Worshipful Master's Sunday Walk

October 2010

 

Something that now seems to be part of any new Worshipful Masters calendar is the Spring and Autumn walk.

 

It all started when, in his year as Master, Geoff Davis decided to organise two Sunday walks for Royal Union Members, Family and Friends followed by lunch at the Royal George Hotel.

 

These events attracted over 20 walkers and this Autumn was no exception raising £50 towards our 200 year celebration fund for 2013.

 

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Clay Shoot

October 2010

 

As membership steward I had for some time been trying to find something I could do that would appeal to the younger Master Masons when Dave Hillier suggested having a Clay shoot which seemed an excellent idea.

 

A couple of days later he had organised the venue and the date.

 

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Research uncovers photo of Bro. James Bate

July 2010

 

I been doing some research on Bro.James Bate on behalf of his great, great, grandaughter Mrs Rita Wagstaff.

 

Bro.Bate was Worshipful Master of Royal Union Lodge in 1831 & 1833 (there are no minutes for 1832!).

 

Mrs Wagstaff has given me the attached picture of Bro Bate which is shortly to be added to our gallery.

 

The frame is actually of as much interest as the picture itself.

 

N A J Norman - July 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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R.W.Sir Bernard Ribeiro CBE JGW – visit to Royal Union Lodge no.246

21st April 2010

 

The Royal Union Lodge No. 246 was honoured to host an informal visit by The Junior Grand Warden, R.W.Bro. Sir Bernard Ribeiro CBE at their April meeting as the guest of the Old Decanians (old boys of Dean Close School, Cheltenham) in the Lodge.

 

An Old Decanian himself and a past President of the Royal College of Surgeons, Sir Bernard still retains connections with Dean Close as a Governor of the school.

 

He was originally down for Dulwich College with his Brother, but a chance encounter on the top of a London bus by Sir Bernard’s father, who was also a Mason, with the then Headmaster of Dean Close, the Reverend Douglas Graham, changed his destiny.

 

Sir Bernard was welcomed to the Province of Gloucestershire by the Provincial Grand Master, R.W.Bro. Adrian Davies JP.

 

The Brethren enjoyed an excellent Ceremony conducted by The Worshipful Master, W.Bro. Mike Hanlon and his Officers.

 

The toast to the visitors at the Festive Board was proposed by an O.D., W.Bro. Ross Cole who was one of Sir Bernard’s House Prefects when he first came to the school in the late 1950’s and was able to entertain the Brethren with one or two anecdotes of the time.

 

Sir Bernard said that he had enjoyed his visit and expressed a wish to be invited again.

N A J Norman - April 2010

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Lord Cornwallis Dies.

March 2010

 

Rt Hon Lord Cornwallis, OBE, DL
(The Most Worshipful Brother, Fiennes Neil Wykeham Stanley Cornwallis, Lord Cornwallis 29 June 1921 - 6 March 2010 )
 
The death on 6 March of Lord Cornwallis breaks a chain of more than one hundred years of continuous distinguished service to Freemasonry by the Cornwallis family.
 
Fiennes Neil Wykham, 3rd Baron Cornwallis was born in 1921, educated at Eton and served in the Coldstream Guards during the Second World War. As a Farmer of extensive orchards he served on major committees in the House of Lords and the European Commission protecting the interests of fruit growers and small businesses in general, for which he received his OBE. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent in 1976.
 
He was initiated in Douglas Lodge No. 1725, Maidstone in 1954 and was Provincial Senior Grand Warden of Kent in 1962 and Senior Grand Warden in 1963. An interest in charity took him to the former Royal Masonic Institution for Boys, of which he was Chairman 1966 – 1972.
 
In 1971 he was appointed Assistant Grand Master. Shortly after, the Bagnall Committee was set up to make a fundamental review of Masonic Charity. On its report being accepted he was asked by the Grand Master to chair the Grand Master’s Committee to implement the major changes which resulted in the reorganisation of the Charities into their present form, no mean feat.
 
