CHAPTER TEN Out of the Seventies, and Into the Eighties
1976 - Events Outside the Lodge January of 1976 saw the first commercial flight of Concorde, and June saw the end of the third Cod war between the UK and Iceland. In July in the UK, the ‘great heatwave’ reaches its peak. Bro. M. Towler was Installed as Master in the September meeting of 1976. Following the decision of Grand Lodge the previous year, one of the officers the Master appointed and invested was Bro. A.M. Brown into the new office of Charity Steward, an office he held for five years until he was succeeded by Bro. Sam Johnson in September 1981. One of Bro. Brown’s charity initiatives was a collection to be sent to Cancer Research following the death of Bro. Don George, who had been a member of the Lodge since 1958. The Lodge continued its strong support of the United Masonic Club, with an interest free loan of £5,000 for three years to aid in extensive works to the building. Another name that appeared quite often in the minutes around this time was that of WBro. Harold “Snowy” Easom. WBro. Easom was a joining member from Adam’s Lodge No. 158. At the December meeting in 1977, WBro. Baxter presented to the Worshipful Master, on behalf of WBro. Easom, a beautifully-made pair of Ashlars and a block and tackle for use in the Lodge. Only five years later, he gifted the Lodge a new tripod for the Senior Warden’s Ashlar, which we still use today. It was at this meeting, following a recommendation from the Lodge Committee, that singing of ‘Fidelity’ was introduced when the Volume of the Sacred Law was closed, a practice continuing to this day. 53
