How to find us

Since the inaugural meeting of the club, a President, Vice President, Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary have been appointed to manage its affairs.

The club now has a membership of 47 and it literally growing daily.

Application Form - If you wish to become a member, print the membership form by clicking on this link and forward to the Secretary who's address is on the form

Peter has also arranged to have a sticker prduced for your classinc car to identify that you are a member of the West Lancashire Masonic Classic Car Club. Again, contact him for further details.

Archived News Stories

Forthcoming Events

Meet reports

MEMBERS’ RUN SUNDAY 11 APRIL 2010 - THE CANAL TURN CARNFORTH.

LAKELAND MOTOR MUSEUM - SUNDAY 23 MAY 2010

Club’s £500 for RNLI

Hambleton Steam and Classic Country Show

2010 Boundary Tour presentation

2010 Festival Boundary Run

Members’ Run to Garstang- 5 April 2009

Summer Tour

CHAIRMAN’S RUN

£500 for 2010 Festival

Club thanks Colin
Chairman, Peter Meakin along with members Dennis Read, Brian Seddon and Melvyn Willett attended Poulton le Sands Lodge No 1051 .......<more>

Archived Reports

Annual General Meeting

MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Held at Wellington Park, Leyland on Sunday, 17 January 2010

The Meeting was attended by more than 40 members, wives and families, and was preceded by a carvery lunch which was enjoyed by everyone.                                    

The chairman welcomed everyone and thanked Dennis Read for arranging the carvery.

Chairman’s Report:

I am pleased, as the Chairman of the WLMCCC, to report what a good year the club has had.  All our events have been well supported by members and friends, which is what it is about -  having a good time.

Two members of the club completed a run around the Province in a classic MG to raise sponsorship for the 2010 Festival. They raised £1,050, but this amount could have been more if more lodges had given their support. The club is now a Patron of the Festival.  I do feel that from all the events the WLMCCC is promoting Freemasonry, and from friends that have joined us on a number of occasions some have been interested about knowing more about becoming a Freemason. I know that this is being followed up and I think that in 2010 we could have three new members.

The chairman made a presentation of specially printed polo shirts to the organising committee of the 2010 Boundary Tour.

He also reported the club now has a supply of posters promoting the club, if any member requires any would they contact the Communications Officer

On Monday 16 November the committee planned the programme for 2010 which will be discussed later in the meeting - so plan your events for 2010. I would like to record my thanks to the club’s committee. They do a first class job for the club.’

Treasurer’s Report:

The club is solvent showing a healthy balance sheet which the members had copies.

The chairman thanked Brian for his hard work.

Secretary’s Report

Since the last AGM, we have again had a gradual rise in numbers, and another couple of newsletters.  I hope that the members enjoy reading them and that more will contribute any humorous tales – not necessarily just about the club outings. Photographs are also very welcome.

Don’t forget to inform any other Masons in your Lodges who own Classic Cars, or have an interest in them, about the club.

The Chairman congratulated Cath on the excellent newsletters and her work as secretary.

Election of Officers and Committee:

There had been no nominations for officers and committee and the committee were willing to stand again.

Communications Officer - Melvyn Willett
Auditor -  Bill Swindlehurst                 
Committee - Dennis Read

Any Other Business:

Peter re-iterated how lucky he was to have such a wonderful committee.

The AGM closed at 14.15 hrs.

Ordinary Meeting

Peter noted the good attendance and meal for the AGM.

The chairman proceeded to discuss the various events organised for 2010 starting with the Members’ Run in April to the Canal Turn in Carnforth.  He asked the members to send forms promptly back to the secretary.

Melvyn is arranging the attendance at the Hambleton Steam Fair. He is hoping to be able to run a stand where all the club vehicles are in one area.  For this he needs 8-12 members to commit to the event.  He and Marilyn will be putting on tea and croissants and other refreshments for attendees.  Application forms available and members could speak to Melvyn after this meeting.  Also, as there are now Group Membership Officers in the Province, the local representative is to attend on both days to give information on Freemasonry. 

Melvyn is also selling polo shirts with the club logo for £15 (£5 to go to the club) NS ones from the Isle of Man visit for £10.

