Members and visitors of Peel Moat Lodge No 7633 and were highly delighted to welcome Past Provincial Senior Grand Warden Michael Pinkard as the representative of the Provincial Grand Master Mark Matthews. Michael was accompanied by fellow grand officer Gareth Jones, Chairman of the South Eastern Group, together with other Provincial grand officers and group officers to witness the installation of Derek Addy as master of the lodge for the ensuing year.
WM Phillip Lowe completed the opening business of the lodge and then, in a complete role reversal, Phillip who had the previous year been installed in the chair of King Solomon, following the then WM Derek Addy, now installed Derek, carrying out the ceremony in a most heartfelt and sympathetic manner. Phillip, ably assisted by the installing officers, Dennis Tierney as junior warden, Tony Levison as senior warden and Alex Keenleyside as inner guard, with Vin Wren overseeing everything as DC.
The address to the brethren of the lodge was then given in excellent manner by Michael Pinkard. On completion of the installation ceremony, Michael rose to bring the sincere heartfelt greetings, congratulations and best wishes from the Provincial Grand Master Mark Matthews, saying that Mark was aware that Derek was taking the master’s chair once more and wished him and the members of the lodge a very happy, healthy, and most importantly, an enjoyable year ahead.
Michael then turned to the installing master Phillip saying that if Mark had been present on the evening, he would have taken delight in congratulating him on his work and similarly to all the brethren who had taken part in the ceremony.
In response, Derek rose and thanked Michael for the good wishes and presented him with charitable donations in the form of several cheques, for the very generous value of; £200 in favour of the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity, £200 for Heaton Norris Salvation Army, £200 to Stockport NHS Trust and finally, £300 to St Mary’s Hospice in Ulverston.
Michael responded by saying that this was an excellent example of charitable giving from a relatively small lodge and congratulated the members on providing such a superb donation on behalf of those who we will never know but, will ultimately benefit from their very kind generosity.
During the ‘Any other business’ section of the meeting, visiting brethren Ezra McGowan and Darren Gregory of Hand and Heart Lodge No 4109 rose to present the lodge with a Past Master’s Jewel which they had come across at an antique fair and subsequently purchased, it was gratefully received by Derek and the rest of Peel Moat Lodge brethren.
On the first rising, Gareth Jones rose to bring the greetings of the grand officers saying those who were present had experienced a unique evening’s ceremony and that they were all looking forward to the remainder of the evening, assuming they were to be invited of course!
At the social board, in the response to the grand officers’ toast, Michael added his own congratulations both to Derek and the lodge brethren for an excellent evening’s entertainment. He mentioned a number of significant dates which coincided with the lodge inauguration on May 6 1959, including the issue of the world’s first postage stamp, the Penny Black, Roger Bannister’s 4-minute mile and Joseph Stalin coming to power in USSR. He went on to mention the continuation of the Masonic journey into the Royal Arch which should be considered by all master Masons and the recruitment drive which was proving very successful, and which made the future of Masonry look very promising. Finally, Michael thanked the lodge brethren for their warm hospitality and a very enjoyable night drew to a close in peace and harmony.