As part of the Tercentenary celebrations, 300 masons and civic dignitaries came together for the dedication of the Masonic Memorial Garden in Staffordshire

In late 2001, Lichfield mason Roger Manning suggested the creation of a masonic memorial to be sited at the newly created National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, Burton-on-Trent.

It was agreed that the masonic garden should serve in the remembrance of all Freemasons, whether they had died in the service of their country or through sickness, accident or old age. There would be no reference on the site to specific lodges, groups or individuals.

Over the next 16 years, following four different Provincial Grand Masters, two architects, more than a dozen designs, planting failures, floods, dozens of detailed reports and many meetings, the Masonic Memorial Garden was finally unveiled on 18 April 2017 to over 300 brethren and civic dignitaries.

The service was witnessed by Pro Grand Master Peter Lowndes, Deputy Grand Master Jonathan Spence, Assistant Grand Master Sir David Wootton, President of the Board of General Purposes Anthony Wilson and Grand Secretary Willie Shackell.

A welcome to all in attendance was given by local builder and brother Eddie Ford, who had been responsible for the garden’s development over the entire 16-year period. The dedication service was undertaken by the Provincial Grand Chaplain, the Reverend Bernard Buttery.

Civic leaders at the event included the Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire, Ian Dudson; the Mayor of East Staffordshire, Cllr Beryl Toon; and the Mayor of Tamworth, Cllr Ken Norchi. Provincial Grand Masters from many neighbouring Provinces, together with representatives from all of the 96 Staffordshire lodges, were also present.

The Masonic Memorial Garden at the National Memorial Arboretum was dedicated by the Pro Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England Peter Lowndes on Tuesday 18th April

He was assisted by the Provincial Grand Chaplain, the Reverend Bernard Buttery, in the presence of over 200 invited guests, who included the Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire Ian Dudson, the Mayor of the Borough of East Staffordshire Beryl Toon and the Mayor of Tamworth Ken Norchi, as well as the Deputy Grand Master Jonathan Spence, the Assistant Grand Master Sir David Wootton and the Provincial Grand Master of Staffordshire John Lockley.

The garden in Staffordshire commemorates Freemasons who have served their country and made the ultimate sacrifice in helping to defend their country in two World Wars and other conflicts.

Many people have been involved in the work to design and build the garden and one freemason Eddie Ford from Burton-upon-Trent has worked tirelessly to see the project to fruition.

The test of time

Deputy Grand Master Jonathan Spence discusses how the tenets of Freemasonry have provided a firm foundation over the past 300 years

Many of you will be aware of the excellent work undertaken by the Membership Focus Group (MFG) over the past two-and-a-half years. I hope that you are all still referring to the UGLE strategy, which was a significant development resulting from the group’s work. 

We have now moved on to ensuring the timely implementation of the strategy and the MFG has been superseded by the Improvement Delivery Group (IDG). This group will, rather like a well-known wood treatment product, do ‘exactly what it says on the tin’.

The IDG’s remit is to facilitate the delivery of change in order to secure a successful future for Freemasonry by meeting the needs of modern man while retaining our traditional standards. It is chaired by the Assistant Grand Master, the Third Grand Principal is Deputy Chairman, and membership is drawn from London and all the regional groups of Provinces. The IDG will be reporting to Grand Lodge at the Quarterly Communication in September 2017. There is a considerable amount of work to do and we wish them all well in their endeavours.

‘The principles of the Craft are as relevant today as they were then.’

Marking a milestone

The Tercentenary celebrations have already begun and I am very pleased to see the variety and breadth of events that are planned to mark this significant milestone in our history. Events are being planned throughout the English Constitution. 

So far, well over 100 events are scheduled, ranging from cathedral services, race meetings, classic car rallies, family fun weekends and supporting youth activities through to dinners and balls. This includes The Grand Ball, which will take place in Freemasons’ Hall next September and will see the Grand Temple converted into one of the largest dance floors in London.

As the premier Grand Lodge, it is appropriate we also celebrate this achievement with the other Sovereign Grand Lodges around the world, which we will do with the event at the Royal Albert Hall. I very much hope there will be a full cross section of our membership, including Master masons, from London, Provinces and Districts and elsewhere overseas attending.

As you are all aware, 2017 will start with the broadcast in February of the Sky observational documentary. I have been fortunate enough to have been part of the small group who have seen all the programmes and while, for confidential reasons, I am unable to say more about their content, I can assure you our privacy has been respected entirely for those matters that ought to remain private for our members.