September Car Tour – this is to be both a ‘Routed Run’ and ‘Go as you please’.  One of the members has volunteered to do a ‘Routed Run’ from the Heaves Hotel which quite a few members would like.  Dennis also mentioned an idea of driving from the hotel to Haverthwaite Railway Station, travelling on the train to Lakeside to go on the ferry to Bowness or Ambleside and back.  This would mean that both driver and passenger could enjoy the scenery.  The cost of the hotel rooms had been arranged as a double/twin with breakfast at £70 per night with a group dinner on the Saturday night at £17 per head.  There were queries over whether the hotel had a lift or ground floor accommodation and also whether members could stay just one night.

Some of the ladies had proposed last year that a run be organised finishing with afternoon tea at the Midland Hotel in Morecambe.  This idea has been discussed by the committee and a suggestion was made that it be during the week rather than weekend and is to be investigated further.  

The chairman thanked everyone for attending and hopes to see even more members at the events that are organised.

Meeting closed at 15.00 hours.

A busy time for officials at the annual general meeting.

Members and guests enjoy the carvery lunch at Wellington Park

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MEMBERS’ RUN - THE CANAL TURN CARNFORTH.

Six Members and guests set off for the Members’ Lunch at Carnforth from Blackpool and Fleetwood on a warm and sunny day via a stop at the garden centre at Lancaster Golf Club.

Everyone enjoyed coffee and cakes (some people did not have breakfast). It was the wrong place to go as it was difficult to get the ladies away from all the plants and gifts and back to the cars to continue the trip.

Having got 100 yards from the Canal Turn drivers were held up for 20 minutes because of road works right outside the pub. They eventually got into the car park and met up with the other members and guests who had had similar problems getting in.

Everyone enjoyed a very good lunch which was arranged by event organiser, Dennis. Some people sat outside in the sun as this pub is right on the side of the canal with plenty of activity going on.

Club Chairman Peter Meakin thanked everyone for their support and hoped they all enjoyed their lunch. After lunch some people stayed and sat outside and enjoyed a drink while the rest made their way back home.   

Photographs below are from the Members’ Run.

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LAKELAND MOTOR MUSEUM - SUNDAY 23 MAY 2010

Members were invited to join the Northern Ireland MG Owners and the Austin Healy Owner Club, some of whom are Masonic brethren on their tour of the Lake District.

Melvyn Willett and his wife met them at the New Lakeland Motor Museum at Backbarrow on Sunday morning for a preview of the Museum as it is not due to open until June.

They were shown round by the curator of the museum who was very informative and answered many questions. He also showed the visitors their New Campbell Exhibits housed in a separate building. A visit is recommended when it is fully open.

As their coffee shop is not open yet it was decided everyone should go to Kendal for lunch and afterwards let the ladies do a little retail therapy.

The Northern Irelanders went back to their hotel at Ulleswater after a very enjoyable day.  

The photographs below were taken during the visit to the museum.

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Club’s £500 for RNLI

West Lancsashire Masonic Classic Car Club has made a donation of £500 to the Lytham-St-Annes Lifeboat.

The committee of the club along with their wives went to Lytham-St-Annes Lifeboat Station where they were joined by David Randerson, Chairman of the South Fylde Group of Lodges for a tour of the station and lifeboat before presenting the cheque.

The cheque for £500 was presented by Peter Meakin, Chairmam of the West Lancs Masonic Classic Car Club and David Randerson to the RNLI Chairman Allan Williams and Lifeboat Coxan Martin Jaggs and was gratefully received.

Afterwards they all took their wives to the Beach Terrace Café for a very enjoyable lunch.

The £500 cheque is handed over.

Classic cars and the classic lifeboat at Lytham-St-Annes.

Time for lunch.

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Hambleton Steam and Classic Country Show

Several members put their classic cars on display over the weekend of August 1st and 2nd at the Hambleton Steam and Classic Show.

WLMCCC attended in conjunction with the Masonic Caravan Club with one member bringing their caravan behind their MGB GT!

We all enjoyed a good weekend at the country fair with plenty to see as well as showing our classic cars and even the weather was kind to us.

