Letters

Letters to the Editor

Write to: The Editor, FMT, Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ Email: editor@freemasonrytoday.com

Sirs, I have just read the best article I have ever seen in any Masonic publication - the contribution by The Grand Director of Ceremonies Charles Hopkinson-Woolley should be essential reading for every Freemason, regardless of rank, length of service or experience.

Follow his guidance and the atmosphere and enjoyment in any Lodge or Chapter would be enhanced beyond measure. Congrats on an amazing, constructive and well-argued essay.

Thomas Carr, Alnwick Lodge. No.1167, Province of Northumberland

Sirs, The challenges of the past 18 months to our Masonic world have been huge as we have had less contact with our Lodges than we’d like. Zoom meetings have been a fantastic means of staying in touch. But we didn’t become Masons to sit on our own in front of a webcam, feeling a little like participants in an awkward online dating channel.

We love Masonry for the camaraderie, the pursuit of perfect ceremony, the ritual of donning a pristine suit, the polished shoes, the well-crafted tie, the learning of ceremony and the pleasure of seeing ourselves or our brothers smash a piece of floor work. The Festive Board, the friendships, the support we share.

If you feel like me, you’ve little enthusiasm left for the online Freemasonry experience.

We’ve recently been conditioned to be afraid of ‘others’. We’ve become insular, spending the last 16 months learning how to exist without physical interaction.

But we now arrive at a remarkable moment. We can finally attend our Lodges again, to rekindle the fire in our lives of all that Masonry has to offer. Many of us will happily continue our hobby. Four to six meetings a year, perhaps a few rehearsals and Lodges of Instruction to see us through. Perfectly acceptable, but a wasted opportunity?

I’ve discovered one of the greatest secrets in Masonry. It can be found, not in my own Lodge, but in all the others. Meeting with strangers, forging new friendships, enjoying new experiences in new places, opening our lives to a wonderful world of friends we have yet to meet. Visiting other Lodges is one of the most rewarding experiences our order has to offer its members.

I didn’t join Masonry for a mere four to six meetings a year or to wave at my brethren via a webcam. I joined to open up a world of discovery. To learn new (old) lessons and see new (old) places and do new (old) things and meet new... people. To have fun, to be happy and to share that happiness with friends.

As we return to our Lodges, we must consider this question: Are we content just to return to our regular meetings, or do we open ourselves to the (re)discovery of the finest secret of our ancient order?

I urge every Mason wearing a light blue or white apron to consider their local Light Blue or Young Masons Cub as the doorway to enriching the Masonic experience by making lifelong friends one would otherwise never have met.

If you are a brother of longer standing, perhaps you might remind yourself of the joy of visiting by reaching out to acquaintances you might not have seen at their Lodge for a long while. The meetings which stick most fondly in my memory are those in which the Lodge has been full, with guests bringing a greater dynamic to the proceedings and Festive Board. By visiting Lodges, we support every member of the Lodge we visit, and encourage them to do us the same favour. For many of us, it was a long time ago. But we’ve all knocked on the door and a wonderful world was opened to us. I wonder how many will rediscover some of the forgotten treasures which await behind the door of another Lodge not quite so near home?

Colin Bickers, Dependable Lodge No. 6325

Sirs, I write with respect to the photograph printed in ‘thēsauros’ in the last issue of Freemasonry Today (Autumn 2021).

The caption identifies the photograph as ‘Henry William Makepeace in the regalia of Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies for Bristol in 1900.’ However, HW Makepeace never served as Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies in the Province of Bristol. In 1900, that office was held by Walter Stuckey Paul and additional images in Bristol confirm the identity of the sitter:

I contacted Susan Snell at the Museum of Freemasonry and provided our local evidence. The donor of the cabinet portrait based her original identification on ‘Grandpa Makepeace’ written in ink on the reverse of the print. However, after double checking resources and looking at our evidence, Susan has confirmed the portrait as WS Paul.

Working together, the Province of Bristol and the Museum of Freemasonry have corrected the historical record and solved this mystery.

AR (Tony) Baker, MA, MD, FRCS, PJGD (Transactions Editor of the Bristol Masonic Society)

The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Grand Lodge of England. All UGLE members’ letters printed are appended with the contributor’s name, his mother lodge name and number, the town where that lodge meets, and the Province; please include these details at the foot of your letter. Please enclose an SAE for any items sent by mail that you wish to have returned.