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 The new Grand Superintendent of Berkshire with his predecessor Robert Edward Faulkner News Briefing
New Royal Arch Leader in Berkshire
Masonic Hall Created in Beamish Open Air Museum Set in over 300 acres of countryside, Beamish, the North of England Open Air Museum, vividly recreates life in the North of England in the early 1800s and 1900s as a living, working experience of life. People dressed in fashions of the day welcome visitors and interpret how the people of the North of England lived and worked. The Millennium Project of the masonic Province of Durham, was launched in 1996 by the then Provincial Grand Master, Lord Barnard, and was brought to a successful conclusion under his successor Alan Davison, in the presence of the Grand Master HRH The Duke of Kent, in April this year. The idea for a Masonic Hall in Beamish was originally thought of by Mrs Dorothy Hall, wife of the Provincial Grand Secretary. Fundraising began in earnest in September 1999 and the plan was to raise £500,000. in four years. In 2004 Foundations for the Building were laid, construction progressed, and the exterior was completed in 2005. Fitting out the temple in its many aspects was a very detailed matter and items from all over the country were assembled before the project was declared complete. Approximately 3,000 Freemasons and their families assembled in Beamish Museum for the official opening. A procession to escort the Grand Master to and from the building numbered in excess of three hundred Freemasons in full dress regalia. In his welcoming remarks the Provincial Grand Master said ‘Most Worshipful Grand Master, it was in 1984 that you declared that Freemasonry must act to clear up the misconceptions people had about our Fraternity. You called for more openness. There is no doubt in my mind that as a result Freemasonry today has a better public perception.’ Durham Has New Provincial Grand Master The Deputy Grand Master Peter Lowndes recently visited the Borough Hall in Hartlepool in the Province of Durham to instal and invest Derek Richmond as the new Provincial Grand Master for Durham. He was assisted by John Hale, Provincial Grand Master for Cumberland and Westmoreland, and Colin Penty Wright, Provincial Grand Master for West Lancashire. In his inaugural address, Derek Richmond had a message for the Brethren of the Province. ‘You, Brethren, are the Province of Durham, not the buildings, but the men, the masons, and it is you who will write the future for this Province. It does us no harm to reflect for a few moments on what we require to move forward. I ask you for your commitment to Freemasonry. ‘We live in an ever changing society,’ he continued, ‘and we must be responsive to the needs of society. We must be adaptable and remain flexible in our attitudes in putting masonic principles into practice. I ask you also for your imagination, your thinking, your brains to look at what we do in our lodges and how that work can be made more comprehensible to the members of your own lodge. I also ask you for your energy, to take the ideas and make them work.’
Provincial Grand Master for West Kent Holds Provincial Grand Lodge Meeting Almost a thousand Brethren from the Province of West Kent and representatives from other Provinces attended the installation and investiture of Jonathan Winpenny as their new Provincial Grand Master last year. The ceremony was conducted by Iain Ross Bryce as Deputy Grand Master in Freemasons Hall, London. This spring the Provincial Grand Master presided over his first Provincial Grand Lodge, the climax of the Province’s year. As before, well over a thousand members of the Province turned out to see their new Provincial Grand Master in action. He conducted the formal business of the meeting, congratulated those appointed to Grand Rank during the year, presented Patronage Certificates in respect of contributions made to the Provincial Benevolent Fund and appointed and invested his Provincial Officers. In his address, Jonathan Winpenny emphasised the importance of education, training and mentoring of initiates, opening their minds to the wider meaning of Freemasonry. He continued by congratulating all those who had been honoured during the afternoon, reminding them that those honours were bestowed not just in recognition of past services to the Order, but also in anticipation of future labours. He announced that the Provincial Benevolent Fund now stood at over £500,000, well on the way to reaching the target of one million pounds. He paid tribute to the work of the retiring Provincial Grand Secretary, James Smethurst and announced as his successor Stephen Chappell. In conclusion, the Provincial Grand Master pledged himself to working tirelessly to ensure that Freemasonry in West Kent will be a source of joy and happiness to each and every member.
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