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2010 Boundary Tour presentation

The Clifton Arms Hotel Lytham St Annes on October 21st was the venue for the presentation of cheques for amounts raised for the 2010 Festival.

The cheques were presented by Peter Meakin, Chairman of the West Lancashire Masonic Classic Car Club.

A cheque for £1,150 was presented to Stuart Thornber, Chairman of the 2010 Festival which now makes the WLMCCC a Patron of the Masonic Samaritan Fund.

A Cheque for £250 won by member Paul Leaper for guessing the winning mileage of 338.4 miles was presented to the WM of Kirkham Lodge No 6615, David Crosley, for the lodge’s Charity Fund.

Also in attendance were the driver and co-driver of the MG Midget which had taken part in the tour held on May 26th 2009.

Picture WLMCCC Chairman Peter Meakin presents 2010 Festival Chairman Stuart Thornber with a cheque for £1,550

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2010 Festival Boundary Run

Having contacted every lodge in West Lancashire and having received all the sponsorship the day had arrived! Tuesday May 26th 2009 was the date appointed for the West Lancashire Masonic Classic Car Boundary Tour with the proceeds of £1,300 going to the 2010 Festival.

The driver who supplied the 1968 MG Midget and co-driver/navigator set off from Freckleton at 8.00 am. The car is equipped with a Brantz Rally Computer giving an accurate distance reading and also has a Sat. Nav. System. They travelled through Preston to Wellington Park, Leyland then on to Wigan and Westhoughton.

The purpose was to go round the boundary of the actual Masonic Province of West Lancashire assisted by Sat. Nav. Using reasonably main roads this they were doing in as quick a time as possible in order to do the whole route in one day.

They continued to Leigh, Warrington, Widnes and on to Liverpool. Stops were made to take photographs outside some of the Masonic Halls as proof of the trip. Leaving Liverpool for Southport one of the highlights of the tour came when one unknown Mason drew up alongside them in his car at traffic lights and shouted: “Good Luck Brethren!”

The MG returned to Preston via Freckleton for a half hour lunch break then resumed the tour towards St Annes taking a photo opportunity on the way with other members of the WLMCCC outside the Clifton Arms Hotel, Lytham.

Then it was on again towards Fleetwood, Lancaster, Heysham, Silverdale, Barrow Seathwaith and on to the summit of Wrynose Pass. There it was another photo call but this time with only two intrepid members. Then it was on to Coniston, Hawkshead and return via Garstang Masonic Hall to Freckleton. Driver and co-driver emerged from the car tired but very pleased with themselves judging the day a long hard one but most enjoyable and a success. They had only experienced a few rain showers between Barrow and Seathwaith and the little Midget had not missed a beat.

The tour took c. 13 hours and they averaged 26 mph with the car recording 37.6 mpg. The exact recorded mileage will be announced at our next meeting when the lodge guessing the exact mileage will be announced.

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Members’ Run to Garstang  5 April 2009

Nearly 40 members, family and friends attended the first outing of the year, renamed The Members’ Run to the Crofters Hotel at Garstang.

A three-course lunch was enjoyed by all who were able to meet and chat to old and new friends.

Some members were able to attend in their classic cars, and enjoy the splendid weather that day.

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Summer Tour

Sunday, 17 August 2008

On a nice day in August, club members met for coffee, initially, at the Ribchester Arms in the village of Ribchester for another run.  There was a good turnout, and Arthur Kaye, who had organised the run, was there at the start to distribute the instructions and routes and to set the cars off at regular intervals.

The route through the Lancashire countryside was stunning and enjoyed by all.  The lunch break was taken at the White Crow at Worthington, Standish.

A superb lunch was had by all – except Bill Swindlehurst whose car broke down.  Fortunately, wife Hilda and family managed to enjoy a meal.  It is hoped the car is OK now!

From there, the tour carried on to finish at Dunscar Nursery, where there was coffee and cake!

After another good natter, everyone left for home – another wonderful day out.  Thanks to Arthur again for such a super tour – looking forward to the next year.

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CHAIRMAN’S RUN

There were two Chairman’s Runs during the year and Matthew Frayne has written the following accounts.

