At the installation meeting of Lancaster Castle Lodge No 5952, Ian Lonsdale was installed as WM in the presence of Assistant Provincial Grand Master Peter Schofield. Peter was accompanied by Past Provincial Master Tony Harrison; Past Assistant Provincial Grand Masters Stewart Seddon, Keith Kemp and grand officers Philip Gardner; David Edwards; John Lee; Michael Mashiter (C&W); Neil McGill and Paul Broadley.
Scott Devine, Chairman of Lancaster and District Group and group secretary Daniel Crossley were joined by Provincial Senior Grand Warden Michael Tax; Provincial Senior Grand Deacon Tony Jackson; Past Provincial Senior Grand Deacon Dave Shaw; Provincial Assistant Grand Directors of Ceremonies Larry Branyan and Morton Richardson; Provincial Assistant Grand Superintendent of Works Paul Dent and Provincial Grand Stewards Andy McClements and Phil Renney.
The lodge was opened by WM Ian Coates who conducted the installation ceremony together with director of ceremonies John Clare. The installing officers were senior warden Peter Whaley, junior warden Keith Heys and inner guard Phil Howden. The master elect was presented for installation by his seconder John Stanley.
The third degree working tools were presented by Ken Heap, the second degree working degree tools by Bill Spencer and the first degree working tools by Craig Mountford. The WM appointed John Bassinder as senior warden and Derek Allen as junior warden. Derek was not able to be present and will be invested at the next regular meeting of the lodge.
The address to the master was given by Peter Whaley, the address to the senior warden by Phil Howden, the address to the brethren of Lancaster Castle Lodge by Peter Schofield; the address to the Deacons by Tony Jackson and the address to the stewards by Andy McClements.
Peter Schofield was presented with a list of donations that the lodge had made to Masonic and non-Masonic charities totalling £4,734. Peter thanked the brethren of Lancaster Castle Lodge for their very generous donations.
The WM presented Ian Coates with his jewel as IPM of the lodge which was first presented to M Slinger in 1963 and then to D H Bartle in 1995.
The organist was David Tattersall and the Master’s Song was performed by John Bates. A total of 93 brethren attended the festive board. The raffle raised £770 plus £50 from the master’s swindle. The toast to the WM was given by Richard Holdstock.
WM Ian Lonsdale was born in September 1957 in Preston and lived at Lostock Hall for a few months before the family relocated to Lancaster. His father Jeffery and mother Joan were both originally from Lancaster.
Ian attended Scotforth C of E Primary School, Bentham Grammar School and George Fox School, Lancaster. His further education was at Lancaster & Morecambe College and WR Tuson College, Preston Polytechnic. The headteacher of Scotforth School at the time Ian attended was Mr L Todd who was a founding member of Lancaster Castle Lodge.
His working career began as an apprentice engineer for the Post Office, latterly BT, and then progressed to become an installation engineer. Ian left BT to take up a role as a producer and presenter in at Red Rose Radio. He presented various overnight programmes from where everyone starts. This was known as the ‘graveyard shift’, which was literally the case as Red Rose Radio broadcast from a converted church in the middle of a graveyard!
Ian then presented ‘drive time’ from 3pm to 5:30pm for almost two years and was the anchor for ‘Saturday Sport’ before moving to the breakfast show from 6am to 9am. Ian interviewed a variety of interesting people, notably Tom Jones; Engelbert Humperdinck; Les Dawson; Brian London; Ozzy Osborne; Ked Dodd and Rolf Harris! Ian’s radio career ended and he took up employment doing line communications for a private security company, sub-contracting to BAe Systems, the NHS, and many other organisations.
He joined Lancashire Constabulary as a Crime Reduction Officer, initially serving at Lancaster then Preston, Morecambe and latterly Garstang dealing with rural crime issues. It was at Garstang that Ian met Sergeant Matt Kneale who he proposed as a joining member of Carnforth Lodge No 4951.
Various secondments followed including Explosives Licencing, Firearms Licensing, public space surveillance, the ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) inception project and architectural liaison where he advised architects on the design of crime and terrorism resistant buildings.
His last posting before retirement was as Youth Liaison Officer working with young people to keep them from the path of crime. He was awarded the Chief Constable’s commendation for joint working with the Football Intelligence Unit to divert young people from football related violence. Ian took early retirement in 2018 following 30 years’ service.
Ian has been married to Wendy for 38 years. They have no children and no pets! His hobbies include music collecting, particularly vinyl of which he has a large collection that has recently been archived and banished to the loft. Ian enjoys photography and is an enthusiastic amateur radio operator. He recently stumbled across a Californian group of amateurs who hold a Sunday evening network called MOTA (Masons On The Air) who are always keen to hear how ‘Brits’ conduct their Masonry.
Ian was initiated into Lancaster Castle Lodge in November 1989 and was proposed by Graham Ingleby, a great friend of his late father and seconded by Bernard Thomas. Sadly, Ian’s father passed to Grand Lodge above before he was initiated. He progressed through the ranks and was installed as WM in 2010. The installing master was Roger Baron, the ceremony affectionately referred to as ‘The Little and Large Show’ due Roger’s small stature and Ian’s tall height!
Ian’s father, Jeffrey Lonsdale PPAGStdB was secretary of Lancaster Castle Lodge for many years before stepping down in November 1993 due to ill health. He took the role of chaplain and made an honorary member in December 1994. He never attained the chair of King Solomon, so Ian is making up for it!
Ian was also a joining member of Carnforth Lodge and served as WM in 2010 and again in 2018. He resigned from Carnforth Lodge in 2019. As well as being WM for the second time, he is also the membership officer for the lodge. Ian is also a member of other Masonic Orders.
