CUMBERLAND & WESTMORELAND ALLIED MASONIC DEGREES A.G.M – 2023
4 likely “LADS”& from their Hostelry station could they be looking for work ?
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SEVERN DISTRICT OF THE ALLIED MASONIC DEGREES ANNUAL MEETING – 2023
Left – W,Bro. Brian B. Williams (Deputy District Grand Prefect)
Centre – R.W.Bro. Peter Talbot (District Grand Prefect)
Right – W.Bro. Peter G. Wilson (District Grand Senior Warden)
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ALLIED MASONIC DEGREES ANNUAL MEETING IN LONDON – OCTOBER 2023
On the 24th October a goodly number of members from Cheshire & North Wales attended Grand Lodge for our Annual General Meeting, despite the many inconveniences caused by the cancelled and delayed train services during the day. However our day was completed by a most enjoyable Dinner.
W.Bro. Robert A. Mcmillan P.G.St.Br, Bro, S.Flood, W.Bro. David V. Dyson, & W.Bro. William Carren P.G.J.D.
W.Bro. David V. Dyson, “W.Bro. William Carren, P.G.J.D, W,Bro. Geoff. Roberts &
W.Bro. Stephen Headdock Dist. G.I.G.
W,Bro.Philip Orton P.G.Swd.Br, W,Bro.James S. Tilston P.G.Srd Br &
W,Bro. Glyn Hughes P.G.J.D
W.Bro. John D. Aslatt P.G.J.D & W,Bro. Alan B. Gummerson P.G.St.Br
W.Bro. James S. Tilston P.G.St.Br. Deputy Dist.G.Prefect W.Bro. Brian W. Williams
& W.Bro. Trevor Simcock
W.Bro.Brian W.Williams P.G.S.D, P.Dep.G.P. V.W.Bro. David A.Wright
& W.Bro. Glyn Hughes P.G.J.D
W.Bro. Samuel Keery P.G.St.Br. & W.Bro. Martin W. Jones Dist Dep.G.D.C.
R.W.Bro. Peter Talbot with the retiring Sword & Standard Bearers 2023
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On 19th August 2023 ten brethren of this District accompanied our Grand Prefect to the District Meeting of the East Midlands held at Littleover in Derby.
A tremendous turnout of support for our District Grand Prefect, indeed the greatest number of members of this District who have ever attended the AGM of another District.
The attenders were:
R.W.Bro. Peter Talbot, District Grand Prefect
W. Bro. Brian B Williams, Deputy District Grand Prefect
V. W. Bro. David A Wright, P.G.Reg, Past Deputy District Grand Prefect
W. Bro. Glyn Hughes, P.G.J.D.
W. Bro. Peter Crompton, P.G.St.B., Dist.G.D.C.
W. Bro Alan Gummerson, P.G.St.B.
W. Bro John David Aslatt, P.G.Stwd.
W. Bro Graham S Kirby, P.Dist.G.S.W.
W. Bro. Martin Wynne Jones, Dep.Dist.G.D.C.
W. Bro. Stephen Headdock, Dist.G.I.G.
W. Bro. Michail Porter, Dist.G.Stwd.
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APPOINTMENTS & PROMOTIONS 24th October, 2023.
I am pleased to be able to advise you that the following brethren will be receiving First Appointments on
Promotions at Grand Council on 24th October, 2023:-
W. Bro. John David Aslatt, Hugh Lupus Council No. 51, Promotion to Past Grand Junior Deacon.
W. Bro Graham Samuel Kirby, Condate Council No. 134, Appointed to the Active Rank of Grand Standard Bearer.
W. Bro. Allan Edgar Powell, Great Orme Council No. 5, First Appointment to the Rank of
Past Grand Standard Bearer.
W. Bro. James Stephen Tilston, Great Orme Council No. 5, First Appointment to the Rank of
Past Grand Standard Bearer.
Our congratulations to all of the recipients, we trust that they will have an enjoyable day on 24th October at the Investiture Meeting.
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GREAT ORME INSTALLATION MAY 2033
On 17th May the District Team attended the Installation of W. Bro. Paul Sefton at Great Orme Council No. 5.
The Ceremony of Installation was conducted by W. Bro. Steve Tilston, at very short notice, in the absence of W. Bro. Colin Lemin who, along with two other members of the Council, W. Bro. Ian Perkin and W. Bro. John Gareth Jones, had been brought down by some Virus or other.
The Ceremony and the subsequent Festive Board were enjoyed by all, a Candidate was Balloted for and his Ceremony of St Lawrence will take place at the next Council Meeting.
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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MARCH 2023
The District Grand Prefect addressed the Brethren.
Brethren, welcome to you all to this our Annual Meeting, held this year at Maesgwyn Hall in Wrexham. It is wonderful to see you all and to thank you for your support today, as we all know we have a clash of meetings with the Cheshire Royal Arch now meeting again on the same day as we do. We will have to have a look at this and see what can be done to avoid any future problems.
