Te Official Journal of the United Grand Lodge of England Number 18 ~ Summer 2012 £3.

50
FREEMASONRY TODAY
Number 18 ~ Summer 2012

Compassion, loyalty
and community – why
athletes like James
Ellington are joining
Freemasonry p52

CRAFT
IN THE
SPORT
HOUSE OF THERE IS NO RUNNING THE
ANUBIS OPENS SUCH THING 1908 LONDON UNITED
ITS DOORS AS BAD PRESS OLYMPICS GRAND LODGE
of ENGLAND

Grand Temple screening, p18 Masons court the media, p30 Freemasons on the track, p64
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GRAND
SECRETARYíS
COLUMN
H
er Majesty Te Queen received from
His Royal Highness Te Grand Master,
on our behalf, a message of loyal
greetings and congratulations on the
occasion of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee. Sixty
Photography: David Woolfall
years is a fantastic achievement, equalling Queen
Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 1897
when His Royal Highness Te Prince of Wales
was Grand Master. Let us not forget that Her
Majesty is the daughter of a famous Freemason
and Past Grand Master, the late King George VI.
Freemasons have consistently remained devoted
and loyal to her Majesty throughout her reign.
A great example of this, for any one of you who
has attended meetings in the Grand Temple at
Freemasons’ Hall, is when up to seventeen hundred
members sing the National Anthem with gusto.
You cannot fail to be deeply moved.
Te Grand Master, in his speech at the Annual
Investiture at the end of April, explained why
transparency is critical for Freemasonry and urges
an active spirit of openness. You can read the full
speech in this issue and see where Te Grand Master
picks up the theme of our two recent firsts. One
was the commissioning of the first ever report
by an independent third party on the future of
Freemasonry, which was the catalyst for the second
of our two firsts, namely the first ever media tour
that I was given the privilege of conducting.
Te theme is continued in two more articles
where our public relations adviser explains how
we have gone about changing the minds of the mass
of people who have deep-rooted misconceptions
about the myths that still surround us. If we want
our families to be proud of us being members and
if we want to show we are a relevant organisation
to join, every effort must be made for these
misconceptions to be got rid of.
Tis is followed by an article on what it was
like to be on the ‘front line’ with the media – the
Grand Secretary being interviewed around the
ëIF WE WANT TO SHOW WE ARE RELEVANT,
AND FOR OUR FAMILIES TO BE PROUD,
MISCONCEPTIONS MUST BE GOT RID OFí
freemasonrytoday.com
GRAND SECRETARY
country. Interestingly, I was hugely encouraged by
the positive reception I received.
Tese examples are a true reflection of our
respected magazine being the official journal of the
United Grand Lodge of England. Apart from the
clear benefit of reading what our leaders are thinking
and the initiatives we are undertaking to ensure our
long-term survival, be assured that all editorial is
selected by senior and experienced Freemasons, who
are renowned experts in masonic matters and news
editing. Te only non-masons involved deal in the
commissioning of articles – after they have been
selected by the editorial panel – or involved in
design, printing and distribution. Tey too have
been chosen for their recognised expertise.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Freemasonry Today.
With the London Olympic Games just around the
corner, we look at how Spencer Park Lodge is
carrying the torch for masons who have an interest
in sport and enjoy the camaraderie that Freemasonry
brings. We also look back at the role that
Freemasons played in the 1908 London Olympics,
not just on the track but also in helping run the
event behind the scenes. And for anyone not totally
fixated on athletics, we find out whether Christopher
Wren really was part of the Craft and how we let
a hundred young people loose on Freemasons’ Hall.
I wish you and your family happy reading and an
enjoyable summer.
Nigel Brown
Grand Secretary
3
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 CONTENTS

The Board of Grand

Lodge Publications 3
36
Ray Reed, Robin Furber,
Graham Rudd
Publishing Director
Nigel Brown
Editorial Panel
Karen Haigh, John Hamill,
Susan Henderson,
John Jackson,
Siobhan McCarthy
Editor
Luke Turton
Consultant Editor
Michael Baigent 30 47
47
Published by
August Media Ltd for
The United Grand Lodge
of England, Freemasonsí 64 60
60
Hall, Great Queen Street,
London WC2B 5AZ
Editorial
Freemasonry Today,
Freemasonsí Hall,
Great Queen Street,
London WC2B 5AZ
editor@ugle.org.uk
Advertising contact
Freemasonry Today,
Madison Bell Ltd,
20 Orange Street,
London WC2 7EF
Wesley Tatton
52
Tel: 020 7389 0823
Email: wesley.tatton@
madisonbell.com
Alex Ross-Scott
GRAND SECRETARY 3 THE SPORT SPECIALISTS 52
Tel: 020 7389 0863 Mike Winch takes a look at the history, and the
Email: alex_rs@ NEWS AND VIEWS 6 champions, of Spencer Park Lodge
madisonbell.com Te latest masonic news and updates
Circulation THE UNCELEBRATED CHAPTER 57
0844 879 4961
fmt@ugle.org.uk PARTY AT THE TEMPLE 18 John Hamill describes the slow but steady
Masonic enquiries Anneke Hak joins in the fun at the launch party of a progression of the Royal Arch Chapter
editor@ugle.org.uk teenage television show, hosted at Freemasons’ Hall
www.ugle.org.uk A HOME WITH PERSONALITY 60
020 7831 9811
Printed by Artisan Press
SENIOR INSIGHTS 25 Richard Heap gives an insight into the way of life
Jessica Bondy on how to further open up Freemasonry of an RMBI care home resident
© Grand Lodge
Publications Ltd 2012. The
opinions herein are those ON YOUR AIRWAVES 30 THE MASONIC NETWORK 64
of the authors or persons e Grand Secretary takes to the radio to discuss Susan Snell reveals how the Olympic Games have
interviewed only and do
not reˇect the views of Freemasonry and dispel some long-standing myths benefited from extensive masonic connections
Grand Lodge Publications
Ltd, the United Grand
Lodge of England or
THE WONDER OF WREN 36 CHARITIES UPDATE 68
August Media Ltd. Dr James Campbell explains why Christopher Wren All the latest news on how Freemasons are helping
was the ideal subject for 2011’s Prestonian Lecture out around the UK

PEFC/16-33-444
A NEED FOR GUIDANCE 41 LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 73
PEFC Certified e lodge mentor role is crucial if Freemasonry is to An ongoing project on how London used to look
This product is
from sustainably
managed forests and
controlled sources
flourish. James Bartlett explains why reveals the importance of a certain Café Monico
www.pefc.org

This magazine is printed on paper

produced from sustainable
managed forests accredited
by the PEFC (Programme
for the Endorsement of Forest
Certification schemes, pefc.org)
Cover image: Corbis
This page: Brijesh Patel,
Bridgeman Art Library, Corbis,
Getty Images, Alys Tomlinson
Q&A WITH ANDY CROCI 42 LETTERS 77
e manager of UGLE’s registration office talks about Your opinions on the Freemasonry world
the responsibilities and the rewards of his role
REFLECTION 82
THE EVER-EVOLVING HALL 47 John Hamill on the varying nature of masonic
A delve into the history of Freemasons’ Hall, from ceremonies, and the benefits of remembering, rather
the viewpoint of those that have worked there than simply reading, rituals

freemasonrytoday.com 5
 NEWS & VIEWS
From Olympic hopefuls through to parachuting pensioners

RECRUITMENT IN
THE FAST LANE
With many lodges struggling to recruit and retain
members, Mike Hailwood Lodge, No. 9839, is
gaining candidates fast, as one would expect
from a masonic body named after a world
champion motorcyclist and racing car driver.
Te lodge was consecrated by Warwickshire
Provincial Grand Master, Michael J Price, at
Edgbaston, Birmingham on Friday 25 April 2008
with 31 founding members present. It now has
58 members including three from the Isle of
Man – the scene of so many of Mike Hailwood’s
triumphs – where the lodge holds its September
meeting every other year.
e lodge’s very first initiate was David Hailwood,
the son of the late Mike Hailwood. eir latest
recruit, Phillip Carter, aged 78, was initiated by
his son Tim in the presence of Alan Welling, Deputy
Provincial Grand Master for Warwickshire.
e secret of the lodge’s success? Well, for a start,
getting to race around the Isle of Man TT course.
Such is the flow of initiates that the by-laws are to
be changed to include an extra meeting to cope with
the ceremonies. Warwickshire’s Provincial Grand
Master also goes along with his wife, who attends
the Festive Board with the other ladies.
Mike Hailwood, whose father Stan was a
Freemason, won nine motorcycle world titles
between 1961 and 1967, then turned to motor
racing, becoming European Formula 2 Champion.
He then embraced Formula 1, but his career
THE SECRET OF THE ended abruptly in 1974 when he crashed his
McLaren on Germany’s daunting Nürburgring track.
LODGEíS RECRUITMENT Disabled by leg injuries, he retired to New Zealand,
SUCCESS? WELL, but by 1978, at the age of 38, he was back at the
Isle of Man TT to take on and beat the entire field.
FOR A START, GETTING His victorious return there has been described
TO RACE AROUND as one of the most emotional moments of
twentieth-century sport.
THE ISLE OF MAN For more information about Mike Hailwood Lodge,
TT COURSE No. 9839, visit www.mikehailwoodlodge9839.co.uk

The late, great motorcycle

champion Mike Hailwood

SEE
6 HOUSE OF ANUBIS We attend the launch party at Freemasonsí Hall p.18

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF LEGENDS
A successful journey organised by the Scott-Amundsen Centenary
Expedition to the South Pole has taken place, comprising two teams,
each including three serving members of HM Forces.
One such serving member was Warrant Officer Kevin Johnson, whose
team retraced the longer route of more than 900 miles undertaken by Robert
Falcon Scott from Cape Evans. Like the intrepid Scott, Amundsen and
Shackleton before him, Kevin Johnson is a Freemason and a member of
Herefordshire’s Cantilupe Lodge, No. 4083. A relatively new mason, Kevin
unfurled the blue and gold masonic emblem on successfully completing the
Antarctic expedition. It was given to him by lodge members at the Geographic
South Pole. e expedition has raised vital funds for the Royal British Legion’s
£30 million commitment to the Battle Back Centre in Lilleshall to help
wounded, injured and sick service personnel on their journey of recovery.
Photography: Getty Images, Axiom Photographic
Charity representatives line-up with East Kent Freemasons including Millennium
Lodge Master Brian Monk and Deputy PGM Roger Odd (centre)
COMPASSIONATE CARE IN KENT
Six local hospices received cheques from East Kent Province on behalf of
The Freemasonsí Grand Charity at a meeting of Maidstoneís Millennium
Lodge of Charity, No. 9730.
Since 1984, the Grand Charity has donated £8.7 million to hospices in
England and Wales, supporting the ongoing compassionate care that they
give to patients and their families. Last year, £600,000 was distributed to 226
hospices, including an allocation of £100,000 specifically for services dedicated
to caring for children. As well as supporting individuals who need hospice care,
staff also support families and close friends during illness and bereavement.
freemasonrytoday.com
NEWS AND VIEWS
STILL GOING STRONG
The Lodge of Rectitude, No. 335, has celebrated
its bicentenary. The lodge by-laws state that
membership is limited to 60, and as far as
practicable be recruited equally from among
lodges meeting in Wiltshire and Somerset.
In addition, at the June installation, the new
Master must also provide the strawberries and
cream at the Festive Board. During the meeting
a cheque was presented to Wiltshire PGM Francis
Wakem for £1,500 towards the 2017 Festival for the
Masonic Samaritan Fund.
INITIATIVE IN HINCKLEY
In 1927, Hinckley Freemasons saw an opportunity
to take masonry forward in the Midlands town and
purchased land on which to erect a masonic hall.
Now, the building has been refurbished. To
finance this, members purchased bonds of
£93,000 ñ some £9,000 of this being donated.
This left a shortfall of £10,000, which the board
sought from outside commercial sources, with a
mortgage agreed with a local building society.
JUBILEE FLOTILLA ON
THE THAMES
A thousand boats gathered on the Thames on
Sunday 3 June, in celebration of the Queenís
Diamond Jubilee.
It was the largest ˇotilla in modern times with
rowing boats, working boats and pleasure vessels
of all shapes and sizes. The ˇotilla stretched for more
than 12 miles, and proved extremely popular ñ with
three boats applying for every place. Among the
boats chosen was Knot Arf, owned by Andrew
Bernstein, immediate past commodore of the
Thames Motor Yacht Club and Master of London-
based Lodge of Enterprise, No. 6494.
Knot Arf cruises past the Houses of Parliament
7
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 NEWS AND VIEWS

Cumberland and Westmorlandís APGM
Keith Young (second left) and Malcolm
Robson with Carlisle prize winners
BOXING FOR CHARITY
TACKLING EPILEPSY
The Epilepsy Society has received a £38,000 grant
from the Grand Charity to help fund research.
Professor Sanjay Sisodiya, the society’s head of
genetics, said, ‘I am grateful to e Freemasons’ Grand
Charity for this generous grant. Genetics research is
very important, with changes such as deletions and
duplications in a person’s genome recently emerging
as important risk factors for epilepsy.’
Buckinghamshire Provincial Grand Master Gordon
Robertson and Provincial Grand Secretary Derek
Watts visited the charity’s site at Chalfont St Peter.
‘Sometimes, such changes have led to the identification
of a particular gene, alterations in which are a direct
cause of the epilepsy. Over time the understanding
that this brings may prove to be the best way to find
new treatments for epilepsy,’ said Professor Sisodiya.
For more information, visit www.epilepsysociety.org.uk

A successful sporting evening at Carlisle was organised by the Province of

Cumberland and Westmorland, Kendal Amateur Boxing Club and Custodes
Copiae Lodge of Provincial Grand Stewards.
Te boxing spectacular, now in its second year, raised £13,400 for masonic
and non-masonic charities during an evening involving amateur boxers
of all ages from clubs across the county, with e Edinburgh Woollen Mill
as principle sponsor.
Meanwhile, the Furness & South Lakeland Group in conjunction
with Kendal Boxing Club held one of its best boxing nights in 26 years
for both masonic and non-masonic charities. e event at the Cumbria
Grand Hotel in Grange appealed to boxing enthusiasts and the local business
fraternity alike. More than 220 guests watched 10 entertaining rounds
of fights. Female boxers were on the bill for the first time, with the event
catching the interest of the local paper. More than £6,000 was raised through
sponsorship, ticket sales, raffles and an auction which included a Toyota
Professor Sisodiya (centre)
jacket signed by ex-Formula One driver Ralph Schumacher, younger brother with Gordon Robertson
of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher. (left) and Derek Watts

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 NEWS AND VIEWS

PENSIONERS TAKE A BIG JUMP

Maurice King, from Diss in Norfolk, celebrated his 80th birthday with
a parachute jump to raise money for the Norfolk 2016 Festival on behalf
of The Freemasonsí Grand Charity.
His friend, Jim Carter, immediately signed up to join him, and Deputy
Provincial Grand Master Stephen Allen gave permission to see if anyone
else in the Province was interested, and it soon became a group jump with
several lodges raising money for the festival.
Between them they managed to convince 44 people, including Nigel
Riley, 84, to take part. Younger Freemasons, wives and family members all
joined them for the 10,000 ft parachute jump, raising more than £20,000.
Some 250 spectators turned up to watch the sponsored jumpers take Kip Waisell in the
to the sky at Ellough Airfield near Beccles, Suffolk, in April. Jim Carter Gobi Desert
raised more than £2,000 in sponsorship for his jump – mostly from
members of Great Yarmouth lodges.
PEKING TO PARIS
Chocks away
for Nigel Riley Herefordshire Freemason Kip Waisell and his wife
Carmen are intrepid travellers for charity.
Tey began in 2005 when they drove two new
125cc scooters back from Almaty in Kazakhstan,
raising £5,000 for Macmillan Cancer Care. Two
years later they travelled from Peking to Paris
in a 750cc 1930 Austin Seven Chummy. ey
completed the journey of some 7,800 miles in 46
days and raised £10,000 for UNICEF, which was
used to buy mosquito nets for Kenyan children.
e couple raised a further £500 for the
Hereford Historic Churches Trust and £900 for
St Michael’s Hospice, Hereford, with talks about
their travels. For the hat-trick, Kip and his wife
Carmen decided to repeat the Peking to Paris
challenge, but taking a slightly different route,
Carmen driving a 1930 Austin Seven while Kip
Photography: Tony Mould

travelled in a 1928 Austin Seven Ulster.

is time money was raised for Smile Train,
the cleft lip and palate charity, visiting their clinics
en route. Smile Train has benefited by over £9,000
to date, with £150 transforming a child’s life in an
operation that takes just 45 minutes.

