Upcoming events in the Province
If you are interested in joining Freemasonry in Herefordshire join us at the masonic centre at Kyle Street, Hereford, for an introduction to the Craft.
Open doors 7pm
– Tour of Lodge Room, including explanation of roles/seating etc
– Move to LOI Room for short presentation on Masonry in general & Masonry in Herefordshire, including lodges in Centre & when they meet etc.
– Drink & chat in bar
– Conclude by 8/8.30pm latest.
To register your interest email the Provincial Membership team
Two Lodges recently celebrated Burns night.
The 25th January, a great night for Scots around the world to celebrate the life and work of their national poet, and Freemason, Robbie Burns, and I was lucky enough to receive an invitation to attend Vaga Lodge last evening, which this year happened to fall on the night of the ‘Bard’.
The Initiation of Bro David McIntyre under the skilful guidance of W Bro Kip Waistell, the acting WM, was an excellent ceremony, however, on this occasion it was the after proceedings that stole the show.
Led by W Bro Johnnie Walker, wearing his Glengarry side cap, closely followed by W Bro Kip, of Clan Moncrieff, in a kilt and playing the bagpipes, the “Great chieftain o’ the pudding race” was paraded around the dining room before the newly-made Initiate gave the traditional address to the haggis. Quite an introduction to his Masonic career.
Hereford based Coningsby Lodge had their Burns Night Celebration on 4th February The event was well supported with forty-three Masons present, plus twenty-four Ladies and seven Gentlemen, including the Provincial Junior Grand Warden, Deputy Provincial Grand Master Designate, Worshipful Brother Stuart Jones and his wife, Wendy.
Led by the piper, Simon Addison in full Highland dress, the haggis was paraded by Brother Quinn escorting Brother Jackson, who then gave a dramatic address to the haggis, which was highly acclaimed by the assembled diners.
Following Terry’s excellent dinner of haggis, tatties and neeps, venison bourguignon and cranachan, the Worshipful Master Jason Payne firstly gave a factual but humorous toast to the Immortal Bard. This included a rendition of “Adieu! a heart-warm, fond adieu!”, written by Burns in 1786 as a farewell to the Brethren of St James’s Lodge, Tarbolton, as he planned to leave Scotland. He then thanked those present for their attendance and proposed a toast to them, to which his wife Debbie responded. Finally, he invited all to rise and sing “Auld Lang Syne” having first given a translation into modern English, which brought to an end a most enjoyable evening, during which £308 was raised for the Master’s Charities, Little Princesses and George’s Fund.
We enjoyed great support for the inaugural Provincial Carol Service at St Martin’s Church in Hereford in December.
Thank you to Reverend Dowdeswell and all that attended. We enjoyed some hearty carol singing and three readings from W Bro Bryan Wood, Bro Dave Hulme and the RW Provincial Grand Master RW Bro Michael T Holland. This was followed by refreshments and a chance to catch up with friends and family.
Thank you to all those that organised the event, helped out and for the refreshments afterwards.
We are already looking forward to next year’s event!
As Freemasons across Herefordshire ease themselves back into regular monthly Lodge meetings, we reflect on a busy summer of social activities and community service
The Caeruleum Club supported several events for St Michael’s Hospice including manning checkpoints for the Venus Walk in July and stewarding the car park at other events for St Michael’s and also the Military Veterans Day in Allensmore reinforcing our commitment to the Armed Services Covenant.
We had three teams take part in the Four Province Masonic Regatta at Worcester where one of our teams, the Hereford Vaga team, came a very credible second place overall.
The Provincial Golf Society attended several matches across the country and ran our very own Open Event at South Herefordshire Gold Course. This proved a popular event, even the rain did not manage to dampen enthusiasm.
We opened our doors by holding an open day at the Masonic Hall in Ross on Wye and attended a number of village fetes with our pop-up stand to raise awareness of what we are about and we do for the local community.
A very busy summer, and now we ease ourselves back into monthly Lodge meetings with one of the first lodge meetings in September bringing in two new Freemasons in one night at Dean Waterfield Lodge. This meeting was the first visit of the season by the Head of Freemasonry in Herefordshire and his Provincial Team.
