London Freemasonry is in Steve’s blood.
Steve Rickwood enjoys his membership of the old-established Westbourne Lodge and is now the Lodge Mentor. Despite having moved to the West Country, he rarely misses his meeting at the prestigious Mark Masons Hall in St James’s, and sometimes takes a guest or two.
Having been induced to leave the east and go to the west, he joined Royal Edward Lodge at Avonmouth, and later still, also joined the daytime lodge there, Light & Reflection, where he is currently Master. So, when he announced he was organising a visit to Westbourne, no fewer than sixteen of his Gloucestershire brethren booked in.
“We may as well do it in style!” said Steve, arranging a swish executive coach as transport.
Brethren witnessed a fabulous third-degree ceremony. The WM at Westbourne being Sicilian, he nevertheless mastered the ritual with the assistance of a very proficient team . . . the Immediate Past Master being named Dunkerley, who would have expected anything else?
Luxuriating in captive charabanc comfort under intense purple lighting, makes one vulnerable prey for the statutory ‘Sullivan Raffle’ and an impressive £200 was quickly extracted from the passengers. Steve [left] is seen here handing over the cash to George Eland, the Master of Royal Edward Lodge, whose chosen charity is ‘Bristol After Stroke’. As the name suggests, this independent local charity helps people rebuild their lives after stroke.
Having supplied some very desirable prizes and further stumped up for the raffle, the brethren nevertheless donated the spoils to Bob and Mary Preece’s famous annual tombola at the Highnam Family Day. “This year, we are making a special effort at Royal Edward to get our families and friends to attend this fantastic day out,” said George.
The Highnam event is on Saturday, 8th July.
Our thanks to Dick Smith for this article.