Uncertain times

It has become very noticeable that the times in which we live are described by some as ‘uncertain’. This word is used to describe many aspects of our national life, almost as a default mechanism. In many ways our predecessors, who were there at the foundation of the Grand Lodge, would have felt a certain affinity and seen possible parallels with their own time, although they would probably have used the word ‘turbulent’ to describe the second decade of the 18th century.

In their case, the uncertain times included a new ruling dynasty following the accession of King George I in 1714, a significant rebellion from supporters of the old dynasty defeated in 1715, and an incipient share scandal with the South Sea Bubble. In those and the intervening uncertain times of the subsequent 300 years, the principles of the Craft have withstood the test of time and are as relevant today as they were then. We may now restate them in more modern language as integrity, honesty, fairness, kindness and tolerance, but their essence is unchanged and we should all be justly proud of them and, needless to say, act in accordance with them. 

To finish, I quote King Frederick II, or The Great, of Prussia who said his support of the Craft came from its objectives being ‘the intellectual elevation of men as members of society and making them more virtuous and more charitable’. I do not think that his view can be bettered. 

Unique occasion for Univesities Scheme

Yesterday at Freemasons' Hall was the unique consecration of David Kenneth Williamson Lodge No. 9938. 

The new lodge, which was sponsored by Lodge of Antiquity No. 2, is to be the Installed Masters’ lodge for the Universities Scheme, of which David Williamson, Past Assistant Grand Master, was the first President.

The consecration was done by Pro Grand Master, Peter Lowndes, with David subsequently installed as the Primus Master by the Deputy Grand Master, Jonathan Spence.  David's first act as Worshipful Master was to invest the Assistant Grand Master, Sir David Wootton, as the acting Immediate Past Master.  It is a very rare thing to get all three Rulers at an event other than Grand Lodge!

David Williamson tweeted:

Deeply honoured to be installed as first WM of DKW Lodge 9938. Fantastic Ceremony & great Lunch. Thanks to all who made this possible.

— David Williamson (@UGLE_DKW) December 5, 2016

David Kenneth Williamson

David Kenneth Williamson was born in Bombay, India in October 1943. He was educated at King Edward VI School, Lichfield, Queen Mary College, University of London, and King's College, Cambridge.

Having trained to be a pilot, after winning an RAF flying scholarship aged seventeen, and following a brief spell as a schoolmaster, David joined the British Overseas Airways Corporation (now British Airways) in 1968. He became Assistant Flight Training Manager on the Boeing 737, before undertaking the same role on the Boeing 747-400 fleet until he retired in 1998.

He was initiated into Freemasonry in the Andover Combined Services Lodge, No. 8300, aged 29 on the 17th April 1972, and was Master of that Lodge in 1982. Despite being initiated in the Province of Hampshire and Isle of Wight, it was in Middlesex that David's Masonic career took hold. He was appointed a Provincial Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies in 1992, Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies from 1995 to 1997, and Deputy Provincial Grand Master from 2000 to 2001.

Within Grand Lodge, he was appointed an Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies in 1995, and a Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies from 1998 until his appointment as Assistant Grand Master in March 2001, a role he held for thirteen years. He served as a Grand Steward on the 2014-2 15 Board. He founded the Universities Scheme in 2005 andwas its President until 2015.

Outside the Craft, he was Third Grand Principal in Supreme Grand Chapter from 2010 to 2016, Grand Senior Warden in the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons in 2002, and in 2014 became a member of the Supreme Council 33° of the Ancient and Accepted Rite for England and Wales and its Districts and Chapters Overseas (as Grand Chancellor).

The Universities Scheme 

The Universities Scheme was founded in 2005 to establish or enhance arrangements and opportunities for undergraduates and other University members to join and enjoy Freemasonry. Building on the centuries old traditions of University Masonry at Oxford and Cambridge, the Scheme works with Provinces, Districts, and the Metropolitan Grand Lodge to identify Lodges, and now Royal Arch Chapters, willing to reach out and welcome young men from their local universities to join the Craft and Royal Arch.

The Scheme currently includes 72 Lodges and 3 Chapters, across the English Constitution. The 'DKW' Lodge will be its 73rd and will serve as the Scheme's Installed Masters' Lodge.

HM The Queen's ninetieth birthday

At today's Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge, the Deputy Grand Master, RW Bro Jonathan Spence,  informed Grand Lodge and the Craft as a whole of the following exchange of letters that had taken place in connection with Her Majesty's ninetieth birthday:

To Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,

On behalf of all members of the United Grand Lodge of England I send loyal greetings and congratulations on the occasion of Your Majesty's ninetieth Birthday.

