HOME Current Issue Index by Issue Search the Site Translate On-Line Printer Friendly Internet Help Centre Regulars Specials Humour Book Reviews Links Affinity Lodges Subscriptions About FMT ADVERTISING Contact Us

BACK NEXT Summer 2008 Issue 45 Letter from the Editor Grand Lodge News News and Views On The Level International News Beyond the Craft Perambulating the Lodge Masonic Dining and Celebration Interview: The Grand Chancellor The Orator Walking the Way of Saint James Abd el-Kader: Algerian Nationalist and Freemason Province of Cambridgeshire Library & Museum Brother Lightfoote's Journal Review: Committed to the Flames Review: The Mythology of Secret Societies Review: The Dawn of Astrology Letters to the Editor Internet Library & Museum of Freemasonry Grand Lodge Quarterly Communication Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter RMBI Masonic Samaritan Fund Grand Charity RMTGB Canon Richard Tydeman: Looking unto the Rock Copyright 1997-2008 Grand Lodge Publications Ltd Designed and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited

FREEMASONRY TODAY Interviews The Grand Chancellor: Alan John Englefield Those of us who study the Communications of the Grand Lodge may have noticed that, from last September, we have had a new Grand Chancellor – new in every sense, for Alan Englefield is the first man to hold that office. We may wonder why another Senior Grand Officer is required, the Craft has managed to get by without a Grand Chancellor for over two hundred and fifty years, so why do we need one now? Given that the title of Chancellor is ... A Passion for Freemasonry An audience with Neville Barker Cryer is a wonderful experience for any mason interested in the history and traditions of our movement, but to visit him at his own home is an even greater privilege and that was my good fortune on a beautiful late autumn day. Neville was nearing the end of his recovery period following major heart surgery; he looked well and was in fine form. As Neville settled I sensed a warmth about the man and his abode which immediately set me at ease. I have read many of his books and articles but I wanted to know something about the man ... Reviewing the Charities: the Story of Iain Ross Bryce Iain Ross Bryce, one of the most instantly recognisable figures in English Freemasonry, retired last year after fifteen years as Deputy Grand Master. It is probably fair to say that most Freemasons in England have either met him or heard him speak, but without doubt his lasting legacy to the United Grand Lodge is the way in which he has re-modelled and vitalised the charity system, turning it into a far sleeker, more productive organism ... Our Future's Debt to the Past When you enter the office of the Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England, you feel the palpable weight of the history of Freemasonry over nearly three hundred years, and the way in which Grand Secretaries have influenced affairs in that time. Yet Robert Morrow, in the first few words we exchanged, proved himself to be the most approachable of Grand Secretaries. ‘Where does that easy contact with people stem from?’ ... Inspiring the Whole Man The Royal College of Surgeons is housed in a magnificent classical building in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, a short walk from Freemasons’ Hall. The high, wide portico is supported by six Ionic columns, the Order of Architecture denoting wisdom, and the porch opens out into an impressive marble entrance hall. You would expect any President of a College in such august surroundings to be dwarfed by this magnificence, but in the case of Bernard Ribeiro ... A Temple which never sleeps: E-Masonry It was so pleasing when the Editor of Freemasonry Today kindly invited me to travel to Pennsylvania to meet a person - Josh Heller - with whom I had been in communication for over seven years: also, to meet and be royally entertained by his lovely family and other members of the E-group. Josh began by explaining how he had first become interested in Freemasonry. ‘It was in 1998, travelling to work I daily passed by a large masonic Centre and a Scottish Rite Cathedral. It was curiosity: what was it all about, where did these people come from and why ... Community and Brotherhood Toxteth, Southall, Moss Side, St Pauls, Brixton and Handsworth all send a shiver down the spine of anyone who was about in the 1980s. The list of names reads like some War Memorial to the inner city riots that swept across the country over twenty years ago: synonymous with inner city tension as our urban communities came to harsh physical terms with the then growing problem of non-integrated multi-ethnic communities ... Unity and Diversity The District of East Africa covers a vast area, comprising Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and the Seychelles Islands, and the membership covers probably more ethnic, religious and cultural groups than any other masonic district in the world. Sir Jayantilal Keshavji Chande KBE, former District Grand Master for the District of East