What's Occurring?

Statue of Ataturk on the Main Square in Marmaris I was fortunate enough to go on holiday to Turkey last year. We went to Marmaris on the Turkish Riviera. It's a lovely place for a holiday and very relaxing. So relaxing that I actually found time to learn some ritual. Something I've always said I was going to do on holiday, but never actually achieved. I'm not an expert on Turkish history, but I had heard of Kemal Atatürk. I became a lot more interested in him when I came across this statue of him on the main square. When I looked into his life to find out what prompted the statue, I discovered that he is an inspiration to us all. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Born: Thursday, 19 May 1881 Died: Thursday, 10 November 1938 Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a politician, military leader, and Freemason who established equal civil and voting rights for men and women in Turkey. ...

The cover of the Centenary Booklet. If you click on the picture, the link takes you to the useful downloads section of the website, where you can download the full brochure. Kensington Lodge of Installed Masters celebrated their Centenary in 2013. RW Bro Eric Mock was the 100th Master of the Lodge and yours truly was the Junior Deacon. In fact there are a few very familiar names amongst the list of Officers:   Why remember the centenary now? The Installation meeting of Kensington Lodge of IM was the very last meeting to take place in West Wales before the country went on lockdown. W Bro Jeff Lewis PSGD was Installed by VW Bro Lionel Hughes PGSwdB and a good time was had by all. Past Masters of Kensington Lodge in 2013 I don't know why this caught my eye from the book! 10th. September, 1993 - Murder of Provincial Grand Master The Junior Warden, Wor. Bro. R. C. Warburton then presented an address to the Lodge, the subject being murder in 1876 of the then ...

One of the joys of being a former Provincial Secretary is that I have access to all the old documents and official information. In the days before Solomon there were Official Orations provided by Grand Lodge. These orations were expertly delivered by VW Bro Mike Davies, formerly Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Gloucestershire. Mike was Initiated in Loyal Welsh Lodge (in 1955!) and returned to West Wales when he retired. All the Orations were very interesting, but I particularly like this one which takes the form a toast to the Initiate. Let me know what you think. A WELCOME TO THE INITIATE Michael Parkin [ This is suitable for delivery at the Festive Board, perhaps as a Toast to the Initiate ] My brother, I bid you welcome to Freemasonry: that is to say, I am expressing a welcome to you from the Worshipful Master and all the brethren of this Lodge and their visitors this evening, but not only that, the welcome is from all the Brethren who meet in this building, in t...

James Ross on Duty Well, we're all getting the hang of using technology to keep in touch, but it does present some unforeseen problems for a fashion victim like myself. Unless I'm at a meeting, or somewhere special, I wear my favourite sweatshirt and jeans all the time in the Winter and my favourite shorts, t shirt and crocs in the summer. This doesn't matter on the telephone, but once you're on video conferences, what you are wearing is clearly visible to eveyone else on the call. James Ross off Duty This creates a bit of a dilema as far as I'm concerned. It's one thing to go round looking like Worzel Gummidge in private, quite another when everyone's looking to you for leadership. The obvious solution to the problem - Google of course. Here's what I found. "Choose solid, bold colors. Simple jewelry is best. Avoid earrings that dangle or any accessory that makes noise when you move. For most conference calls, you can wear whate...

  We've all made it through the first week and I think we all deserve a pat on the back for following the guidelines. If you click on the picture above, the link will take you straight to the Government Website, so that you can check the latest advice. Here in West Wales, the Provincial Grand Almoner and his team have been working hard to contact all our members and make sure that everyone is safe and well. They are holding regular video conferences to ensure that everyone is receiving the support they need. Remember if you need to contact the Province directly for support, you can email support@wwmason.com or leave a message on 01267 243402. We have had a least one confirmed case of the virus in the Province, but I am pleased to report the brother in question is on the mend. The Mackworth Club for newer freemasons deserves a special mention. Not only have many of them volunteered to support brethren in the at risk categories who might need assistance, they have also ...

James Ross (WM Cleddau Lodge) and Chris Harding (WM Cambrian Lodge) pictured in 2008 I have been really enjoying my role as Provincial Grand Master and Grand Superintendent, but when I started thinking about what sort of thing I could post in my Blog and what people might be interested in, I thought, what about fun things from the past? I have been very fortunate to have had more opportunities than most during my time in freemasonry, but what a great time I have had on the way. As you can see from the photo, W Bro Chris Harding (ProvGMent) and myself were WM of our respective Haverfordwest lodges at the same time. We had a great year organising and taking part in various social and ceremonial events. Our wives, Helen and Sue were integral parts of the team and, as a by product of our joint efforts, we raised £10k for Ward 10, the cancer ward at Withybush Hospital. At the time, Freemasonry in Haverfordwest was held in a Masonic Hall in St Mary's Street, Haverfordwest an...

Well it has to be said that Astrid the cat isn't very happy about having a house full of people! I'm training her to be like the cat in the video below! My two sons have returned from Cardiff University and a work placement in Slough and my 14 year old daughter is obviously home from school. Everyone is working from home, swallowing the bandwidth on the internet and generally getting in each other's way. Looking on the bright side, we are amongst the lucky ones, we have each other, we have enough space so that we're able to have our own private time and none of us fall in to the high risk categories.  It has been suggested by the Provincial Grand Organist that CV-19 might be a deliberate ploy to stop me making unannouced visits to lodges: ProvGM has a habit of turning up at domestic meetings unannounced, anyone got any ideas how to put a stop to it 🤔🤔🤔⛔⛔⛔🤣🤣🤣 Thank you Rhodri LOL! I am sure we are all looking forward to when we can re...