SOUTH DOWN LODGEíS

HELICOPTER HERO
Sixteen members of the Heal
family from Sussex are in the
same lodge, including former
RAF pilot Marc, who won the DFC
in Afghanistan for evacuating
29 casualties in his Chinook
helicopter while under ˇre. Marc,
31, ˇew eight combat missions in
as many days. On one occasion
his helicopterís landing site was
mortared by insurgents and some
of the missions took place without
an Apache escort.
Somerset mason James Heal
began the family connection with
South Down Lodge, No. 1797, in
1963 when he moved to Brighton,
followed by his five sons – all of
whom went through the chair
– as well as three brothers-in-law
and seven grandsons.
Four of the five sons were
Directors of Ceremonies, while three
of the family are Grand Officers
and one, Keith Schofield, is the
Provincial Grand Mentor for Sussex.
His uncle John was Provincial
Director of Ceremonies and later an
Assistant Provincial Grand Master,
while his uncle Victor was Deputy
Provincial DC, both of whom – with Marc Heal (right) with the Mayor of Brighton and Hove after
being presented with the honorary freedom certiˇcate
his father – have been his mentors.

10
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 news and views
Hertfordshire PGM Colin Harris, Peace Hospice chief executive Sue
Plummer and David Ellis, chairman of the Hospice Board of Trustees
CARRYING THE TORCH
To coach a world champion is the pinnacle of the career of many coaches,
but to achieve this twice takes a very special individual.
Since 2005, Monmouthshire Freemason Neil Smith has lifted athletes to
some of the greatest heights in Paralympic world cycling, well supported
with grants from masonic charities in the Province.
Neil cares passionately for his individual riders, and they have shown
their gratitude by successfully nominating him as a 2012 Paralympic
torchbearer. His first world champion cyclist, Jody Cundy, benefitted
from Neil’s coaching, which was paramount in his transition from
Paralympic swimmer to cyclist. Now he has a second world
champion, Mark Colbourne, who won the Paracycling World
Championships in Los Angeles in February.
Mark Colbourne (left) with coach Neil Smith against
a backdrop of the Welsh Assembly building
12 fantastic voyage Grand Secretary Nigel Brown goes on tour
Support for
Peace Hospice
With Freemasons donating almost £168,000 in
recent years to the Peace Hospice at Watford,
Hertfordshire and Middlesex masons were
invited to a reception at the Royal Masonic
School for Girls.
The hospice has strong links with the school, as
does their chairman, David Ellis of Tudor Lodge.
Hospice staff, including clinicians and nurses, were
available to chat with guests about their work.
Hertfordshire Provincial Grand Master, Colin
Harris, said, ‘Charitable giving is a huge part of
Freemasonry and hearing from hospice staff really
brings home how vital their work is and just how
much financial help they need. This charity
supports local people from across south-west
Hertfordshire free of charge, and we are honoured
to be playing a part in that.’
Hospice community fundraising manager,
Gill Crowson, said, ‘This evening was really a
celebration of the close ties between the hospice,
the lodges and the school. We are very grateful
for all the support they give to the hospice. All
of us care deeply about our community and are
well aware of the necessity to be available to those
who need our help, both now and in the future.’
See
p.30
 NEWS AND VIEWS

Penrith mason Ron

Cameron (left) at
the open day

OPENING UP FREEMASONRY
IN PENRITH
An open day at Penrith saw a steady stream of
visitors with local masons on hand to answer
questions and give explanations of the exhibits.
Visitors saw a diverse exhibition of masonic
regalia, read information about Freemasonry,
viewed the many photographs and honours
boards displayed throughout the hall, as well as
the books featured in the comprehensive library
collection. In addition, visitors were able to view
a lodge room laid out for a meeting.

Professor Norman Williams, President of

The Royal College of Surgeons, with The
Grand Master, HRH The Duke of Kent

FUNDING LIFEBLOOD FOR THE

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS
At the suggestion of Anthony West, Chairman of the Grand Lodge
250th Anniversary Fund, Tuscan Lodge, No. 14, arranged a Fellows
Presentation at The Royal College of Surgeons of England in Lincolnís
Inn Fields, in the presence of The Grand Master, HRH The Duke of Kent.
Te 250th Fund was set up in 1967 to support the college in making
annual grants to support research Fellows, and currently there are
three Freemasons’ research Fellows each year. In connection with
the bicentenary of Supreme Grand Chapter in 2013, an appeal is in Rodney Smallwood and yard
manager Helen Powell with Gypsy
progress, the funds of which will be applied for a similar purpose.
Other distinguished guests included the Pro Grand Master Peter
Lowndes, Assistant Grand Master David Williamson, Grand Secretary GYPSY SHOWS HIS PACES
Nigel Brown and the Grand Director of Ceremonies, Oliver Lodge.
Te guests were welcomed by Professor Norman Williams, Hereford Masons Gypsy is the name given
President of Te Royal College of Surgeons, while plastic surgeon to a 20-year-old horse, supported by local
Professor Gus McGrouther expressed his gratitude to the masonic Freemasons at the Riding for the Disabled
community for its support. Professor McGrouther explained that Association (RDA) centre at Holme Lacy, when
the college receives no NHS funding for research and that this all it is competing at the National Dressage Centre,
has to be paid for by voluntary contribution. Te college supports Hartpury College in Gloucester.
20 researchers annually chosen from 150 applications. Rodney Smallwood, Provincial Grand Master for
Tree Freemasons’ research Fellows gave talks. Tey were Vaibhav Herefordshire, praised the RDA for its work with the
Sharma, on improving hearing through reducing scar tissue; Miss disabled, also paying tribute to the 130 volunteers
Ming He, on tissue engineering for transplantation; and Satoshi Hori involved. He was informed of an imminent addition
of the Uro-Oncology, Hutchinson/MRC Research Centre, University to the 14 horses in the stables ñ a sponsored
of Cambridge. A member of Isaac Newton Lodge also spoke on mechanical horse, which will enhance the
targeting growth factors in prostate cancer. ˇexibility of exercise for those who use the service.

freemasonrytoday.com 13

Photography: Alamy
All aboard to help the
ROBOCAP charity
ROBOTIC SURGERY LAUNCH
The recently registered charity appeal ROBOCAP, which uses state-of-the-art
robotic technology treatment for prostate cancer, was ofˇcially launched in
Herefordshire, in an event organised by local Freemason Howard Pitts.
Appeal chairman Les Kinmond introduced the three consultant urologists
of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, Graham Sole, Biral
Patel and Aloysius Okeke. Tey described this advanced form of keyhole
surgery, which offers surgeons three-dimensional imaging and magnification
in order to give greater precision and allow for minimally invasive surgery
with the reduced incidence of complications.
Cllr Olwyn Barnett, chairman of Herefordshire Council, urged local mayors
to support this appeal, and local mason Brian Wilcox, Mayor-elect for Hereford
City, said that ROBOCAP would be his official charity during his term of office.
SCOUTING IN HALIFAX
Earlier this year, Halifax children were invested into the new 50th Savile Park
Scout Group by the local primary school, where it meets each week.
A grant from UGLE and help from Halifax District Scout Council enabled
the group to provide first class scouting in a diverse area of Halifax. Te
north-east regional development team from the national Scout organisation
have also been instrumental in helping the group’s formation.
Cubs and Beavers were invested into the group and the World Wide Scouting
Association by District Commissioner Martin Longbottom, Beacon Lodge,
No. 4066, Province of Yorkshire, West Riding, and Helen Ridehalgh, Assistant
District Commissioner for Beaver Scouts. It is hoped that the group will
become a full Cub Pack and Beaver Colony. New members are welcome.
Contact dc@halifaxscouts.co.uk for more information
freemasonrytoday.com
NEWS AND VIEWS
LODGE FORGES ITALIAN LINK
A visit by Sandy Khouri, secretary of the Lodge of
Freedom & Courtesy, No. 4762, to his family in Italy
has led to the prospect of a twinning of his lodge,
which meets at Mark Masonsí Hall in London, with
the Lodge Raimondo di Sangro, No. 167.
After his visit to the Barletta lodge, Khouri invited
a group of Italian masons to a Lodge of Freedom &
Courtesy meeting in London, where they also visited
the Grand Temple. As a result, formal application
has been made for the two lodges to be twinned.
Lodge members David Leadbetter, Jack IíAnson, Bob
Stringer and Ron Fenton with John Funk (second left)
EIGHTY YEARS A MASON
Members of Hesketh Lodge, No. 950, Province
of West Lancashire, called in on John Funk,
105, at his home in St Annes, to celebrate his
remarkable 80 years in Freemasonry.
John applied to join a Fleetwood lodge at 21, but
such was the popularity of Freemasonry at that time,
and with only two lodges in the town, he had to wait
for ˇve years to join, otherwise his years in the Craft
would have been greater. He is the last remaining
founder of Lathom Lodge, No. 6286, in Ormskirk and,
together with other prominent masons, purchased
the building that is now the masonic hall.
UNRAVELLING THE MYSTERY
OF RITUAL
For the fourth successive year, the Northern
Conference has proved a success at Salford
Masonic Hall with an audience of over 100 listening
to speakers on the theme of Ritual Unravelled.
An experienced team, including two former
Prestonian lecturers, Neville Barker Cryer and
Gordon Davie, together with Tony Baker, Chris
Powell, John Acaster and Chris Oversby, made the
event a huge success. The day comprised of an
opening plenary session led by Tony Baker followed
by ˇve interactive break-out sessions and a ˇnal
summing up by Neville Barker Cryer.
15
 NEWS AND VIEWS

BIKER BACKS HOSPITAL

WITH 24-HOUR RIDE
When motorbike enthusiast Andy McGowanís wife
Sarah, a deputy sister, was admitted to Colchester
Hospitalís critical care unit, he was so impressed with
the staffís dedication and kindness that he decided
to raise funds for the hospital.
Andy, who is a member of United Lodge,
No. 697, which meets in Colchester, set out on
a 24-hour sponsored motorbike ride around
Great Britain, starting at the hospital and touring
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bristol and London, before
returning to Essex.
Andy, a keen motorcyclist, and member of the
newly formed Artificers Masonic Motorcycle
Association (AMMA), completed the journey on
his beloved Triumph Speedster.
‘Te staff were wonderful and I’m so grateful
that my wife is well now. Te money will be used to
improve the facilities for patients and their relatives,’
said Andy of his achievement.
For more information, visit www.colchesterhospital.nhs.uk Andy on his Triumph Speedster

ANOTHER LODGE FOR

UNIVERSITIES SCHEME
Grenville Lodge, No. 1787, is the ˇrst lodge in the Province of Buckinghamshire
to be admitted to the UGLE Universities Scheme. With two Nigerian students
from the University of Buckingham joining the lodge in April 2012, it is the
52nd lodge to be admitted to the scheme.
Buckingham is the only private university in the United Kingdom and was
opened in 1973. It was the first UK university to condense the academic content
of a standard three-year degree into a two-year programme, running over four
terms per year, and 80 per cent of its students come from overseas, although
many stay in England to work or gain postgraduate qualifications. It is hoped
that the scheme will also further enhance the link between the lodge, the
university, the Province and Freemasonry in general.

ARTHUR ADDS COLOUR

Freemasonsí Hall is one of Londonís landmark
buildings and, as part of the process of maintaining
it, there are a small number of highly skilled
artisans working there.
Te skill base is maintained partly by recruiting
junior craftsmen and training them to a level not
usually found elsewhere.
A recent recruit as a junior painter is Arthur
Smith. He is just 18 and last year started an
NVQ course at Lambeth College in Painting and
Decorating. He has done so well that he was asked
by the college, as part of their Ofsted inspection,
to allow the inspector to visit him during his work
at Freemasons’ Hall. With Arthur about to progress
to the second year, the college is now considering
entering him into various local, national and AGM David Williamson
with candidates
European skills competitions.

SEE
16 PRESTONIAN LECTURE Dr James Campbell discusses his controversial subject choice p.36
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 TELEVISION LAUNCH

EXPLORAT
18
 TELEVISION LAUNCH

Hundreds of young people descended on Freemasons’

Hall when it hosted the launch party of a kids’ TV show
set in an English boarding school. Anneke Hak reports