Africa, last year celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his initiation. Affectionately known as Sir Andy Chande ... Light Invisible It would seem that the Editor of Freemasonry Today is still concerned about my education as he has sent me for another learning experience; this time with David Stevenson, Emeritus Professor of History, St Andrews University, Scotland; author of The Origins of Freemasonry – Scotland’s Century and The First Freemasons - Scotland’s Early Lodges and their Members I wanted to speak with David Stevenson on his claim that ... Up To The Mark - Keith Jackson interviews Tim Lewis It was with genuine concern I heard that Tim Lewis, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons, had, after more than seven years in office, found it necessary to consider retirement due to unfortunate health problems. My concern was shared by many within Freemasonry. It was, therefore, with very mixed emotions that I took my seat in his bright and comfortable office overlooking Pall Mall and St. James’s Palace ... At The Helm - Gerald Reilly Discovers Peter Harrison's Courage, Competence and Control We are grateful to a reader of Freemasonry Today for suggesting that we might wish to interview Peter Harrison. Given that our interviews seek to cover masons doing interesting things it did not take us long to decide that we really did want to meet this man and mason ... Minister, Militaryman and Mason Trinities, holy or otherwise, are complex entities. It was therefore with great enthusiasm, albeit intertwined with equal apprehension, that I travelled to the Plains of Salisbury, a centre of Army activity, to interview a man who was, in one person, Chaplain, Army General and Grand Officer. ‘We Three do meet and agree’ came to mind and Holy Royal Arch allusions developed throughout our meeting. I have heard him preach on two occasions and on each perceived a penetrative presence. He connected with each soul ... Piloting the Ship of Life His Ancient Philosophy, Mystery, and Magic, published by Oxford University Press in 1995, expounds a radically new approach: he demonstrates that the heart of the message expressed by the ancient Greek philosophers was experiential. It was not merely a system of argument and discussion - that came later, especially in the hands of Aristotle – but was a far richer system which through meditation, contemplation, music, chant, and ritual ... New Science, New Spirituality On hearing that Professor Margaret Jacob’s seminal The Radical Enlightenment - Pantheists, Freemasons and Republicans was now appearing in a revised second edition, Freemasonry Today sent me along to her for an exclusive tutorial. Margaret Jacob showed me into her study; its book collection would match a medium-sized town library for size: being there was, for me, to sit at the feet of the first mainstream academic ... Locally Involved: Michael Baigent Interviews John Bonomy, Provincial Grand Master for East Kent John Bonomy OBE, as managing director of his family business prior to his appointment as Provincial Grand Master for East Kent in 1992, was well experienced in running a complex organisation, dealing with employees and the public. Taken aback by the discovery, on his appointment, that some lodges in the Province had never been visited by the Provincial Grand Master ... The Whole Man There is not much difference between the philosophy of Alternative Medicine and the philosophy of Freemasonry.’ John Chapman quickly drew me into his train of thought. ‘How so?’ I asked. ‘Both look at the whole person. Alternative Medicine considers the whole person rather than individual symptoms; Freemasonry too concerns the whole person – viewing us as both a physical body and a spiritual being. Furthermore, Alternative Medicine aims to restore personal harmony; masonry seeks to do the same thing ...’ Into Everything ‘It was in Street Harley’s hallowed halls that I meet with David Rosin. Overawed by both the person and the place, I could but only stammeringly ask, "And how Sir did you get to where you are today?" "I was born and bred in what was then Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. Grandfather a Rabbi, Father a surgeon, and Mother the first female Member of Parliament, both Jewish. It was an idyllic childhood: an abundance of open air, good climate ... Striving for Charity Dennis Daymond-John is now eighty-one years old. He had always suffered from poor eyesight. He managed to join the army in 1939 by memorising the eye-charts but was discharged in 1943 by a canny doctor who produced a chart Dennis had not previously seen. His sight finally failed and since 1980 he has been registered as blind. But since 1982 he has raised the extraordinary total of £150,000 for charities. He has raised it by stunts ... More Extensively Serviceable The alarm sounded. "Boreham Airbase….yes….yes….yes….will attend." Pilot, engineer and paramedic scrambled, helicopter boarded, whirred into action, and for someone, somewhere in the County, rescue and a lifesaving journey in the Essex