The brethren of Marquis of Lorne Lodge No 1354, on the occasion of their installation, were honoured by the presence of Assistant Provincial Grand Master Malcolm Bell as their principal guest.
In the procession into the lodge and supporting Malcolm were grand officers; Anthony Bent, Malcolm Parr, Len Hart, Chris Eyres, Leigh Group Chairman Jonathon Heaton and acting Provincial grand officer Colin Thorne. Aiden Murphy was the lodge director of ceremonies.
Glyn Jones, being the master elect of the Marquis of Lorne Lodge, has been a Freemason since 2016 and has been an avid, reliable and committed person who, in his journey to master elect, has made some great friends in all the lodges in the Leigh Group.
He started his journey into Freemasonry by attending a Sportsman’s Dinner charity event at Westhoughton Masonic Hall with Masonic friends, he was approached by John Phillips recruitment officer for the Marquis of Lorne Lodge who was very impressed by what Glyn had to say.
Glyn is hoping eventually to join the Royal Arch after he has focused on his duties as WM, he mentions like many brethren that the brain does not absorb at the same rate as it did 30 years ago. His own personal career has been vast and varied, from being a business consultant, marketing executive to areas of commercial corporate activities.
In his early years, having left grammar school at 16, he worked for BICC in Leigh, progressing to quality control inspector, eventually attaining the position of project engineer.
He is a highly self-motivated person that eventually led him to start his own marketing consultancy business for M&S and their supplies, this led him to finally take on the role of commercial marketing manager for the Huddersfield Giants, overseeing the merger with the Sheffield Eagles.
Glyn was forced to retire from his work life, due to his wife having multiple sclerosis, he looked after her for nearly 8 years until she sadly passed away.
He went to different countries seeking employment, like China, Philippines and Mexico, in manufacturing clothing industries. He had a big passion for gardening that evolved into a gardening maintenance business for the past 16 years.
The lodge was opened in the third degree, after which Malcolm was offered the gavel in the formal manner after which he politely returned it to the installing master Chris Givvons. The lodge then closed by virtue to the second degree. Glyn was then presented as master elect, he recited his obligation in a compelling manor, after preliminaries the board of installed masters proceeded, Glynn was installed in fine style by Chris.
The working tools were presented in all three degrees to Glyn. The address to the stewards was given by Mark Rainsford, Ian Mann gave the address junior warden and to the WM in his usual faithful manner, Aiden Murphy gave the address to the IPM Azeez Amosun, Anthony Bent gave the address to the wardens and Malcolm Bell gave the address to the brethren of the lodge. The lodge DC then said: “WM, that completes the ceremony of installation.
Malcom then gave the greetings on behalf of Mark Matthews and at this point, cheques for the various charities were presented to Malcolm, they were as follows; The Wigan and Leigh Hospice £1,000, The Leigh Masonic Building Fund £750, West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity £350, The Multiple Sclerosis Society £250 and The Leigh Group Charity £115 making a grand total of £2,465. Malcolm thanked the brethren of the lodge for their very kind and generous donations.
After the first rising, a recession was formed for Malcom and the grand and acting Provincial grand officers to retired from the lodge. The final business of the lodge was concluded and the lodge was closed in peace and harmony.
The festive board menu started with Lorne sausage with roasted red pepper topped with king prawn, served with sweet chili sauce, the main course was peppered chicken breast and Marquis potatoes served with baby carrots and broccoli florets, finally the dessert consisted of chocolate cake, raspberries, ice cream, finishing with tea, coffee and biscuits. The festive board had an incredible amount of cheer and laughter throughout with much banter with new friends old and new.