORNWALL TRIBUTE TO JILL FARWELL MBE The masonic Province of Cornwall has always had close relations to charities around the County, and in the course of fund-raising activities has made good friends in the community at large. This was nowhere more apparent than when they raised money to assist the only children’s hospice in the south west. Little Bridge House, in Barnstaple in Devon, was cofounded by Jill Farwell MBE and her husband Eddie, after losing two of their three children to a rare degenerative condition. During the 250th anniversary celebrations of the masonic Province, a cheque for £10,000 was presented to her at a Community Week meeting in Wadebridge by the then Provincial Grand Master, Nick Barrington. At the last Provincial Annual meeting, a further £1,000 was given. Sadly, Jill Farwell has died of cancer, and the Province has lost a partner in the dispensing of charity to the needy. She was described recently as ‘an inspirational and courageous personality of enthusiasm and cheerfulness’. With her husband, she was on target to open a second children’s hospice in 2006. Another Brother said ‘I have seen her in the Hospice, walking into a room of terminally-ill children with their parents, and immediately create an atmosphere of pure joy. That is special. It was not just to the children that she passed on her special presence, but to the families as well, particularly after a bereavement.’ Since her death the financial support from lodges in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset has continued. Jill had always made quite plain her affection for Freemasonry and has been nominated as ‘Person of the Year’ by the local newspaper Western Morning News. It is hoped to establish a fund in her memory for an annual lecture on paediatric palliative care. SCOTTISH DEMONSTRATION IN YORK The Alcuin Lodge No. 6300 in York recently hosted a demonstration team from the Lodge The Royal Stuart No. 1414, accompanied by Provincial Grand Master of Renfrewshire East, Dixon Drye. The demonstration is only undertaken on what the Royal Stuart Lodge deems to be special occasions, and they came to York as a mark of their respect for Kenneth Pratt, the Master of the Alcuin Lodge, to contribute to his year in office. The demonstration itself was not a degree but a dramatisation in three parts all derived from recognised historical manuscripts written in 1425 and 1475. The team were in suitable dress for the period being dramatised. The dress itself was illustrated from within the dramatisation when an example was given of 15th Century stained glass. The demonstration began with the entry of the uneducated candidate to the Order. This was followed by an instructional and educational presentation of the Candidate being tutored in the Seven Liberal Arts. The source for this was the Theodoric (Thierry) of Chartres Cathedral School between 1120 and 1150. It was used to develop and grade the artisan, which included masons, prior to his raising in the Tironensis Order. The third part was the completion of the candidate’s education, of which the sequel was a raising or ‘passing out’ Ceremony, based on the Graham Manuscript which was discovered in York. The Demonstration suggested that some early pre-Grand Lodge lodges educated their initiates in the Seven Liberal Arts. The ritual used was remarkably similar to that generally practised today and gave insights into the origins of the ritual and the potential source of our rules. A presentation was made to the team of three appropriate pieces of stone: a rough and a smooth ashlar made from stone found locally from which York Minster is built, and a piece from the roof of the Chapter House of York Minster itself. LANCASHIRE FREEMASONS GO TO THE OPERA A second Operatic Charity Concert is being organised by St John’s Lodge No. 325 in Bolton, to be held on Saturday 26 February 2005 at the Victoria Halls, Knowsley Street, Bolton. This year, all proceeds from the concert will go to the East Lancashire Masonic Benevolent Institution. Following last year’s successful concert, which raised £6,000 for the 2004 Festival, Allan Jordan and Jack Bancroft of St. John’s Lodge have arranged for six international opera stars, together with the Ramsbottom Choral Society to appear again at the concert. The artistes have asked only for expenses and will waive their performance fees. The Managing Director of the Company providing the artistes is Barbara Segal the soprano, whose father was a member of St John’s Lodge. Other artistes appearing are Jean-Luc Eveque – Baritone; Sonja Nerdrun – Soprano; Ewan Taylor – Bass; Margaret Maguire - Mezzo Soprano and Alexandre Nauomenko – Tenor. The Provincial Grand Master Peter Walthall will again be attending and an array of VIP guests has been invited. Any company or individual willing to sponsor the event or wishing to book advertising space in the programme are invited to contact the Organisers. Tickets are on sale at a cost of £12 each, available from the Organisers, from Lodge Charity Stewards, Bolton Town Hall booking office, The Octagon Theatre booking office and from Booths music shop in Bolton. Further information and tickets can be obtained from Allan Jordan at allanjordan6@hotmail.com Tel. 01772 601950, or from Jack Bancroft at johnbancroft@blueyonder.co.uk Tel. 01942 256840. YORKSHIRE MASONS WORKING WITH WETHERBY SCOUTS Coronation Lodge, No. 2922, in Leeds recently applied for funds from the Provincial Charity and presented to Wetherby District