Sixteen members of the Province of East Lancashire travelled down to London, to attended the One Hundred and Thirty-first annual Convocation and investiture of Grand Conclave.

It was a long day with everyone meeting on the concourse of Piccadilly railway station and boarding the 8.30 train to London followed by a short bus journey to Covent Garden.

The Meeting was held in the Grand Temple of Freemasons Hall, Great Queen Street and was as expected a decadent display of splendour. From the moment the large ornate metal doors swung open (The doors which had been a gift to Grand Lodge from the Province of East Lancashire) and the processions began to a roar of spontaneous applause.

Following all the ‘housekeeping’ business came the investiture of Officers and this year we were delighted to see no other than five members of the province receive promotions and what a pleasure it was to see them being presented to Most Worthy Grand Supreme Ruler by no other that our very own Les Bond in his role of acing Grand Steward.

It was pleasing to see, WyBro Hegginbottom (Cockcroft), WyBro Bullock (Earl of Harwood) and WyBro Welton (John Walter Chitty) who all received Past Grand Promotion and for VWyBro Glover (Fraternity) to be promoted to RWyBro. But the highlight was to see WyBro Holcroft (Supera Moras) our Provincial Director of Ceremonies to be honoured with the rank of acting Grand Visitor. – Congratulations to Very Worthy Brother Stephen from all at East Lancashire.

Following the meeting the Brethren all retired for lunch, some to the Grand Connaught Rooms and a large number to the Ship Tavern, a building steeped in Masonic history as a lodge was consecrated in the very dining room we ate in, back in 1780.

A big thankyou to WyBro Bernard ‘Eric’ Bullock for coordinating the day, booking the train and arranging the dining as he has done with military precision now for the past five years.

For those brethren who have never visited Freemason’s Hall, it is certainly worth the trip and highly recommended. Keep an eye on the website for details of the 2020 trip.