Have your say

Living in regional NSW

My name is Terry Boyce and I live in an Alpine town called Oberon. I affiliated with Lodge Oberon 355 in 2017. My mother lodge was Lodge Lennox 902 where I was initiated in 1984 and rose to JW before calling off in 1989 for medical reasons.

The reason I am writing this letter is to applaud all the masons who travel to visit lodges in District 46 of Region 4. District 46 extends from Blackheath to Bathurst and includes Lithgow, Portland and Oberon.

Other Districts are of course larger than District 46.

Just to give brethren an idea of distance and the time it takes to visit other lodges from Oberon and also, of course, for visitors to join us in Lodge Oberon 355.

R From Oberon to Blackheath is a 134k round trip

R To visit Portland from Oberon is 102k round trip.

R To visit Bathurst is a 100k round trip.

R To go out to Orange is a 210k round trip.

R Taralga 200k.

R Blayney 166k.

R Cowra 310k round trip and you need to stay overnight.

R Lawson 180k round trip.

Some brethren do make long round trips – there and back in one night. This means arriving home after midnight which is certainly not safe for us who are young at heart but long in the tooth!

I recently visited Lodge Queanbeyan St Andrew No 56; it was a day’s travel there and a day’s travel back so we stayed overnight and the cost was something like $250 for the trip.

I also visited Lodge Barham 561 in Bathurst and it was late at night when we arrived home – 11.30 or later. The work of the evening was a second degree for a brother from a Sydney lodge. He was accompanied by a fraternal who had to stay in Lithgow because there was no accommodation in Bathurst and some of those brethren were amazed how far some of the locals had travelled to visit Lodge Barham.

Please don’t think we are complaining about the kilometres we are traveling. We who travel are dedicated masons and we enjoy the friendship and the South that are provided. The masonic reward is well worth the effort we put in behind the wheel of our car!

Lodge Gowrie

At the recent re-installation of Lodge Gowrie of Canberra 715 the Grand Master commented on the lodge’s significant history. What follows is a summary of his talk

Lodge Gowrie of Canberra was consecrated on 20 September 1947 at the Albert Hall, in the Parliamentary triangle in Canberra. The Lodge was named to honour Lord Gowrie, the mason who, beginning in 1935, had encouraged its formation. Unfortunately, the aftermath of the Great Depression and then WWII combined to delay the founding of Lodge Gowrie for over 12 years.

After a distinguished military career, Lord Gowrie arrived in Adelaide in 1928 to serve as Governor of South Australia (just in time for the famous bodyline Cricket Test 90 years ago). He became Governor of NSW in 1935 and eventually Governor-General from 1936 to 1945. He was also successively Grand Master of the Grand Lodges of South Australia and New South Wales. Lord Gowrie was a close friend of the Foundation Worshipful Master of Lodge Gowrie, Rev Canon VW Bro Charles Shearer Robertson PDGIW, Rector of St John’s Anglican Church at Reid, ACT, from 1930 to 1949.

Lodge Gowrie has, since its consecration, welcomed two Governors-General (Lord Gowrie in 1953 and Lord Dunrossil in 1961), and a Governor of two Australian States (Lord Gowrie). Three Australian Grand Masters have been members of the Lodge (Lord Gowrie for SA and NSW and MW Bro Robson for NSW & ACT). An impressive record in an impressive lodge; but a lodge where everyone is valued as a brother.

Lodge Gowrie’s ambition is to be a microcosm of what is best in Australian society.

RW Bro Graham Davies PAGM

Lodge Gowrie of Canberra 715