I have welcomed our guests and I now thank them for the warmth of the welcome that I and the Representatives of Cheshire and North Wales receive when we visit their Districts. I am grateful to all of the brethren who accompany me to these meetings, in particular I thank Dave Wright, John Aslatt, Alan Gummerson, Peter Crompton, and Graham Kirby who have been particularly supportive this year.
We again visited Grand Council last October and three of our members received first appointments or promotions, W. Bro. Bill Caren was promoted to PGJD, as was W. Bro. Geoff Roberts and, as a first Appointment, W. Bro. Philip George Orton was appointed to the Active Rank of Grand Sword Bearer, a great honour for him personally and for the District in general. A few of us managed to get down there despite the problems with trains and I again ask all those who receive appointments to attend for the Investiture and to Dine with the Grand Master, if you cannot make it then an apology would not go amiss, it would be nice if I heard from you personally as to whether you were attending or not.
Within the District we recommenced our Team Visits and I am sure that everyone enjoyed the visit of our Grand Master to Stayley Council to Celebrate their Centenary and also to Celebrate 50 years in Allied Masonry by R.W.Bro. Ben Addy, what a great night that was. W. Bro. David Smith was Promoted to the Rank of PGJD by the Grand Master and I Promoted W. Bro. David Bradbury to PDistGJW. We also visited Condate in April and Wirral Emeritus in December and we eventually got to celebrate the Centenary of Commemoration Council in December and I was delighted to promote W. Bro. John Astbury to the Rank of PDistGJW. I thank those District Officers who supported me on every occasion, and I am sure that the Councils welcomed the increased numbers in attendance. We had our annual Team Dinner at Rowton Hall in Chester on 17th February with an increased attendance brethren, very enjoyable and organised by our Senior Warden of the year W. Bro. Graham Kirby.
Whilst mentioning District Officers there have been a couple of notable changes in our Officers this year, David Stepping down as my Deputy and Brian stepping up to become my Deputy, I thank them both for their service to the District for many, many years. Change is inevitable brethren and indeed desirable, we need to keep moving forward giving everyone the opportunity to serve in high office. I welcome W. Bro. Ian Stone as our District Secretary, I have known Ian for a few years now and I am certain that you will soon see his skills displayed, I am already greatly impressed.
Our Finances remain in good hands, W. Bro. John Aslatt does a tremendous amount of work in keeping a check on our income and expenditure, I am most grateful to him.
Membership continues to be a concern brethren, we have lost a number of memberships as Founders of Deiniol Council, Gareth Williams, Glyn Hughes, Mike Pugh and Bernard Sole have relinquished their Membership of that Council but remain members of the Order. All of these brethren have served the Order well but time marches on brethren and the 150 mile trip from the Wrexham area to Bangor became a problem.
On the plus side we had the Installation Meeting of Deiniol on 1st March and we Admitted no less than 5 new members to the Order on that day, 2 more will be admitted at the July meeting of that Council so it looks like one step back but, maybe, two steps forward.
I would like all of you, every member of the District, to go back to your Councils and look critically as to where you are, especially if you are not getting candidates, are you meeting in the right place and at the right time of day, do you have a strong base of Mark Lodges and Chapters meeting in your locality. I know that I am preaching to the converted, you are here today so you are giving your support to the Order but, just think about your own Councils, times are changing and we need to change with them.
Last year I asked you to seek out new members, I repeat that request again this year, if we can get 7 candidates into Deiniol Council at Bangor then it proves that it can be done with a little effort and some planning.
So brethren, let’s look forward to another year in this wonderful Order of ours, I thank you all for your support and I look forward to visiting your Councils as frequently as I possibly can, keep working hard, keep the Ritual of the highest standard, plan ahead and we can all enjoy our Allied Masonry. I look forward to your company at our Festive Board and may the Great Disposer of all have you in his safe keeping, always.
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The year end Dinner for Active District Officers took place at Rowton Hall, Chester on Friday 17th February.
A great turnout of Officers enjoyed a splendid evening with a three course meal of the highest standard.
Thanks go to W. Bro. Graham Kirby, District S.W. for organising the event and also to W. Bro Geoff Roberts for organising the Menu Cards and Table Plan.
The District Grand Prefect thanked all who had attended for the support he and the District had received throughout the year from the District Team.
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“THANKS DEPUTY DAVID”
‘One of my duties as District Grand Prefect is to represent our District throughout the country at other District Meetings.
The other weekend I travelled to Lowestoft in East Anglia for their Meeting, a round trip of 680 miles. I was accompanied by my Deputy, V.W.Bro. David Wright.
Over the next few weeks we will have two other visits to far away places, firstly to South Wales for the Meeting of Severn District and then up to Cleator Moor in Cumbria for their meeting. These journeys would be much less pleasurable without the company of my Deputy and I place on record my thanks for his total support of the District and the Allied Degrees.
I drove to Lowestoft & Dave will drive to Cumnbria and we shall both drive our separate ways to South Wales, what support from a great friend.’