CHAPTER EIGHT A Major Milestone – The Centenary Year There was much work in the years and months leading up to the 100th Anniversary of the Lodge. As early as January 1960, the General Purposes Committee minutes record the decision that the Centenary would support the Royal Masonic Hospital. In June of the same year there was agreement to form a subcommittee to organise the event. Discussions about providing a new Banner were started as early as October 1964. There is little of interest in the Committee minutes in 1965 relating to the Centenary, and the records for the next few years seem to be missing. However, mention was made in May of 1965 that Lodge contributions towards the 1970 Provincial Festival had reached £1041-18-9. That works out at almost £19,000 in 2016 terms.
1966 - Events Outside the Lodge Rightly or wrongly, there is very little mention in the minutes over the last 150 years of events outside the Lodge. Perhaps mentioning significant events since the Centenary will assist the reader in placing the Lodge in its historical context, as they are still within living memory of many of those celebrating our 150th year In 1966, England won the World Cup, that is in soccer of course, it then, as now, being a common topic of conversation before and after our meetings. For those who prefer cricket, unfortunately, in that year we managed to lose the test series against the West Indies 3-1. The year also saw the opening of the Severn Bridge. At the end of the year we witnessed one of the most haunting tragedies in Britain’s history, the Aberfan Disaster. On 21st October, 1966, at 9.15am, 44
