Bedfordshire's Gift of Teddy Bears

The Provincial Grand Master for Bedfordshire, Martin Foss, has launched the ‘Teddies for Loving Care’ Appeal at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital. Over £3,000 has been donated by Bedfordshire Freemasons and 1,400 Teddy Bears delivered to the A & E Departments of the two main hospitals.

Support for Youth Football

Reg Spicer of the Stanley Wykeham Lodge, No. 6599 in Kent is Chairman of Tonbridge Junior Football Club, which has grown to one of the leading youth football clubs in the country, with 24 teams. After much fund raising a new pavilion costing almost half a million pounds has been opened. Each year the club hosts a Football Fiesta, which this year saw around 12,000 attending including some 3,000 participants. Last year Reg was given the High Sherriff's Award for Excellence.

Birds of Prey in Lodge

At a recent lodge open night the Falcon Lodge, No. 1416 was open to nonmasonic guests, when a presentation was given by Ben Potter, Head Falconer of the Birds of Prey Conservation Centre near Thirsk, Yorkshire.
    He brought with him a selection of birds of prey and gave an informative talk about the heritage of the Lodge. Among the birds presented were a Golden Eagle weighing 10lbs 7 ozs with a wing span of eight feet, a European Eagle Owl, an African Tawny Eagle and a Grey Eagle Buzzard.

Derbyshire Spreads Charity

At Dore in Derbyshire, Bretwalda lodge No. 6930 have recently made significant awards to local charities.
    The lodge has given £1,000 to the Methodist Home for the Aged at Hathersage for their amenities fund, which is spent on the residents at the home and allows them entertainment, parties and trips out as a group.
    In addition to this, they are preparing to give a cheque to Glenfield Hospital, which will be part of a joint presentation made by Bretwalda Lodge and Sure and Stedfast Lodge No. 9130.

Canonbury Masonic Research Centre

19 October: Jeremy Naydler, The Shamanic Roots of the Egyptian Pyramid Texts
16 November: Tobias Churton, A Mighty Good Man: Elias Ashmole and the Initiation
7 December: David Goddard, The Angels of Light in Ceremonial

Seventh International Conference
Saturday 5 November and Sunday 6 November
Seeking the Light: Freemasonry and Initiatic Traditions
Speakers from countries including Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, USA
Registration forms from www.canonbury.ac.uk
Contact Carole McGilvery tel. 020 7226 6256
email: mcgilvery@canonbury.ac.uk

Centre for Research into Freemasonry
Sheffield University

4 October: Pierre Mollier Grand Orient of France Two Centuries of French Masonic Historiography. Organised with the Department of French. This seminar will be held at 3pm in the Departmental Library, Department of French, Room 7.28, Floor 7, Arts Tower, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN
10 November: Tom Steele (University of Glasgow) Freemasonry and Positivist Philosophy in Nineteenth-century European Popular Education Movements
7 December: Jeffrey Tyssens (Free University of Brussels) Processes of Politicising Freemasonry: the Belgian example in the 19th century

Centre for Research into Freemasonry – Day School – 26 November: Who Was Athelstan?
Unless otherwise stated, seminars are held at 5.15pm in the Department of History, 387 Glossop Road, Sheffield S10 2HQ. Admission free. All welcome.
Contact Julie Banham, tel. 0114 222 9890 email: j.p.banham@sheffield.ac.uk

The Cornerstone Society

The fifth Northern Conference will be held at the Salford Masonic Hall, Hemsley House, The Crescent, Salford, Greater Manchester, M5 4PE on Saturday 12 November 2005 under the title The Three Great Pillars. The speakers will be Bob Cooper, Clive Hicks, Karel Musch and Kai Hughes. Tickets will be £15 including a light lunch. Registration 9.30 am.
Applications to The Cornerstone Society, 17 Park Avenue, Timperley, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 5AX.
Please visit our website www.cornerstonesociety.com where full details can be found, or email us at events@cornerstonesociety.com

Lecture Tours

The series of lectures to private lodges will continue. The Society is planning lecture tours taking in a number of lodges up and down the country. Leading masonic speakers from both sides of the Atlantic will be invited to take part in these tours. One of the speakers for 2006 will be Brent Morris, Editor of The Scottish Rite Journal of the Southern Jurisdiction, USA, and a renowned masonic scholar and author of several works on Freemasonry. Any lodge or chapter interested in hosting one of these lectures should contact
The Cornerstone Society at 26 Park View Road, Lytham, Lancashire, FY8 4JE or email secretary@cornerstonesociety.com

Quatuor Coronati

Thursday 10 November 2005 Installation of Jacques Litvine as Master; Inaugural Address: A French Esoteric Installation of the Master in 1774
Thursday 16 February 2006 Dominion Grand Lodges 1850-1900 – Imperial Platforms or Commonwealth Seedlings? Speaker: James Daniel
yasha@compuserve.com Tel 077 6829 2066