ION PARTY
freemasonrytoday.com 19
20
TELEVISION LAUNCH

Photography: Greg Funnell


ëI DIDNíT EVEN REALISE NON-
FREEMASONS WERE ALLOWED
IN. I MEAN, THEREíS A GIFT SHOP.
ITíS NOT WHAT YOU IMAGINE
FREEMASONRY TO BE, IS IT?í
I 
t’s a balmy spring day and for anyone enjoying
the sunshine near Great Queen Street, a sense
of intrigue must surely have caught them. For,
snaking around the corner of the Freemasons’
Hall front entrance, is a queue of young children and
their parents, hundreds long. Some have been there
for hours, others have made their way to Covent
Garden from as far afield as Chester, and they are
all here for one thing: the launch of Season Two of
a teen-mystery series called House Of Anubis that
will air on the Nickelodeon television channel.
In the grand building, through the Tower entrance
on the corner of Wild Street, stands a man dressed
in long black robes, with thick eyeliner framing his
eyes and completing his Egyptian god get-up. Photos
are taken and the children are given orders to pass
up the stairs and try to unlock the secrets to the
temple. Some children quake with fear as loud, doom-
laden music blasts through the stone building, others
take it in their stride, keen to get going on their quest.
‘Tis kind of looks like a church, it’s so cool!’ one
child exclaims. He’s right. Freemasons’ Hall couldn’t
have been a better location for the party – its high
ceilings, temple-like atmosphere and brilliant
ambience fit perfectly with the show’s theme about
children at an English boarding school who discover
hidden mysteries and House Of Anubis’s secrets.
Running up the stairs, the children head eagerly
towards the first section of the temple, where they
receive the riddle sheets they must complete to gain
the sacred access. Two figures dressed in black robes
explain the rules. ‘We’re actually Egyptian cult
followers of the fearful brother Eden,’ the gentleman
tells me, staying in character and refusing to divulge
his real name. ‘We are in charge of making sure that
only the very wise can enter the inner sanctum of
the Temple of Anubis’, he explains, adding ‘We’ve
set them a series of difficult challenges, and I don’t
freemasonrytoday.com
TELEVISION LAUNCH
think all of them will make it through. Tose who
don’t will, of course, be sacrificed. Or else they’ll
probably just have to leave.’ After this gruesome
revelation the cult follower did come out of
character long enough to confide, ‘I didn’t even
realise non-Freemasons were allowed in. I mean,
there’s a gift shop. It’s not what you imagine
Freemasonry to be, is it?’
It really isn’t. A lot of work has gone into the
event, which includes popcorn stalls, magicians,
themed characters from the show and, of course,
a dress rehearsal. ‘It’s funny,’ laughs the robed one,
‘because when we were rehearsing, we were told
to take our cloaks off as there was a guided tour
coming through and they were worried that the
tour group would believe all the silly conspiracy
theories that Freemasonry was some sort of cult,
which this event being held here today disproves.’
SCIENCE AND RIDDLES
As the children march around looking for the next
answer, riddle sheets in hand, it becomes clear that
not all of the answers are obvious and some are even
hidden. On entering one room, I come face to face
with a herd of children huddled around what looks
like a science experiment as they try and guess how
long it will take a piece of metal spinning on glass to
stop – will it be shorter or longer than the time it
takes to stop on wood? I leave, not confident about
my GCSE physics, and bump into another Egyptian
Cult Follower in the Hall.
‘I used to fly but now I’m stuck on the ground,
black as night in the caretaker’s office I can be
found! What am I?’ he crows. Yet again completely
stumped, I move on swiftly. Tat’s the delightful
Left: fans of the show
wait excitedly for the thing about these riddles: you need to be a big
launch party House Of Anubis Season One fan to understand
21
 TELEVISION LAUNCH
them, and therefore gain entrance to the main
temple, where House Of Anubis Season Two’s first
episode will be screened at 4pm.
A crowd gathers outside the hall, and I ask a few
of the children about the fun they’ve been having
while we wait. ‘We’ve had a great time,’ says Millie,
aged seven. ‘Te best bit has been meeting Jamie
and Hannah from the show, who were walking
around too. We got to speak with them!’
‘I like the mystery of today. I’m kind of good at
solving the riddles,’ says Kerry, who is nine. ‘We’ve
got all the clues today. Meeting all the famous
people has been great – we’ve had our picture taken
with Heather from EastEnders.’
WELL-KNOWN FACES
Of course, this wouldn’t be a launch event without
some well-known faces, and soap actors can be seen
flitting around with family and friends. I stop to have
a chat with Patsy Palmer, who plays EastEnders’
Bianca. ‘I know nothing about House Of Anubis,
you’ll have to ask my children,’ she laughs as they
run up to tell her about what they’ve seen. ‘Tis
place is pretty impressive though.’
22 SPECIALIST LODGES The sporting achievements of Spencer Park
PHOTOS ARE TAKEN
AND THE CHILDREN
ARE ORDERED TO PASS
UP THE STAIRS TO TRY
AND UNLOCK THE
SECRETS TO THE TEMPLE
Above: if children answer Finally the clock strikes four and the doors open.
enough riddles correctly, We all lurch forward, keen to get a look inside the
they can proceed to
the main temple for the Grand Temple. I find a seat behind eight-year-old
screening of the ˇ rst Ryan. ‘I’m really brave, so the building hasn’t been
episode of House Of that spooky,’ he tells me. ‘But I thought it would be
Anubis Season Two.
a bit smaller than this – this is probably the biggest
room I’ve ever been in!’
It’s also the first time a screening has been
held inside the Grand Temple. Head of Events at
Freemasons’ Hall Karen Haigh tells me that the
venue is well prepared for the influx of hundreds of
young people into the building. ‘Nothing’s going to
go wrong,’ she smiles. ‘We’ve checked and double-
checked everything – and it’s great to be able to hold
new kinds of events. Especially ones like this, which
the kids enjoy so much.’
Te characters from the show are introduced
to screams of applause as they gather on stage to
answer questions from a compere, and the audience
buzzes with anticipation of what is to come. It’s time
for the lights to go down and a hush instantly falls
over the 1,400 crowd of young children, teenagers
and parents. Te premiere of Season Two of House
Of Anubis begins and another event at Freemasons’
Hall can be claimed a roaring success.
SEE
p.52
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PRINCIPLES
WITH
IMAGINATION
HRH Te Duke of Kent explains
why transparency is critical for
Freemasonry and urges an active
spirit of openness
O
ur concern must be for the future, especially with
the approach of our three-hundredth anniversary in
2017. In planning for this great anniversary, I believe
these times demand innovation, and imaginative
thinking, while retaining our principles.
In this I make no apology for again reminding everyone of the
need truly to demonstrate transparency, and to work towards
regaining our enviable reputation in society. To do this we have
to show how and why we are relevant and to concentrate on the
positive aspects of Freemasonry, in particular our generous
tradition of giving to a wide variety of causes.
In regards to transparency, we still have some way to go in
dispelling the myths that remain deep rooted in many people’s
minds, not least the media. Very considerable progress has been
made in this direction already, but challenges remain, and there
is still work to do to overcome prejudices and misconception.
I am very pleased that we have already achieved two firsts of
some importance in tackling this challenge. Te first of these was
the commissioning of the first ever independent, third party
report, written by non-masons, on the future of Freemasonry.
A CONSEQUENCE 3 wherever you are.
3.1 THE ëPROBLEMí
OF ALTRUISM
OF WHAT WE MIGHT
Te fact that, universally, people are prepared
to act in ways that benefit others at a cost to
themselves has long posed a problem for the
DESCRIBE AS THE
social and biological sciences – and particularly
for theories of evolution. Te fundamental
premise of evolutionary biology, for example, is
that costs and benefits are measured in terms
ëGIVING INSTINCTí IS
of ‘reproductive fitness’ – an animal’s ability to
mate and to produce offspring, thereby ensuring
the future of its genes. Tis applies to humans
as much as any other species on the planet. Te
THAT SOME MEMBERS
difficult issue here, however, is that this form
of natural selection operates at the individual
rather than group level. It is the ability to spread
my genes, or those of my close relatives who
WILL HAVE, IN CRUDE
share my genes, rather than those of unrelated
members of my tribe or social group.
It is true that we are most willing to make the
TERMS, MORE OF THE
greatest sacrifice for the benefit or survival
of our closest kin. If I save the life of, say, my
son while losing my own I have ensured that
the part of me that is my son (my genes) will
ALTRUISTIC GENE
survive into a future generation. But why should
we help our neighbours or those in parts of the
GIVING
world that we have never met, and never will?
THAN OTHERS
We may, of course, argue that evolutionary
theory no longer applies to the human race,
that we have gone beyond forces that shape
the lives of lower animals. We are conscious
beings whose lives are directed more by moral
codes than by basic instincts. And yet, perhaps
uncomfortably, altruism is as much in evidence
in birds and mammals as it is in us. Many
species sound the alarm to their fellows when
they identify a predator nearby, exposing
themselves to quite considerable risk by
making themselves more visible. Such types
of altruistic behaviour are the same as those
that we see as fundamental characteristics
of a ‘civilised’ human race.
The independent Future
SLUG GOES
SENIOR HERE
INSIGHTS
Photography: Alamy
ëI WANT TO CONGRATULATE
ALL THOSE WHOM I HAD THE
PLEASURE OF INVESTING. TO
ATTAIN GRAND RANK IN THE
CRAFT IS A HIGH ACCOLADEí
Tis report has been highly successful and has itself acted as
the catalyst for the second of our two innovations, namely the
first media tour, conducted by the Grand Secretary.
I recommend that you all take advantage of this active spirit
of openness to talk with equal frankness to your family and
friends. I think that if you follow this advice, you may well be
surprised by the positive reception you will gain.
I want to congratulate all those whom I had the pleasure
of investing. To attain Grand Rank in the Craft is a very high
accolade of which you can feel justly proud. Tis promotion
does, however, come with an obligation always to set the
highest example in standards of integrity, honesty and fairness
Charles Darwin was himself puzzled by
this – his theory of natural selection – often
inappropriately described as ‘survival of the
fittest’ – with its emphasis on the individual, did
not quite work. On the one hand he argued that
‘He who was ready to sacrifice his life, as many
a savage has been … would leave no offspring to
Among those I have appointed to acting office are the new
inherit his noble nature.’1 Undeterred, however,
and almost by sleight of hand, he introduced
a substantial qualification: Grand Chancellor, the president of the Grand Charity and
‘A tribe including many members who, from
possessing, in a high degree, the spirit of
patriotism, fidelity, obedience, courage, and
sympathy, were always ready to aid one
the Deputy President of the Board of General Purposes, and
another, and to sacrifice for the common
good, would be victorious over most other
tribes; and this would be natural selection.’2
I want to take this opportunity of thanking their predecessors.
What we have here is now a focus on group,
First of all, Brother Alan Englefield, who as the first Grand
rather than individual, interest. Such an
emphasis is not without its critics, among
them Richard Dawkins.3 Current perspectives,
however, generally support the view that the
genes which prompt us to be generous to our
kin can also prompt us to express altruism
in a more generalised way, so long as it does Chancellor, has made an invaluable contribution to bringing us
not reduce our personal fitness to a damaging
degree. An advantageous product of this is
the increased fitness of the tribe, community
or society in which we live which, in turn,
closer to other Grand Lodges around the world, as well as to
increases what is known as ‘inclusive’ fitness
– a notion that embraces one’s personal fitness
plus the fitness of every other member of the
species in the population.4
A consequence of what we might describe as
maintaining our position as the Mother Grand Lodge. Secondly
the ‘giving instinct’ is that some members will
have, in crude terms, more of the altruistic gene
than others. We, as in the animal kingdom, will
always have ‘free riders’ – those who benefit
to Grahame Elliott, who as president of the Grand Charity, as
from the altruism of others while giving little
or nothing back in exchange. But this, in itself,
does not pose a serious problem until the
givers are outnumbered by the takers. Natural
selection, it seems, is geared towards the
well as presiding over the Grand Charity itself, was instrumental
prevention of this state of affairs.
1 Darwin, C. (1871) The Descent of Man. P.1635
in the successful move of the four charities into this building and
2 Darwin, C. (1871) The Descent of Man. P.166
thirdly, to Michael Lawson who has given a long and dedicated

 


4 See Boyd, R. & McIlreath, R. (2007) Mathematical Models
of Social Evolution. Chicago University Press

Of Freemasonry report period of service on the board since 1988. To all three brethren
has been a huge success
16 The Future of Freemasonry: A report by the Social Issues Research Centre 2012 17

we owe a considerable debt of gratitude.

freemasonrytoday.co.uk 23
25
 SENIOR INSIGHTS

EXTENDING
THE ARCH
Pro Grand Master Peter
Lowndes discusses the mechanisms
that have been put in place
to promote the Royal Arch
within Freemasonry

ëA WIDER PARTICIPATION
A
 
s we move towards the bicentenary of the Order in
2013 we have taken the opportunity to further ensure
the long term future of the Royal Arch. In raising the IN THE RITUAL IS
profile to achieve this, it is important to make sure we
are seen as appealing, inspiring and relevant. To that end, a strategic
CLEARLY BENEFICIAL
working party, under the chairmanship of the Second Grand IN ENCOURAGING
Principal, reported their nine recommendations to me in March.
Te first of these recommendations in their report was that the
A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING
strap line ‘initiation to exaltation’ be adopted to promote the Order. OF THE TEACHINGí
Te working party looked at mentoring and how it should align
to the work being done on this in the Craft. Here it was suggested
that the Craft personal mentor and the Royal Arch representative
actively guide a new master mason towards membership of the
Royal Arch at an appropriate point in his masonic journey. Also that
once exalted the new companion has a knowledgeable Royal Arch In order to encourage a greater participation among all
mason to help him better understand the ceremony and meaning of companions, the working party looked at the layout of the ritual
the Royal Arch and how best to become involved in the Chapter. books so that the revised and permitted alternative variations
adopted in 2004 be encouraged as the standard. I emphasise that
PROMOTING THE ORDER nothing is now being suggested which in any way enforces or
changes what was introduced by Supreme Grand Chapter in 2004.
Te role of the lodge Royal Arch representative is fundamental A wider participation in the ritual is clearly beneficial in
to the promotion of the Order and it is recommended that encouraging a deeper understanding of the teaching and by giving
Metropolitan, Provincial and District Grand Lodges continue to the permitted variations of 2004 a greater prominence in the
encourage Craft lodges to make this appointment and to develop various printed and authorised rituals – for example, Aldersgate,
the role. It is also considered important that the adoption of the Domatic, Perfect and Metropolitan – I trust more Chapters will be
permitted ritual variations, introduced by the 2004 Royal Arch encouraged to adopt them and benefit accordingly.
Strategic Working Party, be encouraged in Chapters. Te 2013 Royal Arch Appeal for Te Royal College of Surgeons
I am aware that the Metropolitan Grand Lodge, as well as several is progressing well – with over half a million recorded so far.
Provinces and Districts are already presenting a letter to the newly Tis means that we are well on our way to exceeding our target.
made master mason on the merits of the Royal Arch. Efforts to I encourage you to keep up your efforts.
improve the profile of the Order in website contexts is also underway.
Two clear outward ways to promote the Order are emphasised.
First, the taking of wine with Royal Arch members at selected
Craft Festive Boards and secondly, that the wearing of the official
Royal Arch tie be further encouraged. Te final recommendation is
that Chapters be encouraged to re-engage with lodges from which
they have traditionally derived members.

SEE
26
24 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Masonic thoughts from around the world p.77
 SENIOR INSIGHTS

THIS ISNíT
ROCKET
SCIENCE
An open and sensible approach to
Freemasonry could have a significant
impact on public perceptions of
the Craft, according to Pro Grand
Master Peter Lowndes

V
ery often one will be asked how one came to join
Freemasonry. In most cases it will have been knowing

Photography: Ruy Tuxeira

people who are masons and showing an interest in
and asking questions about the subject. Te next
stage then should have been to meet other members of the lodge
and for both sides to ensure that the various ramifications and
responsibilities of being a member are out in the open.
I believe that it is important to let people know that we are
not an organisation that goes hunting for members for the sake
of numbers, but that we do encourage strongly those who show
categorically deny that this has never occurred. However, dare
a genuine interest in finding out more about the subject. We should
I say, I am confident that this would be considerably less so among
stress that Freemasonry is about the quality of the person who joins.
Freemasons than members of many other organisations.
We must not forget that anyone can go into Letchworth’s and
We then move on to what benefits a member can expect and I
buy a copy of our ritual. If they read it, they will find very few
think it is important to stress that people will find many different
aspects that are not fully explained. It is important to explain to
benefits the more involved they become. At the outset it is
people that there are very few things we keep private in masonry
reasonable to expect that, if they join a lodge, they will be among
and these are restricted to a few words and signs.
men who behave in a way in which they, themselves, would approve.
You will be thinking that I have left out an important aspect: our
APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE charities. It is all too easy, when asked what we do, to simply say
that we do a vast amount of charitable work. I most certainly am
We must also acknowledge that the language used in our rituals is
not saying don’t talk about our charities, quite the reverse, but
somewhat archaic, but we become used to it and enjoy it. However,
don’t use our charities to avoid answering more fully what we are
some of the wording is not appropriate to explaining ourselves to
all about. Above all stress that we are all in masonry for the immense
outsiders. One of the obvious examples of this is that we would
amount of enjoyment that we derive from our membership.
never explain to an outsider our relationship with another as,
‘doing unto him as we would that he would do unto us’. Instead, we
would say something like, ‘we try to treat others as we hope that
they would treat us’. To put it another way, this isn’t rocket science.
I am also often asked what benefits can be derived from being a
mason. My first response is always to say what someone must most
certainly not expect is an improvement in his business fortunes. ëIT IS IMPORTANT TO STRESS
Tere is no doubt that there is still a body of opinion that feels that
a lot of business is conducted between Freemasons that is to the
THAT PEOPLE WILL FIND MANY
detriment of others. I have done a lot of business with and for DIFFERENT BENEFITS THE MORE
Freemasons, often without finding out until later that we were
both members. Personally, I have never seen a case where it has
INVOLVED IN FREEMASONRY
been to the detriment of others. It would be wrong for us to THEY BECOMEí
freemasonrytoday.com 27
 SLUG GOES
SENIOR HERE
INSIGHTS

MYTHS
DISPELLED
Public relations adviser to the
United Grand Lodge of England,
Jessica Bondy, explains how to
change the minds of 117 million
people about Freemasonry

