Members and visitors of Peel Moat Lodge No 7633 and were highly delighted to welcome John Hutton as the representative of the Provincial Grand Master Mark Matthew, to see Philip Lowe being installed into the WM’s chair for the second time. John was accompanied by Trafford Group Secretary Colin Latimer and Trafford Group Membership Officer Jerry Lawes, together with other group Officers and distinguished visitors, to witness the installation of Philip Lowe as master of the lodge for the ensuing year.
The opening business of the lodge was completed and then installing master Nigel Paton commenced the installation proceedings ably assisted by the officers of the lodge. Philip was installed in an interesting manner only usually witnessed at Peel Moat and was then treated to excellent presentations of the working tools of an installed master by Jerry Lawes and then in the third degree by lodge DC. Vin Wren, in the second degree by Peter Shepherd and finally in the first degree by Tony Gaffney. There then followed the address to the master given by Nigel Paton and finally, that to the brethren, in a very sincere manner by John Hutton.
On completion of the installation ceremony, John rose to bring the sincere heartfelt greetings, congratulations and best wishes from the Provincial Grand Master Mark Matthews, saying that Mark was aware that Philip was taking the master’s chair for the second time and wished him and the members of the lodge a very happy, healthy and most importantly, enjoyable year ahead.
John then turned to the installing master, Nigel saying that if Mark had been present on the evening, he would have taken delight in congratulating him on his work during the evening and similarly congratulated the director of ceremonies Vin Wren for his part and similarly to the four brethren who delivered the working tools.
In response, Philip rose and thanked John for the good wishes and presented him with a charitable donation in the form of a cheque for the very generous value of £150 to the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity, £250 to the Beechwood Cancer Care Centre, £250 to Chelwood Foodbank, plus £250 to The Wellspring, Stockport.
John responded by saying that this was an excellent example of charitable giving from a relatively small lodge and congratulated the members on providing such superb donations on behalf of those who we will never know but will ultimately benefit from their very kind generosity.
On the first rising, John 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 his toast, John added his own congratulations both to Philip and the lodge for an excellent evening’s entertainment, saying that it was one of the finest installations he had seen in a long while. He then went on to mention the continuation of the Masonic journey into the Royal Arch, which should be considered by all master Masons. He then went on to the recruitment drive which was proving very successful, and which made the future of Masonry look very promising. Finally, John thanked the lodge for their warm hospitality and a very enjoyable night drew to a close in peace and harmony.