In 1976 he became Deputy Grand Master and Second Grand Principal and in 1982 succeeded the late Lord Cadogan as Pro Grand Master and Pro First Grand Principal, serving for ten years.
 
His period as Pro Grand Master was not an easy one. Public perceptions of the Craft, political interference, major enquiries into the compatibility of Freemasonry and Christianity by the Methodist and Anglican Churches and the problems of the former Royal Masonic Hospital took up a great deal of his time. He gave real support to the then new policy of openness (not popular at that time) and lived to see it begin to bear fruit.
 
After his retirement in 1992 he continued to serve on the Grand Master’s Council and his experience and wise counsel were much appreciated by his successors.
 
“The Most Worshipful Grand Master has directed that Masonic Mourning  shall consist of the printing of an ‘In Memoriam’ notice on the first summons issued for a meeting of each Lodge under the Grand Lodge following the 8th March 2010; and that the members of each Lodge shall stand in memory of Brother Lord Cornwallis at its next meeting immediately after the Lodge has been opened and before any business is transacted (except for the reading of any dispensation required to regularise the holding of the meeting).

 

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An Old Link Rediscovered.

March 2010

ROYAL UNION & the Song of the ST. VINCENT LODGE No. 1404 Province of Bristol

Masonry is certainly universal and it was whilst researching our own Lodge that I discovered a connection with St. Vincent Lodge that meets in Park Street, Bristol as quite a few of the Brethren know as we made two fraternal visits in 2005 with W. Bro. Acton in his year as WM.

 

“The words of The St. Vincent Song were written by Bertram Amor Bevan- Petman (1869-1931), who joined The St. Vincent Lodge in 1895, and served as the Worshipful Master in 1899-1900. He abandoned his career as a school master in Clifton, qualified as a barrister at law, then emigrated to India and held a senior administrative post in Simla. Printed copies of the song were presented to the Lodge in April 1902. The original music was by Brother Ernest Dicks, the organist of the Royal Union Lodge Cheltenham, of which Bevan-Petman had been a member.

 

The music we now use was composed by Dr Hubert Walter Hunt (1865-1945), the organist of the Cathedral from 1901 until his death, and special lecturer in Music at the University during the 1920s, who received a Lambeth degree of Doctor of Music from the Archbishop of Canterbury in recognition of his services to music. This music was lost in the 1930s and reconstructed from memory by the composer.”

From our early minutes books the Secretary recorded Bro.Ernest Alfred Dicks being

appointed Organist of Royal Union Lodge at the Installation meeting on January 20th 1909.

 

Visit the Saint Vincent Website

 

Julian Harber – March 2010

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Cheltenham opens the door!

October 2009

Cheltenham Masonic Hall is a jewel in the heritage of both Cheltenham and Freemasonry, being one of the first purpose-built Masonic Halls.

 

250 visitors see inside historic building to find out more . . .

 

On Saturday 24 October, members of the nine Craft lodges which meet there welcomed over 250 visitors into the building. Their interest varied from those who wanted to see the building, to those that wanted to find out more about Freemasonry, to those that were curious or just wanted a cup of tea. Some asked how to join.

 

 

They were able to visit the Lodge Room, Museum and Dining Room and listen to a most informative presentation on Freemasonry. Members were on hand to field questions and explain both the origin and features of the building, as well as talk about the history of Masonic symbolism and the principles on which it is founded.

 

Many visitors expressed surprise and delight about the open manner in which their many questions were answered and some were surprised at the extent of the help given to organisations in Gloucestershire, with examples of £33k to Maggies and £125k to the Star College.

 

Most visitors were in the building for an hour, some for much longer ~ a good sign that they found their visit interesting. Comments made as they left included:

 

“Fascinating – most enjoyable. Thank you.”

 

“Good to see the open door.”

 

“Wonderful experience. Thank you.”