T
 
he core of the Freemason’s public relations strategy is to
dispel myths. But why bother? After all, we know that as
the oldest fraternal organisation in the world, masonic
principles have never changed and its timeless values are
as relevant today as they were three hundred years ago.
As modern Freemasons, there are two reasons in particular why
you should bother. If we take as a given that the Freemasons want
good press, then the first reason is that, by dispelling the myths it
will help with both retention and recruitment. Secondly, it will
reduce – potentially eradicate – discrimination against you.
For a communication strategy to work, it is essential to have
support at the highest level in an organisation. We are at the first
stage of our journey with a clear objective to both increase
understanding of, and support for, Freemasonry. Critical to building
a positive reputation for the organisation will be highlighting
masonic openness and relevance in society today. And rather than
just talking about it we have taken action to demonstrate change.
We have open websites, the highly acclaimed Freemasonry Today
magazine, and a mentoring scheme that helps you to talk about
Freemasonry openly. All of this will be further helped by a new
leaflet designed to give people a good feeling about Freemasonry.
But more importantly, and for the first time ever, we approached
a non-masonic body to produce a report for the media on the
future of Freemasonry, written by an independent third party.
Tis was a bold move, but it was essential for the media to both
see this as a neutral, outsider’s perspective for credibility’s sake,
as well as act as the catalyst for them to want to talk to us.
EVIDENCE NOT IDEOLOGY
Te Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC) in Oxford was selected
competitively. It offered not only anthropological expertise, which
forms much of the report’s backdrop, but also their research criteria
are based on evidence and not ideology. In their words: ‘We
needed to test Freemasonry’s claims for openness and transparency.’
SIRC set about compiling the views and opinions of a cross-section
of Freemasons and non-masons alike. Tey examined the presence
ëWE ARE AT THE FIRST
STAGE OF OUR JOURNEY
WITH A CLEAR OBJECTIVE
TO BOTH INCREASE
UNDERSTANDING OF,
AND SUPPORT FOR,
FREEMASONRYí
of, as well as need for, an element of ritual in all our lives, our need
to belong, the ways we express our generosity to others, and the
extent to which our everyday lives involve ritual behaviours. Te
result is a truly insightful and timely commentary, not just on this
organisation, but also fascinatingly on the complex interactions,
perceptions and values of modern society itself.
So with the report published and in our hands, and the knowledge
that people really do want to know more, we took the Grand
Secretary on a highly successful media tour, which was another
first. We felt it important for the Grand Secretary to be on the
road and truly show openness by meeting people face-to-face.
Nationally, we have also made waves. A story on BBC
Online was the third most popular. Te interview on one
of the leading radio stations, LBC, quite literally jammed the
switchboard. Combining all the media and press interviews, the
reach has been to a potential audience of more than 117 million.
Te report and media tour have presented a major opportunity
for Freemasonry. We have to harness and build on the interest
now in order to achieve the impact we deserve in 2017. If we can
convert people from negative to neutral at the very least, I believe
we will be making huge progress.
To read the report, visit: http://www.freemasonrytoday.com/ugle-
sgc/ugle/item/511-future-of-freemasonry-study-is-published

SEE
28
26 FOOTER HEADLINE Footer text: pa qui dus, ut faccabore aut qui dus p.22
Too old to fight Too proud to ask
For over 180 years the Gurkhas have helped
to fght our wars and keep our peace.
Gurkhas have won 13 Victoria Crosses and
have served in most of the major conflicts
of the 20th century.

If there was a minute’s silence for every

Gurkha casualty from World War Two alone,
we would have to keep quiet for two whole
weeks. But silence will not help the living,
the wounded and disabled, those without
military pensions following World War Two
service or redundancy, or those left desti-
tute by ill health or natural disasters.

There is no doubt that we in this country

owe the Gurkhas a debt of honour, and the
Gurkha Welfare Trust is seeking to repay that
debt. The work of the Trust is now vital to
the health, well-being and quality of life for
thousands of Gurkha old soldiers and their
dependants.

Please will you help us? Anything you can

send now will be gratefully received and
carefully used in relieving hardship and This is Rifleman Lalbahadur Thapa (L) aged 93 and his younger brother Rifleman Dilbahadur
Thapa. Both served with 6th Gurkha Rifles throughout World War Two.
distress among Gurkha ex-servicemen and The brothers keep each other company on the five day walk they make every three months
from their home village to the nearest Gurkha Welfare Trust Area Welfare Centre to collect
their dependants in Nepal. their ʻwelfare pensionʼ. This money is their only source of income and all that stands between
them and destitution.

I may wish to sponsor a Welfare Pensioner

I would like to help these proud, gallant people who served Britain so well each month. Please send details.
and gave so much for my freedom. Here is my gift:
£20 supports £60 supports £240 supports £................ Name............................................................................
a soldier/widow for a soldier/widow for a soldier/widow for my preferred amount
one month three months a whole year Address........................................................................
VISA/Mastercard/CAF card/Switch Valid from Expires
.....................................................................................

.......................................................Postcode...............
Switch CCV number (last set of 3 I enclose a cheque
Issue No. or 4 digits on back of card) (tick if applicable)

The Gurkha
. .
Welfare. Trust Signature......................................................................
Data Protection Act. We may occasionally wish to
PO Box 2170 22 Queen Street Salisbury SP2 2EX Tel: 01722 323955 contact you about our work. If you would prefer that
Fax: 01722 343119 . www.gwt.org.uk Registered Charity Number 1103669 we do not, please tick here.
FM2D
 PUBLIC RELATIONS

TUNING

IN
30
 PUBLIC RELATIONS

Te Grand Secretary
embarked on a nationwide
media tour to dispel some
myths and spark discussion
about Freemasonry.
Sophie Radice reports

N
 
igel Brown, Grand Secretary of the
United Grand Lodge of England, has
just been on a tour the length and
breath of England – not forgetting an
interview with BBC Wales – that would exhaust
any electioneering politician or celebrity trying to
promote a new book. Over just four days, Nigel
gave 40 back-to-back interviews to national and
local newspapers and radio stations.
Te publication of a new independent report
Te Future Of Freemasonry was the catalyst to
generate discussion about the role of Freemasonry
Photography: Greg Funnell

in the twenty-first century, while at the same

time debunking certain persistent myths about
the organisation. Both the tour and the report
are the first stages in the build up to the 300th
anniversary of the Freemasons in 2017 and
to promote a better understanding of what
Freemasonry means.

freemasonrytoday.com 31
Photography: Rhapsody
Nigel found it exhausting but exhilarating,
particularly enjoying the direct contact he had
with the public in the regional radio phone-in
discussions: ‘People still believe certain things about
the Freemasons, and of course the deep-seated myth
that it is a secret society with unique business
networking opportunities came up many times. It
was really good to be able to say: “Look, would I be
doing a tour of England if it was a secret society?”
‘I was able to tell people that the only time the
Freemasons ever went underground was during
the Second World War when more than 200,000
Freemasons were sent to the gas chambers by Hitler
because he saw Freemasonry as a threat. Seeing
Hitler’s persecution of Freemasonry, particularly
after he invaded the Channel Islands, and fearing
the invasion of England, members became alarmed,’
continues Nigel. ‘Many of the people I spoke to
on the tour were very surprised to hear this.’
Nigel goes on to explain that Freemasonry then
played an important role post-war for troops
returning home, many of whom wanted to be
with other men who had been through the same
experience. ‘Many lodges were formed during
the immediate post-war period. Perhaps too many
32
Above: just a few of the because there was such a strong need for camaraderie
news cuttings generated and because of what had happened during the war.
by Grand Secretary
Nigel Brownís media tour As a result they naturally became inward looking.’
NEED FOR BELONGING
While the number of lodges has now levelled out
almost to its pre-war period, the sense of brotherly
support remains in the 250,000 members in England
and Wales. Among its conclusions, Te Future Of
Freemasonry report states that ‘there is a timeless
need for a sense of affiliation and belonging’. Te
report also emphasises the importance that
Freemasons place on helping others.
‘Te only requisite we have for joining the
Freemasons is that they are people of integrity,
honesty, fairness and kindness who believe in a
supreme being,’ explains Nigel. ‘We welcome people
of all races and religions with different social and
economic backgrounds. Tis kind of openness,
and the fact that Freemasonry is a non-religious and
non-political organisation means that the Grand
Master of the Grand Lodge of Israel is a Palestinian,
and that is because the decency and morality of our
members is of paramount importance.’
 PUBLIC
PU
PUBL
UBL
BLIC
CRREL
RELATIONS
ELAT
ELATIONS
AT
ATIO
IO
ONS
NS

When Nigel told people he met on his tour that

ëPEOPLE STILL BELIEVE the Freemasons were the biggest charitable givers
CERTAIN THINGS after Te National Lottery, donating £30 million last
year, he was met with incredulity. ‘Tese very large
ABOUT FREEMASONS. contributions come from Freemasons’ own efforts
IT WAS REALLY GOOD rather than from street collections or any other
type of external fundraising. Because the Freemason
TO BE ABLE TO SAY: does not ask for thanks or reward it means that very
ìLOOK, WOULD I BE few people know about our charitable donations,
even though they are on such a large scale. For
DOING A TOUR OF instance, we are the main donors to Te Royal
ENGLAND IF I WAS IN College of Surgeons, funding much of their research
and donate generously to the Red Cross. I know
A SECRET SOCIETY?îí it seems a small thing but it is something that I am
particularly proud of. We are the people that provide
teddies for all children going into surgery, to comfort
them in that difficult moment.’
Questions about Freemasonry rituals, rolled-
up trouser legs and secret handshakes were well
prepared for. Nigel explained that he had never
come across the secret handshake but was glad to
shed light on the rituals as a series of ‘one-act plays’
performed by members as they moved up the ranks
of the Freemasons. ‘I was happy to tell interviewers
and those ringing in to radio discussion programmes

freemasonrytoday.com 33
 PUBLIC RELATIONS

Photography: Brijesh Patel

that there was nothing sinister about it. I think that Above: Grand Secretary
rituals are very important to a sense of belonging Nigel Brown had to
conduct forty radio
ëWE STILL HAVE TO
and our members thoroughly enjoy taking part in
these performances and memorising their lines.
interviews during
a four-day tour
WORK HARD TO
Tey provide a distinctive character to joining and MAKE SURE THAT
moving through the ranks of the Freemasons
– our aim isn’t to make Freemasonry bland but to
OUR MEMBERS ARE
make the public more aware of what we do.’ NOT WRONGLY
CHANGING OPINIONS
JUDGED FOR BEING
FREEMASONS, OR
Even in recent memory, Freemasonry has had to deal
with discrimination against members. ‘On some job
FEEL IT IS SOMETHING
application forms there was the question, “Are you THEY HAVE TO HIDEí
a member of a secret society, e.g. the Freemasons?”
We got that removed by the European Court of
Human Rights, but we still have to work hard to
make sure that our members are not wrongly judged,
or feel that it is something they have to hide. As the
report shows, our members really value the feeling
of belonging to an organisation that contributes to
society and is a part of their life that they can be
proud of. Freemasonry is more relevant than ever –
in a competitive and fragmented society it provides
a combination of friendship and structure.’

34
 FREEMASONS IN HISTORY

With Christopher Wren’s membership

of the Craft remaining disputed, Dr James
Campbell explains why he chose this
subject for his 2011 Prestonian Lecture
S
ir Christopher Wren is so well known
he hardly needs an introduction. He is
England’s most famous architect, the
designer of St Paul’s Cathedral. Indeed,
up until the age of the railways he was England’s
most prolific architect, designing more buildings
in his 90 years than any other.
But what makes Wren really fascinating is that
he turned to architecture rather late, having

WAS THIS
already made a considerable name for himself as
a mathematician, astronomer and experimental
scientist. He was a founding member of the Royal
Society and later its president. He carried out the
first intravenous injection, was one of the three

BUILT BY A
men who suggested to Newton that gravity obeyed
the inverse square law, and was a professor of
astronomy at the age of 26. His contemporaries
universally described him as startlingly brilliant.
Indeed, the more you learn about Wren the more

MASON?
engaging he becomes.
My interest in Wren dates back to 1987,
when I first arrived as an undergraduate in
Trinity College, Cambridge, and discovered the
magnificent library he built there. It sparked
a lifelong interest in Wren and another in the

ëTHE MORE YOU

LEARN ABOUT WREN
THE MORE ENGAGING
HE BECOMESí

36

architecture of libraries. An interest in Wren
served me well and I eventually did my PhD
on him and became an architectural historian.
One topic kept coming up in my research on
Wren: that of his link with Freemasonry. Authors
were completely divided on the subject. Many, of
course, simply ignored it entirely, but others could
not make up their minds whether he was or was
not a Freemason, let alone whether it had any
effect on his architecture. That uncertainty
continues to this day.
A CONTESTABLE TOPIC
If you go on the UGLE website and look at the
lists of famous Freemasons, Wren’s name is
nowhere to be found. Writers on the subject have
also varied in their opinions. John Hamill said
in The Craft that the case is ‘unproven’; David
Stevenson has said in the past that there is no
evidence; while Lisa Jardine, Wren biographer and
distinguished historian, is in no doubt that he was.
When you look further back – at the eighteenth
century – the books of the time all state that
Wren had not only been a Freemason, he had
Photography: Loop Images, Bridgeman Art Library, Alamy
freemasonrytoday.com
FREEMASONS IN HISTORY
Writers on the subject been the Grand Master. Some even go so far as to
have varied opinions, claim that Wren initiated Peter the Great of Russia
with some adamant that
Wren was a Freemason, and William III of England.
while others say there is The Prestonian Lectures is the only series of
no concrete evidence lectures officially sanctioned by UGLE. Every year
to suggest as much
a new lecturer is appointed by the Trustees and
announced in Grand Lodge. They choose their
own topic. The subject should be suitable for
delivery in open lodge or to a wider audience and
should be of the broadest possible interest. Wren’s
membership of the Craft seemed to me to be ideal
and I am pleased that the Trustees agreed.
William Preston (1742-1818), after whom the
Prestonian Lectures is named, had been interested
in Wren. Preston was convinced Wren was
a Freemason and wrote on the subject. He even
went as far as buying what he thought was a
portrait of him for his lodge. It is now known
to be a portrait of the architect William Talman,
and it still hangs in Freemasons’ Hall with a plaque
wrongly labelled as Wren.
The lectureship Preston founded went into
abeyance in the nineteenth century and was
revived in its present form in 1924. Since
then there have been eighty-two Prestonian
37

ëWREN PROVIDES A
FASCINATING GLIMPSE INTO
THE PROBLEMS WE HAVE IN
STUDYING ALL PARTS OF EARLY
FREEMASONRYíS HISTORYí
Sir Christopher Wren
depicted in Godfrey
Knellerís 1711 portrait
Lecturers. Each is entitled to wear a distinctive
jewel bearing Preston’s image. In their year of
office they give ‘official’ deliveries to lodges chosen
by the Board of General Purposes and unofficial
deliveries to any lodges that ask for them.
Wren’s membership of the Craft has never been
a subject of a Prestonian Lecture before, but is not
an infrequent subject of masonic lectures. Most of
those I have read are, I am afraid, rather confused.
Most lecturers rely heavily on Robert Freke
Gould’s History Of Freemasonry (1883-87),
which devotes over fifty pages to demolishing
the previously held beliefs that Wren was
a Freemason. Few lecturers bother to return
to the original sources or look into more recent
discoveries. This became my aim: to present
clearly how the confusion had arisen and what
we now know, and in presenting the evidence to
allow the audience to make up their own minds.
Some history is straightforward. Through
a series of reliable sources we are able to say
unequivocally that something happened on
a particular date. Other matters are not so
straightforward – vital pieces of evidence are
38
FREEMASONS IN HISTORY
missing or unreliable. This is the case with Wren.
The result is a fascinating story of detective work
and of shifting views in history.
THE IDEAL SUBJECT
Wren lived around the time that Freemasonry
emerged in the seventeenth century, so the
question of his membership also brings up the
issue of what Freemasonry was at the time he
joined. It therefore provides a fascinating glimpse
into the problems we have in studying all parts
of early Freemasonry’s history.
Also bound up with this subject is the history
of Lodge No. 2, the Lodge of Antiquity, which met
near St Paul’s Cathedral. Preston was a member
of this lodge in the late eighteenth century and
it has a number of artefacts associated with Wren.
A lecture on Wren is thus an excuse to go into the
history of this wonderful lodge and its origins.
Lastly a lecture on Wren and Freemasonry is an
ideal opportunity to ask the question of whether
it had any effect on his architecture. Are there any
masonic symbols hidden in the works of Wren?
These then were the reasons I chose Wren as
the subject of the 2011 Prestonian Lecture and it
was a most enjoyable year. I gave lectures all over
the UK, and I even went as far as India. One
highlight was being asked to give a lecture to the
Christopher Wren Lodge in Windsor, which hired
the town hall Wren designed for the occasion.
MODERNISING WRENíS HOSPITAL
Te proceeds of the Prestonian Lecture and the
booklet that accompanies it go to charity. Half
of the proceeds from Dr James Campbell’s
lecture are going to e Royal Hospital Chelsea.
e hospital is undergoing a major restoration
and is seeking funds to adapt Wren’s building
to modern living. e other charity is the
Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys. So far,
James has raised more than £6,500 thanks to the
generosity of the lodges who have supported
the lecture. e sale of the booklet will
hopefully raise more. Was Sir Christopher Wren
A Mason? contains the complete text of Dr
James Campbell’s 2011 Prestonian Lecture and
is available from Letchworth’s in Freemasons’
Hall (letchworthshop.co.uk) for £7.99.
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 THE FUTURE OF MENTORING