Matthew’s report on the first run is:

I must first acknowledge our participation in this event has proved memorable and was highly enjoyable even if we did go hungry - well almost. The gathering at the Phantom Winger was achieved without event, we had however scouted the route previously and would have been panicking that morning had we not done so as the Sat Nav in our hack took us up to the village, several miles in the wrong direction of the motorway junction.

The warmth of greeting we received was as one would hope and we were assured of an equally warm and enjoyable lunch stop at the Royal Hotel which it is our intention to visit later, as they say better late than never.

It had been our navigator’s intent to follow a route that befitted an elderly lady along reasonably wide roads that did not task the new found handling of our vehicle. The ownership of a Rolls Royce teaches certain cautions, the Silver Shadow may indeed be the RR equivalent of a compact sports saloon but that is only within the terms of its mark, it is a little longer than one is accustomed to and the description of its handling as bearing certain similarities to an ocean going super tanker is not totally unfair, after quite extensive work it does however travel in a fairly straight line when requested and stop within a reasonable distance but the alternative of a detour via the Trough of Bowland had been discounted as a little too adventurous whilst keeping to a schedule.

We thus proceeded at a leisurely pace through St Michael’s on Wyre to Knott End and having pondered upon the historic motor cycles which we were informed gather there most Sundays (in summer I suspect) planned to proceed via Carnforth to Silverdale but paused first for a short walk. Returning to the vehicle we were acquainted with the precise meaning of a term familiar to the Rolls Royce Enthusiasts Club when our vehicle failed to progress - a vehicle of this ancestry never breaks down but may occasionally fail to progress.

On this occasion we met a very pleasant young man of the RAC who spent some time discussing the longevity and general layout of a 34 year old high tension system which had not previously been of specific interest to me as the engine had performed faultlessly through the previous two years of my acquaintanceship with the car. We contemplated how fortunate that it was unlike the previous model, the Silver Cloud which requires the removal of wheels and inner wings to get at the plugs and having simply removed the plugs and dried them out succeeded in getting a semblance of life from the engine, however..

Removing three plug leads from the nearside engine block had no effect on the smoothness of its running thus we started an investigation of the distributor cap and contact breaker points. Sadly such is the prevalence of electronic ignition nowadays that it was necessary to recall that the silver paper in a cigarette packet is near enough the required 12 to 16 thou for emergency resetting whilst the cardboard of the packet adequately approximates the required 25 thou for the plugs.

The plug leads themselves following were further examined when the chosen spark plug was still sparking somewhat like an anaemic firefly, to our surprise two were corroded solidly into the distributor cap but having cleaned them up we achieved a reliable start and an exceptionally sweet, even engine note and thanking John (RAC man) for his kind assistance proceeded towards Carnforth marvelling at the sheer volume of traffic around Lancaster and its environs, whilst I personally was noticing with gathering despondency the suggestions of plug oiling. My forebodings were proved soundly based when our vehicle decided that we should visit the station at Carnforth and share the magic it lent to “Brief Encounter”. A second pleasant chat with an RAC patrolman solved the problem and decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and having discussed the least trafficked route to the M6 we set off home with an escort back to the motorway.

The remaining trip was not entirely trouble free, having one further episode of Rescue between the two halves of the M55 junction, after which we were escorted home as the consensus of our final discussion was that RAC vehicles are not of a sufficient size to move the Shadow.

At present I am awaiting a complete new HT system, coil, distributor cap, 9 HT leads etc and wondering how I could have missed the usual habit of replacing most of it immediately upon acquiring the vehicle as was my custom when acquiring older cars because they were all I could afford. The embarrassing truth is that when we bought the car I was more concerned about persuading it to stop than getting it to go, thus we were in the somewhat embarrassing situation of having finally got a car which stops reliably but now has decided not to run reliably.

The second part of this report will be completed later when we have got the ignition system working reliably and can offer a view on the lunch we never did get. In the meantime we are looking forward to the next run to prove it will proceed reliably.