“An organisation people genuinely admired”

Alastair Hamill is the Lodge Membership Steward of Regency Lodge and was very involved in the event. His comment on the day was: “The number of times I heard members of the public say ‘I didn’t know that! Wow, why isn’t this made more public?’ It was quite unreal and for me it was uplifting to belong to an organisation people genuinely admired.”

 

Chairman of the Cheltenham Masonic Association, Martin Fowler, summed up the day, “Opening the doors of such a beautiful building to make so many people more aware of what Freemasonry is about and why we are proud to be Masons was a really rewarding and worthwhile event. It worked because of the willingness of members to get involved and be so welcoming and open with our visitors.

 

We will do it again next year . . . . . and do it even better!”

 

Source: http://www.glosmasons.org.uk

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Triathlon Fund Raising for Local Charity.

September 2009

Two junior members of Royal Union Lodge Neal Maycock and Henry Peters took part in an arduous challenge to raise funds for a local charity Winston’s Wish; they formed a team with Kate, Neal’s wife and five friends calling themselves "Cruising for a Bruising". They were to take part in a Triathlon event on 20th September 2009 at Newent.

 

Henry was an unlikely contender for such an event being usually sighted on the Rugby pitch himself or increasing bellowing from the sidelines giving encouragement to his Son and Daughter both of whom play the game. When asked what processed him and the Maycocks to volunteer for a Triathlon Henry told us:

 

“Whilst sitting on a balcony overlooking the outskirts of Benidorm enjoying a beer with lads whilst on golf tour the discussions turned to a recent challenge that some of the boys had recently committed to............... a triathlon. In a moment of weakness, and believe it or not whilst still sober I uttered the immortal words "I'll do that with you".

At the time I couldn't even walk round a golf course, I weighed 18st 5lb and I didn't even own a bike, and I was not the only one with difficulties to overcome - two of the team couldn't even swim !!!

Some 11 months later I had lost over two stone and my wife bought me a bike for Christmas, so there were no excuses now. At a team get together over a pint, we all decided that our efforts should not be in vain and that someone or something should benefit.

 

Soon after our discussions started about which charity we were to nominate, a tragedy struck, a young man Rob Cruse was killed in a car accident aged 24. Rob was known by a number of our team, as he was a fitness instructor at one of our local gyms, and he left behind him a young brother and sister who were naturally devastated by their loss.

Following the accident Rob's family were supported by a specialist charity Winston’s Wish which is the leading childhood bereavement charity and the largest provider of services to bereaved children, young people and their families in the UK, this then became the obvious choice for our charity selection”.

Members of Royal Union, friends and family all did their bit to provide encouragement and sponsorship, I even went on a bike ride with Henry a few days before the event and he was keeping up a good pace, shortly afterwards he was able to tell us how it had gone:

“Firstly I would like to thank all who have supported me in my efforts to complete the Newent Triathlon, both by donations and encouragement; I did manage to complete the course (just!!) and realised during the race that it is a very lonely sport to participate in.

The race started for me at 10.53 a.m. and I completed the 400m swim in a reasonably creditable 8.03 mins., which was very close to 8 min. I had estimated.

Following a short run to the bike and the transition area I dressed reasonably quickly and set off on the 18km bike ride, I had done a reasonable amount of training on the bike so at a fairly steady pace I got round this section in 47.48 mins, and it was then that the real problems started!!!

As those of you that know me realise I am not really built for speed, and with the time near enough midday the sun was shining gloriously it was rather warm to say the least and my legs would just not work with mild cramp in my right calf it was going to be a very long 5km run (or should that be walk!!).

Having walked (with short spurts of jogging) for the first 3.5km I had ascended to the highest point of the course and was relieved to be informed by a Marshall that it was all downhill from then on - at which point I wasn't sure whether she was talking about the race or my life !!! - I managed to run the last 1500m and returned a run time of 34.27mins., this was ranked 150th (out of 160) and I had achieved my goal of finishing the course”.