THE NEW
AMBASSADORS
In a push for new members,
UGLE mentoring coordinator
James Bartlett reports from
the Mentoring Conference 2012

W
 
ith Grand Lodge aiming to
create a more positive image of
Freemasonry, the role of the lodge
mentor is essential. Seventy-six
brethren from London, the Provinces and Districts
gathered at Freemasons’ Hall for the fourth Annual
Mentoring Conference to discuss how lodge mentors
around the country can create an open dialogue that
draws in Freemasons and non-Freemasons alike.
In a keynote address, Grand Secretary Nigel
Brown explained that when brethren talk confidently
to their family and friends about their membership,
and the enjoyment they get from it, they receive
a positive response. He said that it was important
to dispel the myths without losing the mystery.
‘Te objective is to create a cycle where the right
men are introduced to Freemasonry, join, become
involved and enjoy it,’ he said. ‘Tey then are happy
to talk about their membership to their friends, who
in turn will hopefully decide to join as well.’
Te role of the mentor is central to creating this
cycle, by involving the new mason in his lodge, helping
him enjoy his membership and explaining how he
can talk to his family and friends. So what is the best
way to help communicate the role of the mentor?
It was suggested that every lodge should receive
a letter, through the secretary, to be given to the
lodge mentor, together with notes for the personal
mentors which explain the Pro Grand Master’s view
on the subject. Tese letters will support the work
of the Metropolitan, Provincial and District Grand
Mentors and their local initiatives, and would be
accompanied by copies of the new Core Leaflet.
Closing remarks focused on how the creation of
the office of lodge mentor should mean that the
Photography: Rhapsody

brethren now have the tools for the job. It was

acknowledged that to achieve the goal of an active
Links in the chain:
Photography: Greg Funnell

membership, who will involve friends and interest the 2012 conference
them enough to join, there is work to do. However, emphasised the
there are many lodges where this is happening. Our job importance of successful
mentoring to the future
is to encourage more lodges to adopt this approach. of Freemasonry

A wealth of information about masonic mentoring

can be found at www.masonicmentoring.org.uk

freemasonrytoday.com 41
 FIRST PERSON

ëANY REPUTABLE
ORGANISATION WANTS
TO KEEP A RECORD
OF ITS MEMBERS, AND
WEíVE BEEN DOING
IT FOR THE PAST THREE
HUNDRED YEARSí

42

HISTORY IN
THE MAKING
From searching the archives to helping Freemasons rejoin
the Craft, there’s more to the UGLE registration office than
records, as manager Andy Croci tells Miranda Tompson
How did you come to work at UGLE?
I began my career working in the catering
industry, and it looked like it was somewhere
I’d end up. But in 1985 I knew someone working
at Freemasons’ Hall who told me about the
computerisation process that was going on in the
registration department, where the records were
being transferred from ledgers to computers.
I’d always wanted to work with computers so after
hearing about a vacancy as a registration clerk
I thought I’d go for it.
What does the registration department do?
We deal with all aspects of membership – a
member’s record can hold more than a hundred
pieces of information. We work with the Provinces
to try and build a complete picture of someone’s
masonic record. We’ll confirm new members and
then update their records as they go through all
Photography: David Woolfall
the relevant degrees and join other lodges, and
record the offices they hold. We also issue the
Grand Lodge Certificates, and if someone goes
into the Royal Arch, we’ll issue them with a Grand
Chapter Certificate. We often receive requests
from other departments within UGLE to verify
or update a membership record too.
freemasonrytoday.com
FIRST PERSON
Why did you become a Freemason?
I became a Freemason after I started working here
because I wanted to find out what it was all about.
I recently became secretary of my mother lodge,
which has definitely given me an extra dimension.
When a secretary contacts me now, I can
understand their point of view and I feel I can
empathise with members more. We get more
people nowadays who are interested in joining
Freemasonry, and we often get contacted by
people saying they were a Freemason and want
to find out how to get back into it.
Why are records so important for UGLE?
Any reputable membership organisation wants
to keep a record of its members, and we’ve been
doing it for the past three hundred or so years.
Our Library and Museum has reliable and
continual records going back to circa 1760. From
a historical perspective, it’s important that we
maintain our records because the Library and
Museum gets around five hundred genealogical
enquiries every year. I always think that people
will be looking at our records in fifty or a hundred
years from now, if not more, so in a way, the
registration office is history in the making.
43
 FIRST PERSON
Back row (from left): Andy How else are the records useful?
Croci, Russell Garrett, We work with the masonic charities too. They
Lister Park, Paul Napier.
Front row (from left): have a certain level of access to our database, but
Christine Parker, Corinne when they receive an enquiry from, say, the widow
Gray, Latoya McCalla of a member, we or the Library and Museum can
investigate further. Charities need to be able to
confirm that a late husband, or whoever, was a
member before they can give financial aid, so we
can help them with that. Often we’ll get enquiries
from people who are looking to rejoin the Craft.
I love those enquiries because I know I’m actually
helping someone get back into Freemasonry.
At the moment, I’m helping a Freemason
who was a member of one of our lodges in the
Caribbean but now lives in America. His son and
grandson are joining an American lodge, and he
wants to be there for the initiation as well as
possibly rejoin, but he needs to prove his
membership. I put him in touch with the right
people, and now hopefully he’ll be there. That’s
the rewarding part of my job.
What are the challenges of running the
department on a day-to-day basis?
One of the challenges is dealing with the sheer
number of enquiries we receive. People go that
extra mile every day to make records as complete
as they can, like going down to the archives and
checking old ledgers. And working here, you
appreciate how worldwide Freemasonry is. You
can get enquiries from any part of the globe and
44
ëI LOVE KNOWING IíM
HELPING SOMEONE
GET BACK INTO
FREEMASONRYí
someone can ask the same question half a dozen
different ways, but I really do enjoy finding
a solution to a problem.
How has the department changed since
you started working?
When I first started, the office was completely
different – when I look back, I can’t quite believe
it. We were still working with the old ledgers while
also adding information onto the computer. Before
we computerised the records a secretary would
send us a handwritten list of members. That
list would then be checked against our records,
which was really time consuming. New initiates
were fine –you’d just write them in, but joining
members would have to be cross-referenced with
the other lodges that they’d been members of. So
you’d have to find the records of, say, ten different
lodges in different ledgers.
Has technology made a big difference?
Computerisation has changed everything. My
department has halved in size, from sixteen to
eight. We also had another three or four people
who were employed to change over the records
from the ledgers to the new computers – they
started with the computers in 1983 and when
I came here in 1985 they were halfway through.
They finished around 1988, and that was a big
moment for us all. I feel quite lucky that I was
able to witness the old way of doing it.
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 FREEMASONSí HALL

BUILT
TO
LAST
John Hamill looks back
on the construction of
Freemasons’ Hall from the
perspective of those who
worked there

D
 
espite the economic problems, the 1920s
was a period of great expansion for
Freemasonry. It appealed to those coming
back from the war – both as a means of
continuing the camaraderie they had experienced
on active service and giving them a sense of stability
and tradition in a much changed world.
With the growing popularity of Freemasonry, the
great project of building the present Freemasons’
Hall in London was undertaken as a memorial to
those who had given their lives in the First World
War. Changes of this magnitude and the increased
work in raising money for the new building put
enormous strains on the small office run by the
Grand Secretary.
In 1919, the office consisted of the Grand
Secretary, Assistant Grand Secretary, sixteen
permanent clerks, four junior clerks and two ‘lady
typewriters’, Miss Haig and Miss Winter. Te two
ladies had come in towards the end of the war as
temporaries but were to spend the remainder of
their careers in the Hall as secretaries to the Grand
Secretary and his assistant.
Te daily running of the building and the letting
of lodge and committee rooms was under the

freemasonrytoday.com 47
 FREEMASONSí HALL

DICKENSIAN IS
AN OVERUSED
ADJECTIVE, BUT
IT APTLY DESCRIBES
THE CONDITIONS
UNDER WHICH THE
CLERKS WORKED
charge of the Grand Tyler, who lived in the hall.
He had an assistant, two porters, a night watchman,
a ‘furnace man’ who looked after the primitive
heating system and the open fires in the offices and
committee rooms, and a floating number of cleaners.
Six of the boys taken on between 1925 and 1929
– some of whom came directly from the old Royal
Masonic School for Boys – were each to spend
forty-nine years in the service of the Grand Lodge:
Gerry Winslade, Harold Brunton, Llew Hodges,
Bill Browne, Derek Chanter and Bob Hawkins.
Dickensian is probably an overused adjective, but
it aptly describes the conditions under which the
clerks worked. Freemasons’ Hall had been extended
in the 1860s and what were termed commodious
offices had been provided for the Grand Secretary
and his clerks. Even the provision in 1906 of two
new rooms in a house attached to the west end of
the old Hall did little to give proper working space.
As the steel work for the new building began to
rise in 1927 it gradually became apparent that much
would have to change in the future. It was to cover
two and one quarter acres with four principal floors,
a large basement area and mezzanine floors in
various parts of the building. Routine maintenance
would be of ‘Forth Bridge’ proportions, to say
nothing of security. Freemasonsí Hall was fetch the appropriate clerk who dealt with the
originally built as a
Not surprisingly, many of those who had been memorial to those who particular matter. While waiting to be served,
involved in raising the building applied for jobs and lost their lives during the visitor had a view over the whole of the office.
spent the rest of their working lives caring for it, the First World War At the back of the room was a mezzanine floor
some of them working into their mid-seventies. where the cashier and his clerks had their office.
Carpentry, electrical and engineering workshops Te sensitive nature of their work dealing with
were set up in the basement, together with a paint Grand Lodge finances and staff payroll was carried
shop and upholstery department. When the time out without any fear of being overlooked by staff or
came to demolish the Victorian Hall, the office was visitors. In those halcyon days it was the only part
transferred to temporary accommodation in what of the office where the doors had locks, the rest of
was to be one of the new lodge rooms so that the the office was always accessible even when the clerks
administration could continue. Te conditions were had left for the evening.
far from ideal but they knew that before long they In time, as the Craft continued to expand
would be moving to what one of the clerks described – particularly after the Second World War – the
as a ‘demi-paradise’. office again became crowded. In addition, areas
Te new office for the clerks was built in the had been partitioned off to provide small offices
undercroft of the Grand Temple and matched it in for individuals and the whole open-plan design
size. Unlike the Grand Temple, it had enormous had been submerged. When a major structural
windows allowing much natural light to come in reorganisation of the Grand Secretary’s office took
from the light well which surrounds it. Unlike the place in 1999 the old partitions were torn down and
cramped Victorian offices, it was open plan giving the feeling of light and space returned. Apart from
a great feeling of airy lightness and space. Visitors the modern furniture and the computers, were one
came in through large glazed bronze doors to find of the 1932 clerks to return to the office today they
a long enquiries counter, always manned by a senior would find it little changed from that ‘demi-paradise’
clerk who could deal with their enquiries or quickly they were the first to occupy.

48
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 The RMBI has been caring for older Freemasons
and their dependants for over 160 years. We operate
17 care homes across England and Wales offering
high quality care. Many of our Homes are registered
for both residential and nursing care and all can
offer places to people with dementia following an
assessment of their needs. An RMBI Home delivers
care in a way that promotes independence and
the dignity of the individual.

The RMBI also offers a number of services that can

help older Freemasons and their dependants. These
include: respite care, sheltered accommodation, care
advice, holidays and home improvement loans.

“I w
ou
anyw ldn’t w
here ish to
else live
.”

“I cannot commen
d the
care high enough
. I have
not seen my mot
her so
happy in years.”

staff
li v in g here. The
“We lo v e and
lu t e ly m arvellous
are abso
dly.”
very frien
“I have
b
happy een able to
home m
and ca here in ake a
ri a
help w ng atmosph warm
ith all ere wi
my ne t
eds.” h

RMBI HOMES
1. Albert Edward Prince of Wales, Mid Glamorgan 10. Prince Edward Duke of Kent Court, Essex
T: 01656 785311 E: albertedward@rmbi.org.uk T: 01376 345534 E: stistedhall@rmbi.org.uk
2. Barford Court, Hove 11. Prince George Duke of Kent Court, Kent
T: 01273 777736 E: barford@rmbi.org.uk T: 020 8467 0081 E: pgdokcourt@rmbi.org.uk
3. Cadogan Court, Exeter 12. Prince Michael of Kent Court, Watford
T: 01392 251436 E: cadogancourt@rmbi.org.uk T: 01923 234780 E: princemichael@rmbi.org.uk
4. Connaught Court, York 13. Queen Elizabeth Court, Llandudno
T: 01904 626238 E: connaught@rmbi.org.uk T: 01492 877276 E: queenelizabeth@rmbi.org.uk
5. Cornwallis Court, Suffolk 14. Scarbrough Court, Northumberland
T: 01284 768028 E: cornwalliscourt@rmbi.org.uk T: 01670 712215 E: scarbrough@rmbi.org.uk
6. Devonshire Court, Leicester 15. Shannon Court, Surrey
T: 01162 714171 E: devonshire@rmbi.org.uk T: 01428 604833 E: shannon@rmbi.org.uk
7. Ecclesholme, Manchester 16. The Tithebarn, Liverpool
T: 0161 788 9517 E: eccleshm@rmbi.org.uk T: 0151 924 3683 E: tithebarn@rmbi.org.uk
8. James Terry Court, Croydon 17. Zetland Court, Bournemouth
T: 020 8688 1745 E: jamesterry@rmbi.org.uk T: 01202 769169 E: zetland@rmbi.org.uk
9. Lord Harris Court, Berkshire
T: 01189 787496 E: lordharris@rmbi.org.uk

If you would like more information on how the RMBI can help please contact us:

T: 020 7596 2400 E: enquiries@rmbi.org.uk

www.rmbi.org.uk Registered charity number: 207360
 SPECIALIST LODGES
PICKING UP
THE PACE
Commonwealth Games medallist Mike Winch explains
the history of Spencer Park Lodge and how it has managed
to draw Olympic hopefuls like James Ellington into its fold
A
t first glance, Spencer Park Lodge is
indistinguishable from any other post-war
London lodge. It was formed in the wake
of devastation, and founded on the
camaraderie instilled by years of shared hardships.
However, over the past sixty-six years, the lodge has
counted runners, cyclists, football referees and sports
coaches among its members.
One of its newest members is James Ellington.
Under the watchful eye of another Spencer Park
member, John Powell, James has forged his way into
the Olympic relay squad as well as looking a good
bet for an individual two hundred metres place. He
finds Freemasonry an enjoyable release from life as
an increasingly high-profile international athlete: ‘It’s
a great way to switch off from a pretty high pressure
life right now, and I’ve met some terrific people.
Te lodge is an ideal opportunity to do good while
having a bit of fun with the other members.’
James is a great believer in giving something
back, coaching disadvantaged youngsters in the
Met-Track scheme in London, as well as doing as
much work as he can within the lodge. Spencer Park
can be proud of the fact that its members have
supported James in his efforts and can look forward
52
to watching him grace the Olympic stage. So what is
it about the lodge that tempts world-class athletes?
Like most lodges over the years, Spencer Park
has experienced several incarnations. It was formed
in the 1940s and during the early years it was the
founders and their candidates who kept the lodge
solid and functional. In the late 1980s, the nature of
the membership changed with an influx of prison
officers from the local Wandsworth and Brixton jails.
Te future looked rosy, but the light rapidly
faded as the leader departed for northern shores.
Fortunately, south London businessman, Mehmet
Gursel-Cimen, a high-level weightlifter, joined
Spencer Park at a crucial time. He encouraged me
to look into masonry, and I joined in 1994. We formed
the nucleus of the new direction that the lodge was to
take, and indeed is continuing to take to this day.
Soon after my initiation, Russell Hart, karate
player, and top-notch cyclist Simon McCarthy joined,
giving us a firm foundation for a strong sporting
future. My own success in international athletics
included a couple of Commonwealth silver medals
in the shot put, before moving into coaching.
In Freemasonry, I found men with competitive but
also caring and loyal instincts. I was at home in
 SPECIALIST LODGES

ëTHE LODGE IS AN
IDEAL OPPORTUNITY
TO DO GOOD WHILE
HAVING A BIT
OF FUN WITH THE
OTHER MEMBERSí
JAMES ELLINGTON

freemasonrytoday.com 53
 SPECIALIST LODGES

ALTHOUGH WE ARE
ONLY A VERY SMALL
PART OF THE WHOLE,
WE FELT WE COULD
MAKE A CONTRIBUTION
TOWARDS HELPING
MASONRY FLOURISH

the organisation and motivated to spread that word

among friends and colleagues. By 2003, having
occupied the Master’s Chair for two years, I slotted
in as secretary, feeling this to be an ideal chance to
work on expanding the sporting membership.
Te first new member at this time was John
Powell, an international coach with a squad of south
London youngsters who were making waves in the
sprinting world. John was a superintendent in the
Metropolitan Police and a highly motivated man.
Once on board he showed a strong commitment to
the lodge. His influence extended into the younger
generation, whom he encouraged to look at masonry
in a new light. Tis started the lodge’s revival.
For many years, our organisation has been viewed

Photography: Getty Images, Rex Features

with suspicion by the general public, and Spencer
Park saw it as part of its raison d’être to spread
a positive word. Although we are only a small
part of the whole, it was felt that we could make
a contribution towards helping masonry flourish
by enlisting sporting youngsters in our activities.

GATHERING SPEED
Te pressures of life for the younger generation
are immense so the lodge instituted a commitment
to a Lodge of Instruction with built-in flexibility
to account for the difficult hours now worked by
younger members. We also looked at bringing more
sports coaches in to balance the younger intake.
Two very important sportsmen became members at
this time. Donovan Reid was an Olympic finalist in
1984 in Los Angeles. He moved from competing to
coaching and has had many successes to his name in
track and field over the past twenty-plus years. A
close friend and coaching colleague of his, Clarence
Callender, ex-army man and now Olympic team
coach in the relays, also joined Spencer Park’s ranks.
Te core of the membership continued to support
this new direction. Terry Cover-White, who had
joined from Rhetoric Lodge, became a central pillar
and, along with John Hardy, formed the heart of the
lodge. At this point, Mark Chapman joined our ranks.
An international coach, he has been a major asset
to Spencer Park, setting a superb example of how
masonry and work can fit together harmoniously.
From the spark of an idea, Spencer Park has come
a long way. Doubtless in the future it will take on
other guises and strong membership groups, but
in 2012, it is very much a sporting lodge.
Clockwise from top left:
coach John Powell with OLYMPIC CELEBRATION
James Ellington; Olympic
ˇnalist Donovan Reid;
Clarence Callender (left) In 2007, Spencer Park Lodge’s senior members
with his 1988 Olympic decided to promote the idea of a masonic
relay team, which celebration for the 2012 London Olympics.
included Linford Christie
As part of this process, a study was conducted
on how many masons had sporting connections.
Te results revealed strong links between
Freemasonry and sport up to the highest level.
Historically, that connection has influenced
the development of sport worldwide and led to
the setting up of many lodge and Provincial
sporting groups. In the light of these findings,
Spencer Park linked with the Royal York Lodge
of Perseverance to organise a gala dinner at the
Grand Connaught Rooms on 21 July this year to
celebrate Freemasonry and sport. On 10 August,
the two lodges are also hosting a joint meeting.
For more on the historical connections between
sport and Freemasonry, turn to page 64

54
   
 


   

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PAGES FROM
A NEW CHAPTER
Today the formation of
a Grand Chapter would be
widely reported. As John
Hamill explains, such was
not the case for the Excellent
Grand and Royal Arch
Chapter of England
freemasonrytoday.com
ROYAL ARCH
A
s I wrote in the last issue of Freemasonry
Today, the Royal Arch was brought into
being by the signing of the document
now know as the Charter of Compact on
22 July 1766, although the date was later tampered
with. Strangely, there is no mention of that charter
within the minutes of the chapter, which turned
itself into the Grand Chapter. So exactly how did
events pan out?
1765: THE SIGNING OF A MANIFESTO
On 12 June 1765, a group of twenty-nine companions
met at the Turk’s Head Tavern in Gerrard Street,
Soho and signed a manifesto by which they
constituted themselves into an independent Chapter
of Royal Arch Masons. Te manifesto – a set of
57
 ROYAL ARCH

issue charters to form new chapters. Of these

foundations five are still in existence today. It would
appear from the minute books that the chapter
continued a dual role as both a private chapter and a
Grand Chapter until it evolved into Supreme Grand
Chapter in 1817. From 1795 it began to function on
a regular basis as we would expect today.

1778: SPREADING THE MESSAGE

In 1778, the chapter began to organise Provinces
with the appointment of Grand Superintendents,
whose main function appears to have been to
stimulate the formation of new chapters. Tomas
Dunckerley, who did so much to promote the Royal
Arch in the late eighteenth century between 1778
and his death in 1795, was appointed Grand
Superintendent in no less than eighteen counties.

1795: GRAND LODGE SOFTENING

Despite many of its leaders being involved in
the Grand Chapter, the premier Grand Lodge
consistently refused to acknowledge the Royal Arch
as part of its system. By 1795 that attitude had
softened and the premier Grand Lodge announced,
rather condescendingly, that it had no objections
to the Royal Arch as a separately organised society.

1809: ROYAL ARCH AN INTEGRAL PART

With HRH Te Duke of Sussex becoming both
Grand Master of the premier Grand Lodge and First
Grand Principal of the Grand Chapter, the latter
body gave him full powers to negotiate on their
behalf whatever settlement could be achieved as
Photography: Alamy

to the position of the Royal Arch, once the union

of the two Grand Lodges had been carried through.
Above: an early Royal Arch apron. Initially operating
as a private chapter, the Royal Arch was eventually It was as a result of that, and his position as Grand
accepted as an integral part of pure antient masonry Master, that a compromise was achieved and the
Royal Arch was accepted as an integral part of
pure antient masonry.
rules to govern the operation of the chapter – was
copied into the minute book in an illuminated style
ëTHE PREMIER GRAND 1817: BIRTH OF THE
and was signed by those present and then by every LODGE CONSISTENTLY SUPREME GRAND
brother on his exaltation within the chapter.
REFUSED TO CHAPTER
Te Grand Chapter
1766: GRAND CHAPTER CATALYST ACKNOWLEDGE continued to exist until
Among those who joined were many of the major
figures then involved in the running of the premier
THE ROYAL ARCH AS 1817 when, with the Craft
arrangements being
Grand Lodge. Exactly a year after its formation, the PART OF ITS SYSTEMí almost completed, Te
success of the chapter was crowned by the candidate Duke of Sussex turned
at the meeting on 11 June 1766 being the then his mind to the Royal Arch. Te Grand and Royal
Grand Master – Cadwallader, Lord Blayney. Chapter merged with the former members of the
It would appear that this event was the catalyst for Antients Royal Arch, with the Supreme Grand
the formation of a Grand Chapter, although the Chapter coming into being. Surprisingly after
minutes are silent on this matter, any discussion 1817, the dual nature of the original Grand Chapter
of the Charter of Compact, or even to its signing. – acting both as a regulatory body and a private
Te only reference in the minute book is in the chapter – continued with men of eminence being
accounts where it is noted that a Mr Parkinson exalted within the Grand Chapter itself.
was paid two guineas for engrossing the charter.
1832: LAST EXALTATIONS
1769: JUST A PRIVATE CHAPTER? Te last occasion the Grand Chapter acted as both
Te chapter continued to work as a private chapter, regulator and private chapter was in May 1832 when
regularly exalting new members and it is not until the Marquis of Salisbury, the Marquis of Abercorn
1769 that the minutes begin to show evidence of it and Lord Monson were exalted at an emergency
acting as a Grand Chapter. In that year it began to meeting of Grand Chapter.

58
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 REAL-LIFE STORIES

60
 REAL-LIFE STORIES

THE
MOST
OUT
OF LIFE
Time doesn’t have to slow
down when you enter
a care home. Richard
Heap chats to Miranda
Tompson about his life
at Prince Michael of Kent
Court in Watford

M
 
ickey arrives first: an
enthusiastic blur of fur and
a pink tongue straining on
a lead. At the other end is
87-year-old Richard Heap, former practical
engineer, manager, charity worker, active
Freemason and now resident at the Royal
Masonic Benevolent Institution (RMBI) Prince
Michael of Kent Court care home in Watford.
Set in a quiet residential area, the home,
which can accommodate up to 55 residents,
is warm and welcoming. There’s a large
central lounge with cosy chairs and sunlit
walkways that lead to the five separate
individual living units, which are organised
according to the dependency of the residents.
‘The construction and layout of the home
means it doesn’t have an institutional feel
or look about it,’ explains home manager
Elizabeth Corbett.
Sitting in the comfortable lounge of the
Halsey wing, Richard explains how he arrived
at Prince Michael of Kent Court a few years

freemasonrytoday.com 61
 REAL-LIFE STORIES

Right: Cadwallader, ninth

Photography: Alys Tomlinson

Lord Blayney and Grand

Master of the premier
Grand Lodge in 1766.
Masonic historians believe
the Charter of Compact
may have been doctored
to avoid scandal over
his involvement

62

ëFOR SOME, AGEING IS NOTHING
MORE THAN THE END OF LIFE.
BUT I FEEL STRONGLY THAT
ITíS NOT. ITíS SOMETHING TO
BE ENJOYEDí
RICHARD HEAP
ago. ‘For some years I was my wife’s carer. I had
sought respite care for her and saw several
masonic homes including this one – I was
always impressed.’ He speaks with a Gloucester-
Lancashire burr, the product of a childhood spent
first in the 1920s’ ‘cotton mills and coal’ of the
Lancastrian village of Atherton, where Richard
recalls the ‘crowds of women in shawls and
scarves walking to the mill, wearing clogs’,
before his family relocated to Gloucester,
where he began studying at technical college.
Richard went on to pursue a successful career
as an engineer, first as an apprentice in a factory
making airplane parts during World War Two,
where he met his wife. After service in the Royal
Engineers, he eventually progressed to senior
management within Rank Xerox before retiring
aged 58, when he divided his time between charity
work, local government projects, Freemasonry
and caring for his wife.
PACKED SOCIAL CALENDAR
Richard’s blue jumper is dotted with Mickey’s
white hairs from where the little dog keeps
jumping into his lap. The two bonded when
activity lady Kelly brought Mickey in as a puppy.
‘I loved seeing him,’ Richard remembers. ‘She’s
been bringing him ever since. And whenever
he’s here I make a point of parading him around
– he’s such a sociable little creature. He’ll make
a fuss of everyone.’ And it’s clear that Mickey
feels at home. When Kelly drops him off, he’ll
head straight for Richard’s room. ‘They’re like
two peas in a pod,’ Elizabeth says with a smile.
An active man, Richard enjoys his walks in the
local park with Mickey in the morning – ‘but I’ll
stop, I know my limitations’. He also spends time
on the computer in the afternoon, surfing the
internet or writing about his experiences. Richard
also likes to participate in the weekly quiz for
residents, which is ‘a real test of memory and
knowledge’. The home also offers trips out to local
places of interest and a monthly visit to a local
pub for lunch or to a restaurant for an evening
meal. ‘It’s a packed social calendar,’ Elizabeth says.
freemasonrytoday.com
REAL-LIFE STORIES
‘There’s a great emphasis on activities for the
residents here. We want people to live their
lives to the full and in the manner in which
they choose.’
This year commemorates 170 years of the
RMBI. It’s come a long way from its humble
beginnings with one home in Croydon, and
David Innes, chief executive of the RMBI, has
many more plans for the future, with trustees
in discussions about growth planned to match
the rising age of many Freemasons. ‘We would
like to try and expand our services in the years
ahead – especially to open a new home and
provide additional services, such as day centres.’
From the evidence of Prince Michael of Kent
Court, it certainly seems that the RMBI is building
on a strong base, as Elizabeth says: ‘The RMBI is
proud of its homes, and rightly so. It’s almost like
Left: care home resident being part of a big family here, not just with the
Richard Heap and his residents and their relatives, but with the friends
four-legged friend Mickey
are two peas in a pod and the staff too – they genuinely care. I feel like
I’m making a contribution by being here.’
Richard is certainly content where he is. ‘It
does help you to get the most out of life. For
some, aging is nothing more than the end of life.
But I feel strongly that it’s not. It’s a part of life,
and it’s there to be enjoyed as much as any part.’
And with little Mickey nosing into one hand,
and a pint of Guinness in the other, there could
be no stronger sentiment.
HOMES WITH PERSONALITY
Te RMBI runs 17 care homes in England
and Wales, which are home to around 1,000
elderly residents. ‘Our philosophy is to try
and provide an individual home with person-
focused care for those Freemasons and their
dependants who come and stay with us,’
explains David Innes, RMBI chief executive.
e RMBI is committed to enhancing facilities
for its residents, especially those with dementia.
A number of home managers and staff within
the RMBI are undertaking a dementia diploma
course. Home manager Elizabeth Corbett says:
‘ e course claims that a lot of residents in care
homes, including those with dementia, are
bored. e importance of stimulating the
mind with activities, and the body with exercise,
cannot be over emphasised. As part of my
project I have redesigned our dementia unit by
putting original 1950s wallpaper in the living
and dining rooms. is creates a look and feel
that stimulates conversation of days gone by.’
In response to the rising age of residents,
David has also supported the introduction
of end-of-life training that fits within the
National Gold Standards Framework. According
to David, this will ‘enable the residents to
remain in their care home when they reach
this stage of life rather than having to go to
an impersonal hospital’.
63
 Photography: Getty Images, Corbis, Press Association

