On a Saturday morning in June 2026, the pews of St Ambrose Church in Leyland filled with a quiet sense of occasion. Masons, their families and their friends had come together for a single purpose, to give thanks for 200 years of the Province of West Lancashire, and to look forward to all that is still to come.
The congregation rose as the procession entered. Leading the way were the Provincial Deputy Directors of Ceremonies, David Boyes and Peter Littlehales, followed by John Topping, Provincial Grand Scribe Nehemiah; the Senior Warden, Alan Ledger, and the Junior Warden, Paul Wharton-Hardman; Andrew Whittle, Second Provincial Grand Principal; John Robbie Porter, Assistant to the Provincial Grand Principals; and the Deputy Provincial Grand Master, Frank Umbers. Behind them came Chris Thompson, acting as Sword Bearer, with Provincial Grand Standard Bearers Dave Berrington and Chris Keogh; Barry Fitzgerald, Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies; and Ian Halsall, Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies for the Royal Arch, and, completing the procession, the Provincial Grand Master, Mark Matthews. It was a fitting image with which to open a bicentenary: the Craft and the Royal Arch walking in together, the same fellowship that has carried the Province across two centuries.
Father Paul Robinson, Vicar of St Ambrose, welcomed everyone warmly, and the service opened with the great processional hymn, ‘Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven’. The Provincial Grand Chaplain, Rev Canon John Hall, offered the bidding prayer and the first reading, from the second book of Chronicles. The telling of the dedication of Solomon’s temple, was given by John Robbie Porter. There was a gentle aptness to it: a passage about the raising of a house of lasting purpose, read at a service marking 200 years of building something that endures.
After singing Eternal Father, Strong to Save, that old favourite with its prayer for all who serve and are in peril, Andrew Whittle read the parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke’s gospel. Few passages speak more directly to what Freemasonry tries to be: the call to be a neighbour to whoever is in need, whoever they are.
It was against this backdrop that the Provincial Grand Master rose to give his address. He spoke of being delighted to see so many gathered to celebrate, and of his pride in standing as Provincial Grand Master for the occasion. He traced the Province’s story from its beginning, the division of the old Provincial Grand Lodge of Lancashire in 1826 into the Western and Eastern Divisions, the names settling into the Provinces of West and East Lancashire in 1960, and noted that he is proud to stand as the 18th Provincial Grand Master since Colonel Le Gendre Nicholas Starkie MP first held the office.
He gave the brethren the long view of their own numbers: from just 23 lodges and 467 members in 1826, to a peak of more than 500 lodges and some 35,000 members in 1966, to the 283 lodges and around 6,100 members of today. Far from dwelling on the rise and fall of a figure, he framed it as a living challenge taken up with energy, the Membership Challenge set in 2022, the success of the light blue clubs in welcoming and keeping newer members, the two military lodges, the support of the Armed Forces Covenant, and the new military Royal Arch Chapter soon to come.
And he reminded everyone what all of this is for. Our Masonic halls, he said, are community hubs, hosting weddings and funerals, Royal British Legion veterans’ hubs, businesses and countless other occasions, thanks to the hard work of the Halls Committees. This year alone the membership has given more than 56,000 hours of voluntary service, and our lodges, chapters, groups, the West Lancashire Masonic Foundation and the Freemasons’ Charity have together contributed over £750,000 to Masonic and non-Masonic causes alike, money raised entirely by members, their families and their friends. “Freemasonry in West Lancashire and beyond,” he said, “really is a force for good.” He closed with a wish that drew a warm response: “May the Red Rose Province of West Lancashire continue to bloom for another 200 years!”
The service carried that spirit of thanksgiving through to its close. The congregation sang; Brother, Sister, Let Me Serve You, with its quiet promise to be a servant to one another; the Provincial Grand Chaplain gave the Oration; and the brethren lifted the roof with Jerusalem. The Deputy Provincial Grand Master, Frank Umbers, led the Prayers of Thanksgiving, the congregation answering: “We give you thanks and praise,” before joining together in the Lord’s Prayer.
After ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ and Rev Canon John Hall’s dedication to future endeavour, the service moved towards its end with ‘O God, Our Help in Ages Past’, a hymn that, on a day like this, seemed to hold both the two centuries behind and the years ahead in a single breath. Father Paul Robinson gave the final prayer and blessing, the National Anthem was sung, and the procession withdrew.
Afterwards, everyone retired to the church hall for light refreshments, and for cupcakes baked specially for the occasion by Ellie Boyes, daughter of Provincial Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies Dave Boyes. Ellie’s generosity didn’t stop at the door; she had also made two large boxes more, one for the congregation of St Ambrose to mark Father Paul Robinson’s birthday, and one to be taken to the residents of Locharwoods Care Home in Southport, to bring a little cheer their way. It was kindness rippling outwards from the day, exactly in the spirit of the occasion.
There was one more gesture in keeping with that spirit. Because St Ambrose had made no charge for the use of the church or for the refreshments, the Provincial Grand Master was delighted to present Father Paul with a charitable cheque for £2,000, to be used however he saw fit. It was a fitting close to a morning built on gratitude, given, and given back.
200years on from a modest beginning, the Province of West Lancashire gathered not simply to look back, but to give thanks and to look forward with confidence. The event was a great success, enjoyed by all who attended, and if the morning at St Ambrose said anything, it is that the Red Rose Province is in good heart, and fully intends to keep on blooming.