The best time for the `Cruising for a Bruising’ team went to Neal Maycock and when I spoke to him to congratulate him - he was very modest but was happy to have taken the best time from his team mates as there was certain to be friendly banter over taking the title in the months to follow. Both Neal and Kate enjoyed the challenge.

 

Neal confessed he had done a Triathlon before but that was 17yrs ago and his head was not as aerodynamic as it is today he was delighted that everyone in the team had completed the course and they have exceeded their own target figure of £2,250 by raising a fantastic £2,695 for Winston’s Wish.

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Veteran Rower attempts world record in aid of the P.G.M Charity Fund

June 2009

Peter Daniels a member of Wycliffe Lodge No.7228 and Royal Union Lodge No.246 has not been taking it easy over the summer recess. He had two objectives, firstly to break the rowing record for the 26 miles 385 yards marathon distance and secondly to raise monies for the PGM’s Charity Fund.

 

The row took place on 20th June on an internationally recognised Concept 2 rowing machine at Cheltenham Leisure Centre. There he was supported throughout the row by Dorothy his wife, his coach Chris, Geoff Davis WM of Royal Union and Diane his wife, during his row the WM of Wycliffe and numerous brethren who called in, he was also honoured towards the end of the row by the Provincial Grand Master Adrian Davies and his recently appointed Assistant, John Thurston.

 

The story really started nine months before when Peter, a member of the `Ancient Mariners’ rowing crew, decided that as he was shortly to reach the “young” age of 70 he should have a go at the British National Rowing Record. The world record at the time seemed out of anyone’s grasp when unbelievably a 77 year old Italian set a time that was some 30 minutes quicker in this class and streaked ahead of the 60 year old class and set a pace that would have given him a medal in the 2,000 meter National Championship.

 

Peter started training seriously, in fact so seriously that the first gymnasium were so concerned that he would wear out their rowing machine they implemented a half hour maximum exercise time. This was no use to Peter and he started looking for another centre and that is where he became lucky, not only did the Cheltenham Leisure Centre welcome him with unlimited use of their excellent facilities he also formed a friendship with Chris Davis the manager who later became his coach.

 

It was a little while before they discovered that Chris was the son of W. Bro. Geoff Davis the WM of Royal Union. Training was going very well and just 8 days before his full distance attempt he took the British for 70 year olds half marathon record in a time of 1hr. 27mins. 53.0 secs.

Peter achieved a time for his full marathon distance of 3hrs. 1min. 41.6secs. thus breaking the previous British Record by 12 minutes. He was on schedule with his split times to be under the 3 hrs. and with 10,000 meters he was on target; however a problem developed with his right thigh muscle which slowed his pace over the last 4,000 meters.

 

A further bonus came a few days later when his time was authenticated and he learnt that the Italian record had been removed by Concept 2 in the USA thus Peter Daniels time has been ratified as a World record as well as a British one.

 

Source: W.Bro Julian Harber

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Returning Lodge Jewels to Where They Belong

June 2009

It is not just eBay or the antiques road show where Masonic treasures turn up, it is quite likely there are dusty boxes in most Lodges being stored by Secretary or Treasurer hiding a wealth of history waiting to be released.

 

I have been fortunate in reuniting the past with the future on several occasions as I firmly believe that the Jewels of a Lodge should be returned in a dignified manner and particularly in the case of past masters jewels.

 

They can proudly carry a memory of a brother from generation to generation, give continuity and a feeling that a brother has not been forgotten. It can be of great comfort to widows and their families who have returned regalia and jewels to a Lodge to know that it has been faithfully applied.

 

I have found that Lodges have been very receptive to an approach to return Jewels. When returning PM’s Jewels to Wings Lodge 8651 in Penarth and Oaks of Arden 760 in Knowle, Solihull and more recently returning a Centenary Jewel to the Lodge of Joppa 188 we have gone as a group (paying our own dinning fees) and have been received with the warmest of welcomes.

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