It’s full steam ahead for Cambridgeshire's Festival 2023 Appeal after £1,000 was raised at a Garden Party jointly run by the Gild of St Mary Lodge No. 7288 and Alma Mater Lodge No. 1492

It was a first class event and there were no problems with the timetable on the day – the main attraction being the 220-yard long 1/8th scale model railway, which was built by and runs in the garden of Cambridgeshire’s Provincial Grand Scribe E Edmund Brookes.

The model of a 1930 Southern Railway U Class 2-6-0 tender engine in full steam ensured that over 90 adults and many children and grandchildren had a wonderful afternoon. 

Some were even lucky enough to be driven round by the guest driver – UGLE’s Deputy Grand Master Jonathan Spence, who is a member of Alma Mater Lodge.

Alma Mater Lodge No. 1492 has passed a motion that it should become a Receptor Lodge under the Universities' Scheme.

The notice of motion was proposed by Rodney Wolverson, Provincial Grand Master of Cambridgeshire and seconded by Edmund Brookes, Lodge Secretary.

Alma Mater Lodge has a requirement for admission that the candidate must be a graduate of a recognised university, and it is hoped that it will be able to offer membership to suitably qualified freemasons moving into the Cambridge area, who do not have any links with a Cambridge lodge.