64
OLYMPIC FREEMASONS

GOLD DOESNíT

TARNISH
Actor Ben Cross wins
Olympic gold as Freemason
Harold Abrahams, in the
classic ˇ lm Chariots Of Fire
freemasonrytoday.com
OLYMPIC FREEMASONS
Susan Snell, Archivist
and Records Manager for
the Library and Museum
of Freemasonry, reveals
connections between the
Craft and the Olympics
T
he London 2012 organisers revealed in
2011 that they received applications for
more than 20 million tickets from 1.8
million people for the Olympic Games
– more than three times the 6.6 million tickets
available to UK sports fans. Compared with this
mad scramble for tickets, attendances at the first
London Games were low according to The Times
on 18 July 1908. Expensive ticket prices, ranging
from five shillings to a Guinea (£45 to £60 in
today’s money) were blamed for poor sales.
Thankfully, visits by the Royal Family boosted
gate returns to the 1908 Games, with over 20,000
people attending the White City Stadium,
constructed by the entrepreneur and Freemason,
Imre Kiralfy. The masonic connections do not
stop there. A keen sportsman and Freemason,
Lord Desborough fenced at the unofficial Athens
Games of 1906 and served as a member of the
International Olympic Committee until 1913.
Desborough was initiated in Apollo University
Lodge, No. 357, Oxford, on 23 February 1875,
the same day as Oscar Wilde.
THE GAMES BEGIN
The 500 British athletes at the opening of the
Olympic Games wore caps and blazer badges
manufactured by the masonic regalia company,
George Kenning & Son. Britons achieved sporting
success in real tennis (jeu de paume), athletics,
swimming, boxing, tug of war and cycling, with
several masonic participants, including Richard
Wheldon Barnett of St Alban’s Lodge, No. 29,
London, who represented Great Britain in the
rifle, military pistol class competition.
This was just the beginning of the 1908 success
stories. A Great Britain team won the gold medal
in the Olympic football competition, with Vivian
John Woodward, an amateur player at Chelsea and
Tottenham Hotspur football clubs, scoring the
second of two goals. Woodward, from Clacton,
Essex, worked as an architect with his father
65
 OLYMPIC FREEMASONS

and later designed the Antwerp stadium for the

1920 Olympics. Four years after his Olympic
triumph, he was initiated in Kent Lodge,
No. 15, London.
Sir John Edward Kynaston Studd carried the
British team flag and most track and field events
were organised by the Regent Street Polytechnic,
founded by Quintin Hogg. Studd became
honorary secretary of the Polytechnic from
1885 and after Hogg’s death, president. Many
sportsmen, including Studd, joined Polytechnic
Lodge, No. 2847, after it was consecrated in 1901.
Studd and others formed Athlon Lodge, No.
4674, in 1924, the year Harold Abrahams won
an Olympic gold medal in the 100 metres, as
featured in the film Chariots Of Fire, beating
an American, Charley Paddock, and another
British athlete, the New Zealand-born Freemason,
Sir Arthur Espie Porritt. Bronze medal winner
Porritt, who later served as Governor-General
of New Zealand, became a consultant surgeon
and then chairman at the Royal Masonic Hospital
from 1974 to 1982. Athlon Lodge member
Abrahams and Porritt dined together on 7 July
at 7pm every year to celebrate the anniversary
of their double medal success in 1924, until the Clockwise from above: Horse of Lombard Street Lodge, No. 4155, in
former died in 1978. Imre Kiralfy, constructor 1922, served as director of organisation for the
of the White City Stadium
in London where the 1948 London Games. Holt, Master of Athlon
BRITISH SPORTING SUCCESS 1908 Games were held; Lodge in 1938, had coached the long-distance
1924 British 100 metre athlete, Gordon Pirie.
gold medallist Harold
With the 1908 Games encouraging participation in Abrahams; Thames- Cycling Freemasons, Gordon ‘Tiny’ Thomas,
competitive sports, Britons excelled at subsequent based rower Jack formerly of Lodge of Equity, No. 6119, Yorkshire
Olympic competitions. The Thames-based rower, Beresford, a multiple West Riding, won a silver medal in the team road
Olympic medallist
Jack Beresford, won a silver medal in the single race and Tommy Godwin, formerly of Lodge
sculls at the 1920 Olympics and then won medals of St Oswald, No. 5094, Worcestershire, won
for rowing at each of the four subsequent Games. bronzes in the 1km time trial and in the team
He carried the British flag at the opening and pursuit. Godwin coached the British cycling
closing ceremonies of the controversial 1936 squad at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and will be
Berlin Olympics, where he won a gold medal in an Olympic torchbearer in Solihull in July, aged
the double sculls. He was initiated as a Freemason 91. This blend of local and national interests,
in Argonauts Lodge, No. 2243, London, in 1944. where Olympic and masonic aspirations combine,
Forty years after its first visit to UK shores, the points to a time when members and non-members
Olympics came to London again. Ernest James can enjoy the pleasure of a game well played,
Henry ‘Billy’ Holt, who was initiated in Black and a race well run.

SPORT BY ALL

Te Paralympic Games, which began at Stoke

Mandeville Hospital in 1948 also have masonic
ties. Professor Guttman, director of the National
Spinal Injuries Centre at the hospital, encouraged
WW2 veterans to play sport for rehabilitation.
e Middlesex Masonic Sports Association has
supported Paralympians, including Tracy Lewis,
basketball, and Anthony Peddle, weightlifting,
at the 1992 Barcelona Games, while the Grand
Charity contributes to WheelPower (formerly
the British Wheelchair Sports Foundation).

Game, Set and Lodge: Freemasons and Sport

exhibition at the Library and Museum on Great
Sir JEK Studd leading the
British Olympic team in 1908 Queen Street runs from 2 July-21 December 2012

66
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 CHARITIES UPDATE THE FREEMASONSí GRAND CHARITY

FLYING TO THE RESCUE

Since 2007, The Freemasonsí Grand Charity
has supported air ambulance and similar
rescue charities in the delivery of their life-saving
services and this year marks the giving of more 60 Great Queen Street
than £1 million in total donations. These charities London WC2B 5AZ
Tel: 020 7395 9261
are considered to be the busiest voluntary Fax: 020 7395 9295
emergency services in the country. Operating
almost entirely from donations, air ambulance info@the-grand-charity.org
services save thousands of lives each year www.the-grand-charity.org
by getting doctors to patients in emergency
situations as quickly as possible.
In regions where no air ambulances currently
operate, the Grand Charity has supported
other rescue services, including Channel Islands
Air Search, the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat
Institution) and St John Ambulance. Since April
2012, Provincial and Metropolitan Grand Lodges
have been invited to help distribute a total of
£192,000 to their regional rescue services.
Grahame Elliott, who has
served on the council for The Grand Charity has commemorated this £1 million
the past nine years overall donation by creating a short video, which can
be viewed on its website: www.grandcharity.org

CHANGING OF
THE GUARD
Freemasons pay tribute
to retiring Grand Charity
president Grahame Elliott’s
‘dedication and vision’,
while welcoming his
successor, Richard M Hone

G
rahame Elliott, CBE, retired as president of the
Welsh crew with
Grand Charity on 25 April 2012, and has been young supporter
succeeded by Richard Hone, QC. Te new
president first joined the Council of the Grand Charity
in 1997, initially serving for nine years during which
time he was chairman of the Finance Committee and
was instrumental in bringing about a major revision
of the charity’s constitution. After a gap of five years,
Richard’s re-appointment in June 2011 was much
welcomed by the other council members. Initiated in
Apollo University Lodge in 1968, he is a senior circuit
judge at the Central Criminal Court in London.
Grahame Elliott has served on the council for the
past nine years, the first three as a member appointed
by the Provincial Grand Master for East Lancashire,
whose Province held the charity’s festival in 2004.
As president, Grahame has led the charity with much
dedication and vision. He has joined with the other
presidents of the central masonic charities to develop
a closer working relationship, made easier by the
charities’ move into Freemasons’ Hall. Te Council Devon air
of the Grand Charity wishes both Richard Hone and ambulances
Grahame Elliott much success for the future. on a mission

68
 MASONIC SAMARITAN FUND
RESTORING
INDEPENDENCE
S
usan Beaumont has been confined to
a wheelchair for the past 10 years. Although
she lives independently she remains, at 34 years
of age, reliant on her parents for both physical and
financial support. Susan has limb girdle muscular
dystrophy – a progressive condition that causes
weakness in her hip, thigh and shoulder muscles
– making it increasingly difficult for her to manage
in a self-propelled wheelchair. Her mother, as primary
carer, spends the majority of each day with Susan,
while her parents remain on call at night in case she is
unwell or there is an unforeseen household emergency.
Paul Healey, Almoner of Susan’s father’s lodge,
applied to the Masonic Samaritan Fund in the hope
of securing a grant to supply a powered wheelchair.
Te application was successful and Susan is now
enjoying a new-found freedom and increased
independence without the need to rely on others to
push her around. One of her first outings was to the
Provincial carol service held at the Penistone Parish
Church, near to her home. Susan is now hoping to
acquire a car through the Motability scheme that
can be driven from her wheelchair, thereby further
increasing her independence and mobility.
Left to right: PGM Peter George, MSF chief executive
Richard Douglas, MSF president Hugh Stubbs and
Provincial Grand Charity Steward Tony Evans
CORNWALL GOES FOR GOLD
The Cornwall Provincial crest includes 15 bezants
(gold coins), a ˇtting emblem in Olympic year as
the Province embarks on its ˇnal 12 months of
fundraising on behalf of the Masonic Samaritan
Fund 2013 Festival. On a gloriously sunny day,
Provincial Grand Master Peter George hosted
the Fundís Annual Meeting in Falmouth. In
addition to welcoming members who had
travelled from all parts of the Province, Peter
thanked staff, Trustees and members of the Fund
who had made even longer journeys. He was
particularly pleased to welcome the ladies
present, who hopefully left the meeting better
informed about the work of the Fund. The
Olympic theme was evident as Tony Evans,
Provincial Grand Charity Steward, implored all
present to ëGo for Goldí in one ˇnal fundraising
effort on behalf of the Festival appeal.
freemasonrytoday.com
CHARITIES UPDATE
Susan, with York West Riding
Provincial Grand Master
John Clayton (right), her
father David (left) and
Almoner Paul Healey
TIME TO MAKE
A DIFFERENCE?
The Masonic Samaritan Fund (MSF) is looking
for volunteers to serve as Trustees. While
the main requirement is enthusiasm for the 60 Great Queen Street
work of the charity, the MSF is also looking London WC2B 5AZ
Tel: 020 7404 1550
to complement and expand the skills and Fax: 020 7404 1544
experience currently available.
The MSF is hoping to appoint volunteers info@msfund.org.uk
with experience in health and social care
www.msfund.org.uk
(speciˇcally but not exclusively cancer care,
ophthalmology and social care), or charity
law. However, if your experience lies in other
areas and you would like to volunteer as
a Trustee, please do contact the MSF.
While the majority of Trustees are serving
Freemasons this is not a requirement for all
posts. With approximately 50 per cent of the
grants awarded by the fund being offered
to the wives, widows and dependants of
Freemasons, it is hoped to attract both
male and female Trustees. With support
and training provided, the volunteer will
typically be expected to commit to an
average of one day per month, with
the majority of meetings held in London.
Trustees are unpaid, although reasonable
expenses are reimbursed.
For further information about volunteering as a Trustee,
and a full brieˇng pack, please email Lee Godward at
lee@msfund.org.uk, telephone 020 7404 1550 or write to
MSF, 60 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ
69
 CHARITIES UPDATE
The RMTGBís Stepping Stones scheme:
a BSES tall ship expedition on the
Thames after returning from Norway
THE CONFIDENCE TO EXPLORE
Te RMTGB’s Stepping Stones scheme is giving young, disadvantaged people
a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel and develop new skills
L
ast year, the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and
Boys (RMTGB) awarded a grant of £15,000
from its Stepping Stones scheme to the British
Schools Exploring Society. Tis charity aims to
advance the education of young people by providing
inspirational and challenging expeditions to remote,
wild environments. Te expeditions develop
confidence, teamwork and leadership, and foster
a spirit of adventure and exploration. Te grant was
awarded specifically to support the Dangoor Next
Generation Programme, a joint outreach initiative
with youth charity Catch22.
Te RMTGB grant enabled some of the country’s
most disadvantaged young people to participate in
an overseas expedition. All of the participants have
experienced a difficult childhood, but the programme
provides them with a unique opportunity to develop
the skills they need to seize new opportunities. Last
year, 60 young people took part in the programme
which involved training in remote areas of England,
Wales and Scotland, before commanding a tall ship
across the North Sea to Norway. Te return voyage
concluded on the River Tames following a spectacular
pass through Tower Bridge. Following the completion
of each expedition, the programme continues to assist
participants by helping them into employment or
training or supporting them to return to education.
70
ROYAL MASONIC TRUST FOR GIRLS AND BOYS
Te lasting effect of the programme is best explained
by the participants themselves. ‘It was an amazing
experience,’ says Nadia, ‘it made me realise who
I am as a person and it was good to challenge myself.’
Another participant, Alfie, explains how the project
has changed his life: ‘It’s given me so much confidence
60 Great Queen Street, that I’ve gone back to college and now also volunteer
London WC2B 5AZ on the ship. It’s made me so happy to have been part
Tel: 020 7405 2644 of the project.’
Fax: 020 7831 4094
Te RMTGB’s grant enabled 15 young people to
info@rmtgb.org participate on the 2011 expedition. Te grant will
also support the same number of disadvantaged
www.rmtgb.org
young people on the 2012 expedition to Egypt’s
Sinai Peninsula, where participants will learn to
navigate by the stars and camp with the Bedouin
in one of the harshest environments on the planet.
Since its launch, Stepping Stones has awarded
more than £230,000 to around 15 charities, with
additional funds available to award further grants this
year. Te RMTGB is only able to make these grants
because of the generosity of its supporters. Trough
their donations and fundraising, Freemasons and their
families are making a valuable contribution to the
development, education and future career prospects
of disadvantaged young people in wider society.
Please visit the website www.rmtgb.org to ˇnd out how
you can support this work
 ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION CHARITIES UPDATE

TAKING THE
TOUGH ROUTE
E
ast Lancashire Province is doing a great job of
raising money for the 2015 RMBI Festival thanks
to Freemasons Steve Grummett and Ryan Yates.
Steve will be completing the Tree Peaks Challenge over
the weekend of 22-24 June 2012. Tis involves tackling
the three highest peaks in the home nations: Ben Nevis in
Scotland, Scafell Pike in England and Snowdon in Wales.
Meanwhile, Ryan will be completing a 12-mile
assault course set by UK ex-Special Forces members.
Participants need to run, swim, climb, crawl, and have

Photography: Super Stock

to suffer being electrocuted and burned along the way.
As a serving soldier with two tours of Afghanistan
behind him we are sure that he is up to the challenge.

