Pendle Lodge of Freemasons

You would have thought that the final meeting at Nelson Masonic Hall of Marsden within Pennine Valley Lodge would have been a quiet affair, and what with the sun shining all day and the forecast sunny for the rest of the week, a meeting requiring lots of visitor support would have been required.

Well that’s exactly what happened, masons from Accrington, Rochdale and Pendle Lodge made up a full lodge room with over 20 visitors filling the seats to almost capacity.

The ceremony was the raising of Bro Ronald Shaw, whose previous two ceremonies we had been to over the year. In reality it was almost the Ken Hudson show, he conducted probably the entire ceremony, including the chaplains section and the traditional history. The Wardens got off lightly with the Working Tools being delivered by Steve Coughlan (W.M.) and the charge in the third degree by George Thompson. (Almoner)

The Lodge officers delivered the entire ceremony including closing in full from the third degree. It was hot and uncomfortable in the lodge but you could have heard a pin drop. It was spectacular.

Seven visitors from Pendle Lodge attended the meeting, and Glyn Lund pipped Roy Langtree at the post to give greetings from 4703, after being press ganged into doing so by his fellow masons.

We had a dinner of Soup and Gammon and potatoes along with a couple of well deserved beers . Martin Blades the DC took advice from the Grand Officer and proposed the toast to Supreme and Subordinate to cut the evenings toast list a little. The toast to the visitors was responded to by a mason from Rochdale, and by all accounts a member of our PGM’s lodge to boot. One or two of his jokes were very good.

Amazingly the raffle, run by Keith Jackson, raised the princely sum of £112.00. His numbers raffle is quick and easy to manage and certainly raises more funds than any tradition ticket purchase affair. We really must adopt this method.

The lodge announced a couple of social events that were due to take place during the summer recess, including a bar b cue and a fish and chip supper.

It all ended quite late but in very good spirits.