At Southport Masonic Hall, a celebration was held for a well-travelled and extremely popular member of Southport Lodge No 4034. Cliff Davies had always had the travel bug, but that had not stopped him pouring heart and soul into his love of Freemasonry as well.
Indeed, the respect and affection held for Cliff by his fellow brethren was evident even before proceedings began with the lodge members warmly greeting each other with smiles outside the lodge room, and a large number of visitors having made a special effort to attend. This included a large Provincial contingent including Assistant Provincial Grand Master David Thomas and his team, who had made the journey to Southport to make the presentation and take part in the celebrations.
The lodge was first opened by the immediate past master Peter MacPhail, who promptly conducted the business of the lodge prior to the main event of the evening. This being concluded the lodge was opened in the third degree and the Provincial contingent proceeded in with great fanfare. It must be said David was accompanied by a mighty procession indeed. A great many distinguished grand and Provincial grand officers present had made the effort to come and pay their respects to Cliff, including among others the group chairman Phil Stock, vice chairman Brian Griffiths, previous chairman Colin Jenkins, group secretary Richard Jenkinson, Mark Barton PPDepGDC and Dean Walters ProvADGC.
Cliff was born in Liverpool in September 1941 and grew up in West Kirby on the Wirral. He attended St Bridget’s Church School, but his story really began when he met his lady wife Irene starting a life of adventure. Cliff’s chosen profession proved excellent for this, as he ran his own architectural and project management business for 40 years, skills needed all over the world. In 1963, the travels began as the happy couple emigrated to Australia, travelling via the Suez Canal. They lived in Ballarat, which is about 70 miles northwest of Melbourne in the state of Victoria. Cliff always had many hobbies and filled his time panning for gold, shooting, logging, playing golf and learning to play the saxophone. He and Irene were also keen on their holidays, taking in Zululand, Cape Town, Freetown and Sierra Leone.
Cliff’s Masonic career also began and was just as glamorous and travel filled, starting with his degrees all taking place in different locations. He was first initiated in Wendouree Lodge No 336 in March 1965 which was located above a shop in Ballarat, Australia, and in September 1965 he became a fellow craft in Mount Franklin St Georges Lodge No 12 in Daylesford, named after an extinct volcano near Ballarat, then in June 1966 his third degree was carried out in the Masonic Hall in Ballarat.
After a 6-month trip back home to Liverpool, Cliff returned to Australia aboard the Canberra, first calling in at the beautiful place of Fremantle in Perth, Western Australia. He then lived in Melbourne for several years where his daughter was not just born but christened at St Paul’s Cathedral in the city centre. Whilst living in Melbourne the holidays continued. After a memorable trip to New Zealand, they fell in love with the place so much that in 1973 moved to Christchurch, on the southern island of New Zealand. Cliff continued his Masonry with Cashmere Lodge No 271 which met in a historic gothic building called the Sign of the Takahe in the Cashmere Hills. After merging with the Riccarton Lodge No 276, they became the Unity Lodge No 271, and Cliff was able to continue his Freemasonry in the very impressive Canterbury Freemasons Centre in Christchurch. The adventurous hobbies continued with learning to ski, learning French, golf and of course more travel. This included car trips from the tip of New Zealand’s southern island to the springs and cities of the north, and a memorable trip to Disneyland in Los Angeles.
In 1977, Cliff and his family returned to Europe, first living in the French Alps before eventually returning to England. Cliff joined Lodge of Fidelity No 445 in Towcester, where he volunteered to project manage a major refurbishment of the lodge building. This led to the unusual situation of Cliff receiving preferment to Provincial Office before he had been through the chair. The service continued with Cliff eventually taking the posts of assistant secretary, secretary and charity steward, leading to a successive of well-deserved promotions up to Cliff receiving his current rank of Past Provincial Grand Registrar in the Province of Northampton and Huntingdonshire. Of course, Cliff’s story would not be complete without more travel and Cliff has visited lodges in Dublin, Brittany, Wales and Portugal. He also joined Grand Junction Lodge No 9775, a special interest lodge linked to the local tee junction on the Grand Union Canal, becoming WM in 2009. Cliff and his family actually lived near the canal and spent much time running, cycling and walking the towpaths. Of course, Cliff continued to travel and engage his love of adventurous hobbies, including motorbike riding and even learning to fly a helicopter.
In 2017, Cliff decided to downsize and moved to Scarisbrick, although he continued to work from home until 2020. He spent a considerable time visiting lodges in order to find one like liked, but after Brian Povey slipped him a membership form the decision was made and Cliff found a welcome home in Southport Lodge.
After the description of his rather impressive life and career, which enraptured the brethren present, Clif was handed his certificate by Phil Stock and presented to the lodge room to heartfelt applause. The gavel was then returned to the WM, who closed the lodge.
The evening proceeded to the festive board and a description of the evening cannot pass without reference to the speeches. Phil Stock first rose to thank David for coming and conducting the presentation in such a knowledgeable and heartfelt way. David, after thanking Phil, the grand officers and his own team then seamlessly turned to toast the principal guest of the evening. Southport Lodge then resumed the floor as Chris Halewood rose to raise the toast to Cliff. The overwhelming theme of Chris’ speech was Cliff’s high ethics and dedication to being a good person, noting his wife is very much the same. He highlighted Cliff’s kindness and dedication to his wife and daughter, praised his church works, discussed his long and selfless dedication to Masonry, and with clear pride raised his glass in toast to the celebrant. Cliff was also presented with a commemorative plate from the members of the lodge, honouring his many years of dedication and service to Freemasonry.
The final word of course belonged to Cliff, who rose with a smile and began to speak with the easy charm of a mind broadened by adventure. He began to regale the attendant brethren with tales of his extraordinary life and journey in Masonry, noting the welcome you receive in Masonry is the same all over the world. In-between the wit and extraordinary tales, though it must be said that Cliff’s speech was mostly not about himself but others, praising the individuals who had shown him such friendship over the years and humbly glossing over his own achievements in this most extraordinary of stories. In the end, the celebrations continued long into the evening as all applauded this most excellent of Masons, and the example in how to live he perfectly embodied.