[signed] EDWARD, Grand Master

United Grand Lodge of England

Her Majesty graciously replied:

To HRH The Duke of Kent, Grand Master

Please convey my warm thanks to the Members of the United Grand Lodge of England for their loyal greetings, sent on the occasion of my ninetieth birthday.

I much appreciate your thoughtfulness in writing as you did and, in return, I send my best wishes to you and all concerned.

ELIZABETH R

Quarterly Communication

14 September 2016 
An address by the RW Deputy Grand Master Jonathan Spence

Brethren, I am delighted to see so many of you here today and I hope you have all had a suitably refreshing summer. I am particularly pleased to see a large number of younger masons amongst us, especially the delegations from the Provinces of Cambridgeshire and Durham, members of the Universities Scheme and especially those of the Apollo University Lodge in Oxford.

Many of you will be aware of the excellent work undertaken by the Membership Focus Group over the last two and a half years. I hope that you are all still referring to the UGLE strategy, which was a significant development resulting from the group’s work. 

We have now moved to ensuring the timely implementation of the strategy and the Membership Focus Group has been superseded by the Improvement Delivery Group. This group will, rather like a well- known wood treatment product, “do exactly what it says on the tin”. Its remit is to facilitate the delivery of change throughout the Craft in order to secure a successful future for Freemasonry by meeting the needs of “modern man” while retaining our traditional standards; it is chaired by the Assistant Grand Master, the Third Grand Principal is Deputy Chairman and the membership is drawn from London and all the regional groups of Provinces. 

This group will be “bedding in” for the next year, but will be reporting to Grand Lodge at the Quarterly Communication in September 2017. There is a considerable amount of work to do and we wish them all well in their endeavours.

Brethren, the Tercentenary celebrations have already begun and I am very pleased to see the variety and breadth of events that are planned to mark this significant milestone in our history. Events are being planned throughout the English Constitution. 

So far well over 100 events are scheduled ranging from Cathedral Services, Race Meetings, and Classic Car Rallies; Family Fun Weekends, supporting Youth Activities, to Dinners and Balls, including “The Grand Ball” which will take place here next September and will see this Grand Temple converted into one of the largest dance floors in LondAs the premier Grand Lodge it is appropriate we also celebrate this achievement with the other Sovereign Grand Lodges around the world, which we will do with the event at the Royal Albert Hall. I very much hope there will be a full cross section of our membership, including Master Masons, from London, Provinces and Districts and elsewhere overseas attending the meeting at the Royal Albert Hall.

As you are all aware 2017 will start with the broadcast in January of the Sky observational documentary.  I have been fortunate enough to have been part of the small group that has seen all the programmes and whilst, for confidential reasons, I am unable to say more about their content, I can assure you our privacy has been respected entirely for those matters that ought to remain private for our members.

Brethren, it has become very noticeable that the times in which we live are described with some use of either uncertain or uncertainty, or a variation thereof. Uncertainty is used to describe many aspects of our national life almost as a default mechanism. In many ways our predecessors who were there at the foundation of the Grand Lodge would have felt a certain affinity and seen possible parallels with their own time, although they would probably have used the word turbulent to describe the second decade of the eighteenth century.

In their case the uncertain times included significant change with a new ruling dynasty following the accession of King George I in 1714, a significant rebellion from supporters of the old dynasty defeated in 1715 and an incipient share scandal with the South Sea Bubble gently inflating until the spectacular bust. In those and, indeed , in the intervening uncertain times of the subsequent three hundred years, the principles of the Craft have withstood the test of time and are as relevant today as they were then. 

We may now restate them in more modern language as integrity; honesty; fairness; kindness and tolerance, but their essence is unchanged and we should all be justly proud of them and, needless to say, act in accordance with them. 

To finish, I will quote King Frederick II, or The Great, of Prussia who said his support of the Craft came from its objectives being, “ the intellectual elevation of men as members of society and making them more virtuous and more charitable”. I do not think that his view can be bettered. 

Quarterly Communication

9 March 2016 
An address by the RW Deputy Grand Master Jonathan Spence

Brethren, you will all have received a copy of the UGLE strategy with your last copy of Freemasonry Today. I hope you feel that the summary presented a clear outline of some of the steps we wish to take to ensure the long term future of the Craft as Grand Lodge enters its fourth century. The clear articulation of our values, in language appropriate for the 21st century, reflects that we are true to our history and traditions while adapting to the world as it continues to change. The work of the Membership Focus Group, which informed much of the document you received, is now moving from researching facts, surveying members and developing ideas to implementation of those ideas.