To support Ryan, visit www.justgiving.com/Ryan-Yates,

and to support Steve, visit www.justgiving.com/stephen- Taking on the Three Peaks Challenge
grummett24

NEW WILL GUIDE

A new guide outlines how people can leave
a gift in their will to the RMBI. The average
age of a resident when they ˇrst move
into a RMBI care home is 88 years. Older
people have complex care needs so the
RMBI needs to continue to develop its 60 Great Queen Street
homes to ensure that the care provided, the London WC2B 5AZ
buildings and the home environment meet Tel: 020 7596 2400
Fax: 020 7404 0724
the changing needs of older people as well
as legislative requirements. enquiries@rmbi.org.uk
A gift will ensure that the RMBI continues
www.rmbi.org.uk
to meet the needs of older Freemasons
and their dependants by making sure that
John and Trevor on their cycle ride
people choosing to live in an RMBI home
have a home for life, regardless of any
change in their ˇnancial circumstances ñ as
BIKE RIDE WITH A DIFFERENCE long as the RMBI can cater for their needs.
In November 2006, John Donoghue of St
Aldhelmís Lodge in Dorset was admitted to The guide is available to download from the website,
Guyís Hospital, where he donated a kidney www.rmbi.org.uk or you can contact the Legacies
to his daughter Tara. For John, it was a life- and Donations department on 020 7596 2400
changing experience seeing ˇrst-hand the
suffering of so many young people. Since then,
John has participated in many fundraising
ventures. Last year it was Freemasonry and the
RMBI in particular that beneˇted.
John and his friend Trevor Woodford set off
on their touring bikes from Gibraltar to Poole,
a formidable distance of 1,500 miles. John
raised funds for the 2014 RMBI Dorset Festival
and Trevor for Cancer Research UK. The ˇnal
total was more than £3,000 ñ approximately £2
per mile. The RMBI encourages everyone within
the Festival to think of ways to raise money
and is committed to offering as much support
to all fundraisers as it can. When it comes to
fundraising, Johnís motto is very clear: ëI believe
that itís an honour to be a mason and itís our
duty to try and make a difference to those less
fortunate than ourselves.í

71

Photography: Top Foto
DISCOVERING
OLD LONDON
Did you know that before
the ˇashing signs of Piccadilly
Circus, a lavish restaurant called
CafÈ Monico stood there? A
catalogue of historical objects
reveals London in constant ˇux
freemasonrytoday.com
LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
Left: a view of Piccadilly
Circus in the 1800s. Below:
the depiction on the
lodge jewel is quite unlike
Piccadilly Circus today
T
he sights of London attract millions of
visitors from all over the world to the city
every year. In an ongoing project, the
Library and Museum
of Freemasonry
Freemasonsí Hall,
Library and Museum has been shedding
new light on how London used to look. With the
support of Te London Grand Rank Association
60 Great Queen Street,
London WC2B 5AZ
Tel: 020 7395 9257
libmus@freemasonry.
Heritage and Education Trust, staff have been london.museum
working to catalogue nearly 2,000 items, including
glassware, banners, ceramics and lodge and chapter www.freemasonry.
jewels – all with London links.
london.museum
Shop:
One of the catalogued jewels is a Past Master’s www.letchworthshop.
jewel for Temperantia Lodge, No. 4058. Founded in co.uk
1920, the lodge met until 1942 at the Café Monico in
Shaftesbury Avenue. Te jewel has a painted enamel
of the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, commonly
known as Eros, which stood at the centre of
Piccadilly Circus in front of the Café Monico.
Monico was established in 1877, and the masonic
suite was on the second floor. In the 1950s the business
was acquired by the Forte Group and the buildings
demolished. Te site, still known as Monico, is now
occupied by Piccadilly Circus’s illuminated signage.
You can view the full range of items in the
collection by searching the Library and Museum’s
catalogue for ‘London On-line’.
73
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 LETTERS

LETTERS TO Write to: The Editor, Freemasonry Today, Freemasonsí

Hall, Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ

THE EDITOR Email: editor@ugle.org.uk

Letters emailed to the editor should not be sent as attachments. Please include
a home address and telephone number. An S.A.E. should accompany any
photographs to be returned. The opinions expressed are those of the authors
and do not necessarily reˇect the views of the United Grand Lodge of England.

FREEMASONS ON BOARD
Sir,
Your article, ‘Final Voyage’ in Freemasonry
Today, Spring 2012, highlights some known
Freemasons who were on board the Titanic.
One officer’s actions, on that fateful night,
have also become legendary. Harold
Godfrey Lowe brought 118 passengers
to safety and he was the last to leave the
lifeboats on being rescued by the Carpathia.
Fifth Officer Lowe was subsequently hailed
a hero by some of the survivors for his
actions that night, which he simply put
down to doing his duty. What may not be
known, but of interest to brethren, is that
Lowe was initiated into St. Trillo Lodge, No.
2569, in the Province of North Wales, on the
6 May 1921. Unfortunately, he didn’t occupy
our master chair, but seemingly remained
a member of this lodge for the rest of his life.
Tony Young
St. Trillo Lodge, No. 2569 departure on 10 April. At 11.40pm on I was taught life saving in the swimming
Colwyn Bay, North Wales 14 April the ship travelling at 22 knots pool in Durham and, again along with many
grazed an iceberg. Tere was lifeboat others, gained the Bronze Medallion and the
Sir, capacity for 1,200 passengers but 2,201 Bronze Cross. During subsequent courses,
I read with great interest your article on passengers and crew were on board. Even some of us were awarded the Award of
Freemasons and the Titanic. Unfortunately, so, nearly 500 lifeboat places were not filled Merit. In later years, I was involved in the
you made no reference to a young brother and at 2.20am on 15 April, the Titanic sank. training of a team of competition life savers.
of the Cambrian Lodge, No. 364, lost on We do not know what happened to It is a pity that age and distance preclude
that fateful voyage. He was Robert William Norman Leyson during those dark hours, a visit to this worthy lodge.
Norman Leyson, a mechanical engineer only that he did not get into a lifeboat. Tere Peter Hyde
aged 24. were many documented and undocumented Sykes Lodge, No. 1040
Norman Leyson came from a respected acts of bravery and also some of abject Great Driffield, Yorkshire
Neath family. His father was a Freemason cowardice. We can only hope he acted as
and he was proposed by Henry Pendrill a true son and his actions may be numbered Sir,
Charles, who later became Deputy among the former. Te body of Norman While reading Freemasonry Today,
Provincial Grand Master. He was initiated Leyson was one of those found. He was Spring 2012, I was very interested in the
on 16 January 1912. On 28 March 1912, buried at sea on 24 April. article about the Royal Life Saving Society
the Minute Book records that a Lodge of Roger B Evans Lodge. It prompted me to find my Bronze
Emergency was called. Tis was to permit Cambrian Lodge, No. 364 Medallion and bar that I attained at the
Norman Leyson to be raised to the sublime Neath, South Wales age of 14. I am now 80 and have been a
degree of a master mason before he set sail member of the Craft for 45 years. I still
for New York on the Royal Mail Ship SPECIALIST LODGES like to swim at the local baths and on
Titanic, to go into business in America. holidays. Te article brought back some
His father is listed among the visitors. Sir, very pleasant memories. I send greetings
Te Titanic berthed at Ocean Dock in It was a very pleasant surprise to me to to the RLSS Lodge and wish them well.
Southampton on 4 April 1912 and some discover that there was a Royal Life Saving Ken Evans
time around this date Norman Leyson Society Lodge. As a young trainee police Proscenium Lodge, No. 9059
travelled there to board the ship for officer, along with many of my compatriots, Cardiff

freemasonrytoday.com 77
 LETTERS
Sir,
In your Spring 2010 edition, an article was
included that asked if any brother would be
interested in a lodge for former members of
the Queen’s Regiment. Te lodge has now
been formed and I am the charity steward.
At our fifth meeting in May, we will claim
a membership of around 50. Tat meeting
will be our installation and renaming from
Justinian Lodge, No. 2694, to Queensman
Lodge, No. 2694. Any brother who would
like to join a military lodge in Berkshire
should contact me at ron@evans-baker.net.
Ron Baker
Theodore White Temperance Lodge,
No. 3795
Windsor, Berkshire
NEW CANDIDATES
Sir,
Last year, North Harrow Lodge, No. 6557,
along with other lodges in our province,
was faced with the problem of a decline in
numbers. It was clear we needed to get
new members interested, so last March
I came up with the idea of a lodge website.
Having registered the domain name
northharrowlodge.org for only £30, I
created the site using Microsoft Frontpage.
I decided to keep it short and simple and
focus on what we do, where we meet, the
costs and who to contact to find out more.
After help from our Provincial secretary and
‘charter mark’ approval from Grand Lodge,
our new website was ready to go live. Within
two months we had our first enquiry and by
January we had initiated four, with a further
78
four candidates to initiate in 2012. We also
have two joining members. Te joiners have
given the lodge a new lease of life. Next stop
Twitter and business cards with a QR Code.
Nigel Harris-Cooksley
North Harrow Lodge, No. 6557
Kenton, Middlesex
Sir,
I contacted the Restoration Lodge,
No. 111, of Darlington, Durham to petition
for membership as I am interested in
Freemasonry, and was invited to a gavel
night. As I was unaware of the customs of
Freemasonry and had heard mixed reports,
I went with an open mind. What I
experienced was openness towards me
and honest answers to my questions. Te
atmosphere was friendly and the night made
up my mind in wishing to continue my
progression of becoming a Freemason.
Te subsequent interview was relaxed
and friendly and I cannot say enough thanks
to all I have met who are Freemasons. My
point is that the door of your local lodge
is there to be knocked on and to make
arrangements to have a discussion about
Freemasonry. I also found the UGLE
website very informative and easy to use.
Anthony Holmes
Restoration Lodge, No. 111
Darlington, Durham
Sir,
I have just read the latest edition of your
magazine. I was initiated into the Craft on
May 2011 and was raised in November
2011. I found the article on Royal Arch very
interesting. As a very new member, I still
have my first impressions and feelings of
the rituals fresh in my mind – I don’t think
they will ever leave me. I feel I have just
started out on a great adventure and there
is so much to learn and do.
Dave Bowyer
Lewisesí Lodge, No.1209
Ramsgate, East Kent
HELPING TALENT GROW
Sir,
Following your coverage of the
RMTGB’s assistance to talented young
people, I was prompted to let you know
about another such case. Freemason
Carlton Johnson was a massive influence
on Beehive Lodge, No. 6265, and a
masonic mentor for so many. Despite his
ailments he was determined to participate
in Freemasonry to his utmost, notably as
a charity steward. Following a long battle
with Motor Neurone Disease, he died in
March 1996 in his mid-fifties.
Stephen Rolley is the grandson of the
late Carlton Johnson. Now in the final year
of his diploma at Italia Conti, Stephen has
been helped by the TalentAid scheme
through the RMTGB. Te purpose of his
course is to further equip him with the
skills required to enable him to work in
a very competitive industry.
Tat Freemasonry has been able to help
Stephen is but a tiny repayment of the
debt owed to Carlton for the support he
was able to offer others. Stephen is clearly
showing many of the qualities that

characterised his grandfather, such as
resilience, focus, resolve, determination,
an ability to relate to people and a great
natural talent.
Roger Gale
Lodge of St Illtyd, No. 6078
Neath, South Wales
OLD HALLS AND OLD ORGANS
Sir,
I would like to comment on John Hamill’s
‘Reflection’ article in your Winter 2011
edition. If I may, I would like to put an
opposing view. I suspect very few would like
to return to earlier days of meeting in halls
and pubs and not having a home for
Freemasonry. Perhaps the real problem is
that rather than spending money on the
buildings, every penny has gone to charity.
Tere is nothing wrong whatsoever in
maintaining a building and using lodge
non-charitable funds for this end. I believe
that if a particular building suddenly
requires major expenditure then that lodge
should be allowed to say to the Province that
their charitable donations for a short period
of time may well be diminished while they
give attention to whatever problem has
arisen. Tis should be perfectly acceptable
because it secures the lodge building for
future generations. Te lodge can return
to charitable giving in due course and this
further ensures that future generations
also give to charity.
Keith Metcalfe
Lodge of St Marychurch, No. 5148
Torquay, Devonshire
freemasonrytoday.co.uk
freemasonrytoday.com
Sir,
I was interested to read Naunton Liles’
article on the Grand Temple organ and the
new one in Mark Masons’ Hall. I am an
organist based in the London area and play
at both these venues and others. Most of the
readers of Freemasonry Today will not know
the history of the Grand Temple organ, but
Henry Willis was probably the builder of the
organ equivalent of a Rolls-Royce. It is of
historical significance, as the author says,
but would be extremely expensive to restore.
To the great majority of brethren, the
difference in the tone of a pipe organ and
the modern digital ones would certainly be
unnoticeable, and for myself I look forward
to being able to use the new one at Mark
Masons’ Hall.
Anthony Perch
Fortitude Lodge, No. 6503
Kenton, Middlesex
THE LIGHT TOUCH
Sir,
I was delighted to read the Pro Grand
Master’s article, ‘Understanding the Light
Touch’. I have always considered that one’s
mentor should ideally be one’s proposer or
seconder and not a lodge officer. In 1998,
I was part of a workshop on the future of
Freemasonry at Manchester Freemasons’
Hall, addressing the thorny issue of
retention, which proposed a mentor as
a substitute for the candidate’s proposer
when the proposer was himself too
inexperienced to carry out the role.
I personally never needed a mentor because
LETTERS
ëFREEMASONRY
PROVED TO BE
A STRONG BOND
BETWEEN MY
FATHER-IN-LAW
AND MYSELF AND
I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN
APPRECIATIVE OF ITí
GRAHAM HOLMES
my proposer (my father-in-law) took
me to every practice meeting of our lodge,
arranged many visits to his friends’ lodges
and encouraged me throughout my
progression to the chair. In other words
carried out the mentor’s role in full.
I believe the one-to-one relationship is
essential between candidate and mentor
and it is good to see the lodge mentor’s role
described as ‘co-ordinating and selecting
brethren to be personal mentors’.
Freemasonry proved to be a strong bond
between my father-in-law and myself and I
have always been appreciative of the shared
interest, as well as the support he gave me.
Graham Holmes
Ben Brierley Lodge, No. 3317
Middleton, East Lancs
Sir,
A couple of years ago, I invited half a dozen
or so of the most junior brethren of my lodge
to a very informal meeting. Tey came and
we had a very positive meeting, followed by
another in 2011, and it will be repeated later
this year. As the brethren progress, I let them
drop off and add newcomers. Te lodge
mentor joins us and we have had enjoyable
as well as constructive meetings. When I was
new, grand officers were not addressed until
they spoke to you and then you called them
‘Sir’. I am proud to be called Ken by an
entered apprentice. I intend to continue as
long as the GAOTU spares me and, of course,
my wife, since she provides the refreshments.
Ken Mason
Beacon Lodge, No. 5208,
Loughborough, Leics & Rutland
79
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 REFLECTION
THE SHARED
EXPERIENCE
A badly read piece of ritual is infinitely
worse that a badly remembered piece,
explains Director of Special Projects
John Hamill
W
hen dealing with the media on
behalf of Grand Lodge, one of the
comments that I regularly received
from journalists was that if the
ceremonies are the main purpose of lodge meetings
it must eventually become very boring to see the
same ceremonies year after year. My answer was
always a resounding ‘no’.
No two ceremonies can ever be the same. Te
candidate is different each time, the officers taking
part regularly change and those attending the
meeting are never exactly the same. Although the
basic words and actions of each ceremony may be
the same each time it is worked, those changes of
personnel can make an enormous difference.
One of the most memorable meetings I have
attended was a Tird Degree, the candidate for
which was in a wheelchair. You could almost
feel the atmosphere of good will in the room with
the officers concentrating on the comfort of the
candidate and those on the sidelines silently willing
the officers to do a good job for the candidate. It was
Freemasonry at its best.
Our ritual did not simply happen. It went through
a long gestation in the eighteenth century, moving
from simple lessons in morality to a complex series
of catechetical lectures in which the principles and
tenets of the Craft, as well as the symbolism
and content of the ceremonies, were explained.
A watershed came in 1814 when, as a result of
the union of the two Grand Lodges, a Lodge
of Reconciliation was set up to reconcile the two
former systems of ritual and bring about a standard
form of the ceremonies to be adopted by all lodges.
Like many special committees, the Lodge of
Reconciliation went way beyond its brief and
extended the original simple ceremonies by
introducing material from the catechetical lectures,
82
and brought about the basis of our present
ceremonies. One of the sad effects of that was that
the lectures gradually dropped into disuse, except
in places like the Emulation Lodge of Improvement,
where they are still worked every Friday evening
during the masonic season. It’s sad because they
contain a wealth of explanation that would increase
the brethren’s understanding of the ceremonies.
WORD OF MOUTH
Te aim of producing a standard form of ritual was
not achieved. In those days writing down ritual
matters was a heinous masonic crime. Ritual was
passed on by word of mouth. Its work having been
agreed by Grand Lodge in 1816, the Lodge of
Reconciliation gave weekly demonstrations of
the new rituals in London. Lodges were invited
to send representatives to the demonstrations to
pass on the new method to their lodges.
Tis method of transmission and a failure to
suppress cherished local traditions has resulted in
a richness and variety of working in our lodges,
which makes visiting all the more interesting for us.
In recent years there have been calls for officers
to be allowed to read the ritual in lodge. For two
reasons I think this would be a retrograde step. First,
having seen ritual read in lodges in Europe, a badly
read piece of ritual is infinitely worse that a badly
remembered piece. More importantly, by learning
the ritual we increase our understanding of it.
Whoever we are we all come into Freemasonry
in the same way. Our progress through the three
ceremonies is what the late Canon Tydeman so aptly
described as ‘the shared experience’. Combined with
our belief in a supreme being, it is what unites us,
whatever our backgrounds, and gives us the basis
to build and be of service to our communities.
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