Air Ambulance. "Good time at school?" I asked Lee Gillam. "What! Father was a roving manager for British Road Services and my education was at thirteen different schools around the Country; at one, I was only there for an hour! But, being a new arrival, so many times, and usually being ... All Charged in the Deep - A Raising “The three of us were the first to enter the stricken submarine, Kursk. For the Russians they were in the gloom at the brink of a grave that had entombed 118 of their friends and colleagues. I was carefully performing an allotted task, unique in human and technical challenge. A long long way from…” “So Mark, how did it all begin?” I was speaking to Mark Girdlestone, Master Diver and Mason, in his office at the back of the diving shop he runs with his wife in Brightlingsea, on the Essex coast. “I enjoyed my childhood years living by the North East Essex Coast ... "Close to the Edge" Worshipful Brother Jim Davidson OBE is one of the best known comedians in the United Kingdom. He has always driven himself hard, eagerly seeking excess, until that excess began seeking him; then he pleaded for help. By surviving such relentless waywardness, his life is a testimony to inner strength prevailing over external folly. He has entered alcohol rehabilitation several times, passed through four marriages and indulged in affairs beyond anybody’s ability to count. He has also personally raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity ... The Heart of Freemasonry The Pro Grand Master in conversation with Michael Baigent: "Freemasonry is a system of becoming; becoming something better than you are now". Lord Northampton spoke with great enthusiasm. "And above all, Freemasonry is a system which teaches us to be openhearted..." Pursuing a Love of Research "Research is a delight," enthused Professor Andrew Prescott, Director of the Centre for Masonic Research at the University of Sheffield, " it was one of the attractions of taking the job; a major attraction. And," he added, "the Great Queen Street library is so beguiling that I could disappear into it for several years." Most academics had no idea that the largely untapped resources of the library of United Grand Lodge of England in Great Queen Street was available to them, let alone the treasures contained in provincial masonic libraries. Worse, they had little idea ... David Williamson, Assistant Grand Master Our new Assistant Grand Master, RW Bro. David Williamson, cares deeply about Freemasonry and one of his major tasks is to help plan its role in 21st century society: it cannot simply roll into the future without change. But that change must emerge from Freemasonry itself, for many of the challenges facing the Craft today derive from within: the lack of commitment, for example, demonstrated by many modern masons. It is important, he believes, for Freemasonry to be so revitalised in the future that it again plays a significant part in every mason’s life. But how ... Step Off With the Left Wheel You can't do the work of a lodge officer involved in ritual from a wheelchair, can you? Wrong! Jeremy Miller was Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies in the Province of Cambridgeshire when he was paralysed from mid-chest down by a virus disease. John Scott was six months into his year as Master of Old Leysian Lodge No. 4520 when he was forced by spinal stenosis to take to a wheelchair for all distances of more than a few yards. There are some who are disabled who might baulk at taking on official duties in lodge, and even some able-bodies members who might not feel that disabled brethren are "up to the task" ... Making of a Cyberspace Mason I was surprised, to say the least, when only a week or two after my initiation into the Craft in July 2000, I received an e-mail from freemason.com, asking if I would write about the part played by the Internet in my introduction to Freemasonry. At 34, I am from that generation that left school as pocket calculators became a luxury item, yet have had to rapidly adopt technology in all its guises to survive in the work environment. Having had a long-standing interest in Freemasonry, I was a confirmed "fence-sitter" on all aspects of the fraternity until the summer of 1997, when I began to read ... Ill Met By Moonlight At the age of 85, Thomas William Gould, VC is President Emeritus of the International Submarine Association, takes great pleasure in driving his SAAB, and refuses to be a liability to anybody! He is the last Freemason decorated with the Victoria Cross to be active today. I came to know him during the many reunions of the Victoria Cross & George Cross Association that I attended with my late husband Phillip. As such, I was not surprised when he telephoned me from his home in Peterborough after reading my article “Beyond The Five Points” in the Summer Issue of Freemasonry Today ... The Flying Scotsma(so)n The man who owns the ultimate in Big Boys’ Toys – the Flying Scotsman – could perhaps be forgiven for thinking there is little more left to relish. But not so Oxfordshire’s