Scouts a cheque for £350. This is to be used to purchase one of two generators they need for camps and outdoor activities. For many years they have hired these units at ever increasing costs, and existing funds would not permit this expenditure. The then Master of Coronation Lodge said, ‘Having been involved with scouting for over 25 years, I am fully aware that the cost of equipment hire for our various activities and in particular our annual District Camp continues to escalate. The annual Wetherby and District camp usually attracts 250 to 300 boys from Beaver Scout colonies, Cub Scout packs and Scout troops, plus their Leaders and Helpers. ‘We set up camp on a Friday night, usually in July, and we break camp on Sunday afternoon. During the weekend we provide activities that individual colonies, packs or troops are unable to arrange on an individual basis during the year - either due to the high costs involved or the difficulties in organising them and finding Leaders (or Professionals) with the required qualifications to run the events.’ Camp activities include kayaking, climbing, abseiling, caving and archery along with many other less adventurous, but never the less interesting, entertaining and educational events. The generator will be made available during the year at no charge to any of the individual Scout groups for use during their own activities. A FREEMASON ONCE AGAIN LORD MAYOR OF LONDON In November Michael Savory formally took over as Lord Mayor at what is known as the ‘silent ceremony’. The following day the Lord Mayor’s Show took place which is a procession formed to escort the Lord Mayor to the Royal Courts of Justice where he swears his oath of allegiance before the Lord Chief Justice. Michael Savory was initiated in Prince of Wales’s Lodge No. 259. He was Secretary of the Lodge for several years until he became a Sheriff of the City of London in 2001-2. He is also a member of the Guildhall Lodge No. 3116 and despite a very busy year as Lord Mayor he will be installed as its Master in April 2005 and preside over the Lodge during its centenary year. The theme for the Show this year was partly based on the maritime celebrations which are due to mark the 200th centenary of Nelson’s victory at Cape Trafalgar in 1805. The new Lord Mayor has an interest in the Royal Hospital School at Holbrook in Suffolk, as a result of which he invited the school to take part in the procession by sending their marching band and a float. This would not have been possible without some generous donations from Freemasonry. Substantial contributions have been made and promised by a number of lodges including the Grand Stewards Lodge, the Provincial Grand Lodge of Suffolk, Prince of Wales’s Lodge and other individual members of the craft. FREEMASONS RESIST DISCRIMINATION Freemasons are resisting attempts to discriminate against them in areas as diverse as Coventry City Council, the Police Service for Northern Ireland, and in the Scottish Parliament, with some success. Two years ago Coventry City Council introduced a provision requiring members of staff to declare membership of any ‘nonpublic organisation which has secrecy about its rules membership and/or behaviour, for example, the Freemasons’. This act of discrimination caused concern at the highest level in the Province of Warwickshire, who pointed out that the provision was unlawful because of human rights legislation. The then Leader of the Council, John Mutton, refused to meet local Freemasons or allow them to address a Council meeting and declined to enter into further correspondence. However the Council’s Standards Committee last autumn removed all overt references to Freemasonry in the staff Code of Conduct. Michael Price, Provincial Grand Master for Warwickshire, said: ‘We are pleased that the Council has at last acceded to our request. Its decision recognises that it is not appropriate to single out Freemasons in this way.’ In the Autumn issue of Freemasonry Today it was reported that, following the High Court action in Belfast, amended guidelines regarding membership of Freemasonry in the Police Service for Northern Ireland would be issued in mid September. This did not happen, as the Police Service had received legal advice that steps to require Policemen who are Freemasons to declare their membership ‘fell outside what was legally permissible’. Martin McGibbon, the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, has written to the Standards Committee of the Scottish Parliament concerning the proposed requirement for Members of the Scottish Parliament to declare membership of Freemasonry. He drew the attention of the Committee to two recent Court cases in the European Court of Human Rights which had ruled in favour of Freemasons and against discrimination (see Freemasonry Today issue 29, page 12). He suggests that ‘In light of this I suggest that it would be inappropriate for MSPs to be required to disclose their membership of any legal, legitimate, Scottish institution.’ NORTHERN CORNERSTONE CONFERENCE IN LEYLAND The Cornerstone Society held their fourth Northern Conference entitled Veiled in Allegory at the Leyland Masonic Hall, Lancashire on Saturday 13 November. The Northern Conference, organised by Kai Hughes, again fielded an impressive array of speakers, and the proceedings were enhanced by the presence of the Provincial Grand Master for West Lancashire, Colin Penty Wright. The morning started with an engaging talk by Michael Baigent, read by Julian Rees. We were invited to engage our imagination that we might unveil the veiled; discover the hidden; unravel the entanglement of the mystery. These things are not hidden because we have something to hide – they are hidden because it is the search, the quest that we must pursue in order to travel the masonic path. But we need an interpreter, a guide, someone who will help us decode the message. This is where a Lodge Orator can help. John Grange then provided us with stunningly beautiful images of the universe, and thus of eternity. Was it possible that the created universe of dimension and time is encircled by, and interwoven with, an eternity that is even more wonderful? An eternity described as a state of infinite love and light? This at least is amply expressed in the Royal Arch Ritual. And in the Craft address to the Brethren, where we are exhorted to unite in the Grand Design of being happy and communicating happiness, we come upon the context of joy and love as one, as did Julian of Norwich. The great and invaluable privileges then become the many windows to eternity that our Order is able to open to us. In a quotation from Lamas Anagarika Govinda, he concluded with the words ‘Therefore the setting sun, towards which the river flows, will never set, and the radiance will never be extinguished for those who travel along the river.’ After a short break, the veteran masonic speaker Rev. Neville Barker-Cryer treated us to a tantalising study of the masonic ‘exposures’ of Samuel Prichard. We learn that before 1717, ‘ ... the Society [of Freemasons] became composed of all conditions of people, the Nobility & People of Quality, excluding nobody ... ’ But why was it necessary, according to Prichard, to make the Freemasons into a secret society in 1691 when, according to Dr. Plot, they had already been such in 1678? Another puzzle surrounds Christopher Wren. We have evidence that in 1691 he was made a Freemason. Yet in 1661 he is mentioned as a ‘G.W.’ and in 1666 as ‘Dep. G.M.’ On another matter, Prichard reveals that to the end of the 18th century the ceremony was comparatively brief, after which the candidate sat at the lodge table, the Master put the questions, and the members around the table gave the answers in turn. Barker-Cryer concludes that the lost word is the name of God himself. We were then transported into an historical perspective by Matthew Scanlan, who urged us to consider that the distinction between ‘operative’ and ‘speculative’ may not be as we view it. Many stonemasons in previous centuries were called ‘Freemasons’. And ample evidence exists that lodges of stonemasons used their own words of communication and, more importantly, used the term ‘the mason’s word’. Stonemasons lodges did not only test a working mason on the practical or theoretical aspects of architecture, but rather they did so in a highly symbolical and religious way. Matthew Scanlan proposed that we should, in future, call ourselves ceremonial and symbolic, rather than speculative. John Acaster, the last speaker, neatly combined historical and speculative aspects, and had assembled a team of readers to demonstrate the Graham Manuscript, one of the fullest and most exciting evidences we have of early Freemasonry, and one which, he said ‘contains powerful microships to enhance our understanding, not just of the past, but of the present’. It is a catechism of very early masonic forms, and inevitably demonstrates Christian links with Freemasonry. We are Free Masons, Graham tells us, because of ‘ ... a free gift of God to the children of men’ but he gives two other reasons, which can be read in the paper posted on the Cornerstone website. www.cornerstonesociety.com FREEMASONS WORK WITH POLICE IN NOTTINGHAM A major policing initiative has been launched across the summer in the Nottinghamshire Police area to make people feel safer in their homes. Nottinghamshire Freemasons in partnership with the Police and Powergen, have distributed over 2000 packs of low energy light bulbs and 150 light sensor bulbs under their 'Be In When You Are Out' campaign. Chief Superintendent Richard Johnson of the South Notts Divison (presently WM of Okeover Lodge No. 1324 in Derbyshire) said 'The initial impetus for this project came following a substantial donation from Stuart Hill, the Provincial Grand Master for Nottinghamshire. It enabled us to approach Powergen who were pleased to work with us and donate further. We have now set aside a number of days when low energy light bulbs have been distributed to the vulnerable and elderly. This will enable them to leave on a cheaper form of lighting when they are out in the darker months. It is well known that burglars are discouraged by light and noise, therefore along with a radio left playing, this will provide excellent crime prevention and a feeling of safety on return.' This is the first such initiative between Notts Police and local Freemasons. It has meant a great deal in cementing relationships between the organisations, has enabled the publication of many very positive media articles and raised the profile of the Freemasons throughout the southern area of the county. UNKNOWN JEWELS IN THE MUSEUM OF FREEMASONRY, LONDON The Museum of Freemasonry regularly receives jewels and regalia which they are unable to identify. Enquiries to other museums also prove the difficulty of establishing the context of many of these objects. Are they even masonic?
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