By W Bro Richard Criddle PPJGD (Surrey), Club Secretary, and W Bro George Kloosman LGR, Club member

By the time you read this article, the Masonic season will be well underway, but I hope you enjoyed a restful summer.

The committee of the Kent Club for London Freemasons, however, was very much hard at work! In July, we were very pleased to host Ian Currans, the Grand Summus of the Ancient and Masonic Order of the Scarlet Cord.

Welcomed by committee member Norman Jones, Ian gave a fascinating talk via Zoom, which covered the structure, ceremonies and regalia of this rapidly-growing Order. In August, the Club held its ever-popular annual picnic and barbeque in the award-winning gardens of Ivor Macklin. Almost 40 members and their partners grabbed chairs, gazebos and quite a few bottles of wine and beer(!) and headed down to Kent’s glorious sunshine. W Bro George Kloosman who attended reports:

‘If you drove to Hever Castle on Sunday – there, in the Garden of England – you would have come across a magical thatched cottage with a crooked chimney and, just outside the back door, a well circled by a red brick wall.

You could have strolled through the bountiful kitchen garden with onions, pumpkins, tomatoes, marrows, raspberries, peppers and summer flowers galore, along with six fluffy Bantams.

The ‘back yard’ of Ivor and Wendy Macklin’s ‘Thatched Cottage’ consists of wonderful acres of ripe brown grasses, dazzling wildflowers and straight black-headed bullrushes set amongst dark ponds and mighty oaks.

And if you had wandered along the mowed green paths, you would have discovered a gaggle of bright picnic tables with comfortable chairs.
It was the Kent Club Barbeque.

You would have found ‘Mine Host’, ferrying succulent chicken and fat brown sausages from W Bro James Squirrell’s glowing barbeque to ravenous Kent Clubbers.

There were wines, beers, and drinks from coloured bottles of all kinds, peering from a large red bucket of ice.

Best of all, you would have met the members of the Kent Club and their lovely ladies.

Is it just London Masons who make you so welcome?

Well done to W Bros Ivor Macklin, James Squirrell, Angelo Zito and Daoud Himmo.‘

In September, Bro Daoud interviewed the Metropolitan Grand Secretary over Zoom. We had a bumper turn-out to hear W Bro David Swain talk about his past life in the Royal Navy, his masonic journey and how he keeps the machinery of Metropolitan Grand Lodge running so efficiently. It really was a most fascinating and engaging talk.

Then, in October, the Club put on a very special event that featured stories and case studies about Lodges who have re-invented themselves. We heard about the Universities Scheme from W Bro Julian Soper MetGInsp, and about the special interest Lodges from W Bro John Parry MetGInsp and W Bro Robert Grant AMetGM.

Now, if the pandemic has played havoc with your memory, help may be at hand! On 7 December, in a talk exclusively for the Kent Club, W Bro Martin Faulks will present the memory methods used by the medieval stonemasons. What is the art of memoria verborum? How to remember the names and ranks of Masons you meet? How to build a memory palace using the Lodge room? More generally, how could you improve your memory?

Details of this and all our forthcoming events can be found on our website – londonfreemasons.club – and on our Facebook group. Membership costs just £10 a year, but if you attend our annual dinner (in a prestigious venue), you get it back. If you would like to get more involved in the Club, please get in touch via contact@londonmasons.club.

This article is part of the Arena Magazine, Issue 46 October 2021 edition.
Arena Magazine is the official magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.

Read more articles in the Arena Issue 46.