Assistant Provincial Grand Master Dr Tony Marchington, a person who enjoys life, Freemasonry and his family – and not necessarily in that order. For him, his family comes first. To this end, his meteoric rise up the Freemasonry ladder since joining in 1991 has now been ... What's in a Name? My surname is a simple one. It is a description of the place where my ancestors originated, namely by a ford on a river marked by ash trees. It is the same as “Ashford”, but is an earlier form in which Old English “aesca” has become “Ax” – but not yet “Ash”. The early form is quite rare: indeed there seem to be only two original families, one from Cornwa11/Devon and the other from Wiltshire. It is a simple matter to investigate these families by searching ... Oyez! Brother Phylip De La Maziere de Gers, a one-time Merseyside disc jockey and butcher now turned professional psychic and town crier – who can claim the possibility of being descended from a Knight Templar – is a Second Degree Freemason who predicts the Craft’s future lies in its past. “Freemasonry preserves the old values and I find, as a psychic, people are returning to those values more and more. It seems to me that now a lot more people are aware that Freemasonry is here.” He continued: “Of course, there are critics but that is always the case when people don’t understand ... From Madness to Masonry One does not normally associate the Craft with the world of pop music, so I was somewhat encouraged to learn recently that the guitarist from a prominent 1980’s band, MADNESS, had become a Freemason. Madness enjoyed a string of successful chart-topping songs during the 1980’s, such as One Step Beyond, Our House, Embarrassment, and House of Fun, before splitting up in 1986. However, with the band now reformed and Carl working on a solo project, I was tipped off that I might be able to meet and talk about his masonic involvement ... A Night Out With The Boys The highest-ranking Freemason in the judiciary has told FMT that, in his opinion, Grand lodge should have a register of Freemasons available for anyone who wished to inspect it, including journalists and MPs. Speaking from his office in the House of Lords, the Rt Hon the Lord Millett PC, who is a Royal Arch Grand Officer, also told how he did not take the ritual and the secrecy at all seriously, adding: “But then I don’t think anyone in the higher echelons ..." The Gentle Giant Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE, affectionately known as “The King” or sometimes “The Gentle Giant” is an unassuming, courteous and softly-spoken man who should have every good reason to boast about his prowess on the cricket field, his work for the United Nations, his endeavours for the under privileged sections of the community ... The Grand Secretary It isn’t easy to get an interview with the new Grand Secretary. Not because he isn’t willing to talk, but because, since taking over from Michael Higham on 1 June 1998, Jim Daniel has been incredibly busy. However, he is well aware that many masons simply do not know who he is, and at a time of many changes in the government of the Craft, and of severe challenges to the Craft in the public realm, this lack of knowledge is something he is keen to correct. One thing becomes immediately clear when speaking to Jim Daniel. He is no éminence grise or mere bureaucrat ... Freemasonry Saved My Life The public face of Jim Davidson is that of a Jack the Lad comedian whose sometimes saucy stage shows blend with his much-publicised fight against alcoholism and his reputation for the number of marriages he has notched up. Yet divest him of this façade and the real Jim Davidson will stand up and be counted as a champion of Freemasonry who regards the Craft as the crux of his life and is happy to acknowledge becoming a mason not only changed his life but saved it. Indeed, he holds the Craft in such high esteem that he is looking forward ... I Am Who I Am A signpost nestling in the verdant green hedgerows so typical of Cheshire pointed my way to the 15th century Gawsworth Hall, once the home of Mary Fytton, the supposed Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Her ghost is still said to haunt the ancient timbers and stone of this friendly, yet stately, home, but no longer does the Fytton family - once known as the ‘Fighting Fyttons’ - hold the family seat. It is now in the incumbency of the Richards ... The Future That Everybody Wanted Few families can trace their lineage back forty generations. From Scotland’s medieval hero king, Robert the Bruce, to the 7th Earl who gave his name to the famous ‘marbles’, Lord Elgin’s illustrious line is further illuminated by figures from Britain’s past imperial élite : a governor general of Canada, two viceroys of India, a founding father of the Royal Society, and the famous African explorer, James Bruce. The present Earl, Andrew Douglas Alexander Thomas Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin, is the 37th chief of the family house, a status easily forgotten in his jovial presence. Lord Elgin ... The