Brethren, it is often the case in many organisations when a revised strategy or change programme is introduced the initial expectations of those involved are overly optimistic and that may well be the case with our own members. It is very important we remind ourselves that we have taken nearly 300 years to reach where the Craft is today. It is, therefore, vital that, while we retain our important traditions, we also test and prove any new initiative to ensure it is appropriate and effective for the needs of the Craft before consideration is given to implementation across the English Constitution. Such an approach will allow us to move forward, confident that an individual idea will be successful. It has to be said clearly that it will take time and effort, rather than instant solutions, to ensure the Craft will be as attractive to, and well received by, future generations as it has been by the current and past generations.

There are a number of areas highlighted in the summary of the strategy you received and I would like to tell you of some of the recent progress that has been made.

Firstly, following three membership surveys undertaken by the Membership Focus Group, working with Provincial Grand Masters, it has created an Education Group. This group is considering how best we can assist all our members to have a better understanding and knowledge of Freemasonry which is the core of the initiative. Having a good understanding and knowledge will enable our members to explain Freemasonry confidently to a non-mason. Members from seventeen Provinces are assisting in the development of these ideas.

Secondly, we have identified the need to ensure the facilities provided by our masonic halls are of a standard to meet the expectations and needs of our members. A meeting involving 30 members from a number of Provinces, all with expertise in the successful management and improvement of masonic halls, has recently taken place. I think we all appreciate that the task is both enormous and delicate in nature and much time and effort will be needed to ensure their considerations and findings are appropriate for the needs of the future and to allow time for the management of masonic halls to gain confidence in the support and assistance we are collectively seeking to provide.

None of this, nor indeed the other initiatives which are being progressed, would be possible without a significant amount of time, detailed consideration and hard work being devoted to this by the members of the Membership Focus Group. I would like to express my gratitude to all of them for what they have achieved so far and for what I very much hope will be achieved in the future. In particular, I should like to thank, on behalf of the Rulers, the Deputy President of the Board of General Purposes, RW Bro Ray Reed, for his outstanding leadership of, and contribution to, the Membership Focus Group since its creation.

Brethren, the Tercentenary is almost upon us and it gives us, to my mind, an unrivalled opportunity to articulate clearly our values and the positive impact of the Craft on both individuals and the communities in which we live. You may be interested to know that in 2015, the media statistics show 90% of the coverage in local media was positive, a significantly higher level than that achieved in the previous year. You have just heard about the filming to produce a television documentary, which is an important part of the commencement of the Tercentenary celebrations both as a continuation of our policy of openness in communicating with the general public and as a means of encouraging those interested in becoming members. Much work also continues in Provinces, Districts and in Grand Lodge in preparation for this major landmark.

I am certain we are taking the right steps to ensure we will commence our fourth century confident of the future for the Craft and I very much hope all our members will be enthusiastic in support of these endeavours.

Warrington lodge reaches 250th anniversary

Lodge of Lights, No. 148, the oldest lodge in the Warrington Group in the West Lancashire Province, has celebrated its 250th anniversary. Among the 150-strong gathering were Provincial Grand Master Tony Harrison and Deputy Grand Master Jonathan Spence. During the evening WM Stanley Jackson presented Tony with charity donations of £14,800.

Varsity scheme is 10

Universities Scheme President David Williamson, Chairman Edward Lord, and past and present members of the committee came together in January with Pro Grand Master Peter Lowndes and many other senior Freemasons to celebrate the scheme’s first decade of existence and hard work.  

With the initiative having grown from two lodges to 62 since its inception, and currently expanding into the Royal Arch, it has achieved much, with some lodges now being specifically consecrated as Universities Scheme lodges. Its fifth National Conference will be held in Leicester in November.

The Provincial Grand Lodge meeting in May provided a fitting occasion to celebrate the finale of the West Kent 2015 Festival in aid of the Masonic Samaritan Fund

In front of a packed Grand Temple the PGM, RW Bro Jonathan Winpenny presented a cheque for the magnificent sum of £3,252,148.

RW Bro Willie Shackell, MSF President, offered his sincere thanks for such a generous contribution towards the work of the Fund. 'Your generosity will make a tremendous difference to so many people waiting to receive the treatment and care they need.'

At the Festive Board RW Bro Jonathan Spence, Deputy Grand Master, congratulated all present for their generous, energetic and innovative fundraising throughout the six years of the appeal.

A motorbike ride to Dar es Salaam, raft races on the Thames and a walk to the 1066 battlefield all helped to retain the fun in the Festival fundraising and achieve such a fantastic total. A further 'Howzat' event, for all the family, will be held on 28 June at the Warren in Bromley when even more members of the West Kent Provincial family can enjoy the extended celebrations.