Matthew and Marian Frayne        

Matthew’s report of the second run is:

I detailed my reminiscences with a friendly RAC man on the wonders of the contact breaker driven ignition system, that was before my memory had been required to recall some lesser known facts of eight cylinder ignition systems. Distributors existed as single or twin contact breaker systems, and of course the Shadow I have is a single contact breaker system, thus the points gap is irrelevant and instead one must set the dwell angle, a convenient screw being fitted to the distributor body to enable one to adjust this whilst the engine is running (obvious when you think about it), the performance of an 8 lobed distributor cam being such that the maximum dwell time or points open is needed to ensure coil saturation and hence spark adequacy  but unfortunately as  the dwell adjuster moves the stator plate the ignition timing must then be reset for optimal running.

The timing from late October to our planned departure for India on the second of December left time a little short to obtain the parts but following a pleasant chat to the helpful people at Flying Spares, Rolls Royce parts suppliers, I obtained the basics of a replacement ignition system. Prior to ordering a consultation of the service handbook and inspection of the vehicle had left me with the certainty that given the fact that two more ignition leads were corroded solidly into the distributor cap and the coil was both difficult to access without dismantling the system and in the way of removing the ignition leads that should be replaced as well I set to work dismantling.

For reasons obvious to the cars designer the leads are shrouded and bolted down to the engine block in three places each, one of which apparently required either you to dismantle the hydraulic system or have a boneless arm to remove, also of interest is that the handbook does not contain a detail of the firing order, the friendly fellow at Flying Spares did helpfully comment he hoped I hadn’t removed the plug leads – presumably if I had I would not have been the first. Fortunately I had not and promptly drew up a diagram of outputs for the distributor cap.

There then followed two weeks of pleasant leisurely dismantling with insufficient skin loss to cause the paintwork to blister. The skin loss though was sufficient to make me realise that the rapidly dwindling time before our holiday and the probability of both forgetting the order for reassembly and losing the will to live if I couldn’t release a nut and bolt which I had after a week of struggling failed to find access to remove and release the nearside plug lead ducting meant I should call for assistance. Darren, our local service man kindly helped me out so by the 30th of November the car would once again run.

The holiday thus started when whilst we had driven her round the village to both check she ran and establish whether a particularly loud backfire whilst finding a section of hard shoulder on the M6 to stop had not in fact found a weak spot in the exhaust she was returned to the garage to await the New Year.

After a brief foray to Leyland for the AGM which was also the first run for the Shadow since the Chairman’s Run we finally yesterday (9th February 2008) made it to the Royal. The weather was equally clement and the drive was as pleasant as it should have been. Silverdale was basking in sunshine but regrettably we appeared to have missed lunch again and so cannot report on that aspect of the day. Sadly the dining room appeared not to be available for lunch but a little walk on the shore repaired that loss whilst the weather more than amply recompensed the search.

The one feeling we did share was of relief that the final failure had been in Carnforth and no closer to Silverdale as the route back would have been considerably more difficult had we not accepted the need to return before getting onto the more scenic final element of the route.

In conclusion I am happy to say the old girl is now proceeding with the accustomed imperturbability and not only stops well but also goes and we are now ready and eager for the next foray.

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£500 for 2010 Festival

Chairman, Peter Meakin and Dennis Read attended Poulton le Sands Lodge No 1051 to present a cheque for £500 from the West Lancashire Masonic Classic Car Club to the Colin Penty Wright for the 2010 Festival.  As president of the club during his time as Provincial Grand Master and a classic car owner he very much appreciated the donation from such a relatively new and small club

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Club thanks Colin

Chairman, Peter Meakin along with members Dennis Read, Brian Seddon and Melvyn Willett attended Poulton le Sands Lodge No 1051 on 26 November to present an etched glass photograph frame, with a picture of Colin Penty Wright’s Singer Hunter classic car, from the West Lancashire Masonic Classic Car Club to the Past Provincial Grand Master for his services to the club.

Colin was also invited to accept a position as Life Vice-President, which he was delighted to accept.

Being a classic car owner, he very much appreciated the gift and position and it is hoped that he will continue to attend the club’s events together with his wife, Kathryn.

The etched glass frame containing the photograph of Colin’s Singer Hunter classic car.

Club chairman Peter Meakin presents the special gift to Past Provincial Grand Master Colin Penty Wright.

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