Cutter Sean Davison’s idea of Freemasonry was that everyone was recruited from the professions. He didn’t think he ever stood a chance of becoming one. And anyway, his ‘day job’ as a TV film and video editor (or ‘cutter’) was hardly the doctor/civil-servant/lawyer scenario he envisaged to be a requirement of the Craft. He was happy to be proven wrong and is now looking forward, later this year, to being raised to the Third Degree, readily admitting that being a member of Kirby Lodge No 2818 is a pleasure he could not have anticipated ... Bill Clinton's Big Inspiration In 1961, when President Kennedy was in his Camelot and the Cold War got colder as the Berlin Wall was erected, a 15 year old boy walked into the Masonic Temple at 311 West Grand Hot Springs, Arkansas. There, he was inducted into a youth organisation which had formulated its principles on the life and death of the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, roasted alive in Paris in 1314. This teenager had been born William Jefferson Blythe on 19 August 1946, in the small town of Hope, Arkansas. He was named after his father ... The Inquisitor Millions saw it on television. The MP later dubbed “The Grand Inquisitor” sat in the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee and warned Grand Secretary Commander Michael Higham he could be in contempt of Parliament. It was high drama and later the newspaper headlines screamed “Masonic Prison Threat” and “Leaders are told ..." And Who Is My Neighbour? When former Royal Naval Captain Paul Bootherstone took over the helm of the New Masonic Samaritan Fund in January 1994, he found a striking similarity to his Navy days. After 38 years in the Senior Service he favourably compared its comradeship with that found in Masonry and with his "crew" at 26 Great Queen Street. The Falklands veteran is proud to serve "this great Brotherhood" but is also quick to emphasise the teamwork involved. "I could not function without the help of my staff and brethren" said the man who was awarded the DSC after commanding HMS Arrow in the Falklands conflict ... A Mason in the Real World The ritual is always the same. It is an early Saturday morning and Graham Worrall leaves his Black Country home, catches a bus to Wolverhampton railway station and then a train to London. Once aboard he meets up with some 14 others and the socialising starts. It lasts throughout the day as each goes to their various Saturday lodges and then meet up for the return journey, to arrive home in the early hours. Graham is a 60 year old former Treasurer, Secretary and Master of the Tulse Hill 4462 Lodge, holding London Grand Rank, who describes himself as ... Challenges, Not Problems Jane Reynolds practises what she preaches : life is for living and living to the full. As a woman in a distinctly man’s world, the chief executive of the RMBI is very much her own person, possessing an elegance of enthusiasm and vitality, readily admitting to both working and playing hard, devoting anything up to 70 hours a week, including many weekends, to a job she describes as “a way of life”. From an office overlooking Grand Lodge ... A Mason in Hamburg The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, where I live, is known as the most English of German cities. There’s an English theatre where you can see Noël Coward plays. English slogans are ubiquitous (“business lunch”, “the Fitness Lady Studio”, “You must see Evita”). And there’s a certain reticence about the Hamburgers which has more in common with Albion than with their compatriots in, say, Bavaria or the Rhineland. There have been trading links with England for centuries, so it is not surprising that masonic links go back a long way as well. When I first moved to Hamburg just over three years ago, it was by great good luck that my first masonic encounter ... Mason About: Granville Angell One sunny, Sunday afternoon in May, on the outskirts of Cannock Chase in south Staffordshire, I saw the Spirit of Ecstasy shining through a windscreen. The vision to be savoured is better known as the Silver Lady, and the windscreen belonged to a ‘baby Rolls’, ordered from its makers in August 1925 by Mr. J.Walker, a Yorkshire Mill owner, for a tidy £2000 : sufficient in those days for the purchase of ten semi-detached houses. This beautiful survivor from more spacious days, with its gleaming white body (from coach-builders Rippon Bros.), now resides ... Mozart and Me I am a musician - at least that’s what I tell people. For about ten years I laboured in the pop-music industry as a song-writer, with varying degrees of success. I have now returned to it. Despite the fact that many of the technical skills of orchestration were beyond our reach, most of us admired those who had the traditional skills of arranging and orchestrating. My particular heroes are Richard Carpenter (all Carpenters songs are superbly orchestrated) and the young Elvis Presley : this is how a young genius uses his voice, almost as a synchopated instrument ...   Interviews © Grand Lodge Publications Ltd 1997-2008