Members and visitors to Foundation Lodge No 5394 were most honoured to receive Assistant Provincial Grand Master, Stuart Sutherland Boyd, as principal guest at the sad occasion of their lodge closure.
Stuart, together with Trafford Group Chairman, Patrick Walsh and Provincial Junior Grand Warden Ezra McGowan along with other Provincial and group officers gathered to witness the ceremony of surrendering the warrant of the lodge.
WM, Philip Rampling, occupied the chair of King Solomon for the final occasion, opening the lodge in memoriam for recently departed members Philip Holland and Tony Johnson and conducted the remaining business as per the summons, Stuart then entered the lodge accompanied by grand officers and acting Provincial grand officers. WM Philip welcomed Stuart and offered him the gavel of the lodge which Stuart accepted. Stuart then sat and led those watching through a brief history of the lodge.
After the sale of Chorlton Masonic Hall in 2005, the lodge had moved to Heaton Moor Conservative Club, having been told that there was no room for them at Urmston. The first master at Heaton Moor was Mike Smithies who was followed as WM by Philip Rampling, both of whom had their ladies evenings at the Conservative Club.
In 2009, David Durling was appointed Provincial Junior Grand Warden and one of the advantages of this was that Provincial Grand Master Peter Hosker along the Provincial team, attended the lodge installation meeting, planned for January 2010. Unfortunately, on the day of the installation, a huge snowfall brought the North-West of England to a standstill and the installation had to be postponed until February. Peter Hosker and his retinue were unable to attend that meeting, when Bill Thompson was installed as master and the lodge had to ‘borrow’ a passing ceremony from Peel Moat Lodge No 7633 in the April, when the Provincial team were finally able to attend.
Later in 2010, caterer Bernard Greaves advised the lodges that he could not prepare meals for less than 20 diners and so it was decided that the lodge would move next door to the Elizabethan public house, where the owners offered a four-course meal with cheese and biscuits, for £12 a head. Though not ideal, life continued under this arrangement until the lodge finally left Heaton Moor in 2015.
Since the death of Arthur Knight, the lodge had been without a grand officer, but that changed in April 2013 when David Durling was appointed to Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies at United Grand Lodge. David, who was the lodge secretary at the time, was presented with a special certificate at the following lodge meeting, to mark this achievement.
As their time at Heaton Moor came to a close, the lodge lost one of its stalwarts when Kevin Nuttall died in May 2015. Kevin had been WM in 1993, and he was a much-loved member of the lodge, with a wicked sense of humour.
When Bernard Greaves sold the Conservative Club in 2015, the lodges were advised that they would have to relocate. Whilst the majority of lodges moved to the Davenport Hotel in Stockport, Foundation Lodge moved to Urmston Masonic Hall where there was room for them. This, however, meant that they needed to move their meeting day to the third Tuesday in the month and unfortunately meant that they lost their December meeting as the date was thought to be too close to Christmas. A few years later, the May meeting was also removed from the calendar, and so the lodge was left with just six meetings a year, four in the winter and spring, and two in the autumn.
The lodge continued for the next few years and at the installation meeting in January 2020, Philip Holland was installed as master for the second time, but his year in office was cruelly cut short. In the spring of 2020, the whole world was affected by the Covid pandemic and Masonic activity was brought to a halt.
It was July 2021 before Masonic activity recommenced and so the lodge’s first meeting after the pandemic was on the 19 October 2021, 19 months after they were forced to pause activities. Philip Holland was proclaimed as WM and he was able to continue in office until the installation meeting in 2022.
The Covid pandemic had a negative effect on Freemasonry in general and many lodges found that elderly brethren who had got out of the habit of attending lodge meetings, were difficult to persuade to return.
Joy and sadness, in equal measure, was a part of the lodge as they celebrated 50 years in Freemasonry anniversaries for Jeff Newbrook, Eddie Waring, Phil Holland and John Newall, but in September 2022 they said goodbye to Graham Rudd who had brought so many brethren into Foundation Lodge and his death was a great loss.
Earlier in 2022, they initiated their first new member for many years and this started a chain of events that resulted in five new members and one re-joining member. Every meeting was a ceremony as these new members passed through various degrees. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to last as two of those new recruits didn’t take to Freemasonry and left and one member left to join another lodge, leaving Murray Worsdell and Lee Rudd as remaining members.
The senior member of the lodge on this closure day was Noel Grubb, initiated in 1985, over 40 years ago. In 2023 Noel was rewarded by Province with acting rank, being appointed and invested as Provincial Senior Grand Deacon. A real honour for both him and Foundation Lodge.
After the euphoria of having six new members join the lodge, the reality was that as the ceremonies came to an end, it was clear that the lodge was going to struggle. Advancing years had brought poor health to several lodge members and when four of the long-standing brethren decided to resign at the end of 2025, the lodge had just eight members left. Philip Rampling was installed in the chair of King Solomon in January 2026 and all of the offices were filled, but it was clear that the lodge could not go on. The decision to close the lodge was made at the March meeting with the view that the lodge would close in April 2026.
Following the historic references, Stuart once more handed the gavel back to Philip who went through the painful task of handing the warrant of the lodge to Stuart for onward dispatch to UGLE for posterity and to close the lodge for the final time.
During the festive board, Stuart gave the response to his toast, offering his own commiserations but also, congratulations to the lodge members, saying that although he was sad at the loss of an old established lodge, he was at least hopeful that all of the lodge members would find alternative lodges to carry on their Freemasonry in and he hoped that they would continue to enjoy their Masonry but never forget their roots in Foundation Lodge No 5384. In closing, Philip stood and with some emotion wished all those present good health and successful further careers in Freemasonry and happy memories of the lodge. Finally, after a fine meal in a relaxed but solemn atmosphere the evening drew to a close in peace love and harmony.