Mike Martin

If you're referring to the site which showcases part of my collection I did actually say "rarer" rather than "rare" when talking about the "Long Armed Victorian" but I actually wrote those descriptions 10-15 years ago.

Hi there, The thing about antique jewellery is that it's price is set by the people who want to buy it. 20 years ago this type of watch fob was fetching around £350 a time on Ebay but as they have become more common that price is being asked but not being given. If you listed it for £200 you would sell it relatively easy but higher amounts means you will need to be very patient.

I suspect we'll only get to know when/if the another annual report is published.

Hi and welcome.

Hammersmith Lodge No. 2090 was Erased in 2017, not that there is any real need for help with the topic as the actual question was answered.

Hi there and welcome to the Forum. I have had to remove the link from your post and the second (aka spam) time that you posted it as it breaks the rules of the Forum (9a specifically) please do read the rules before posting again (link below) and I am sure that we all look forward to getting to know you a bit better.

Hi there and welcome to the Forum, It can be quiet but if you throw some bait in you'll get some nibbles eventually.

It'll be interesting to see if they have got enough stuff they can use as an exhibition.

Snippet: Anti-vaccination graffiti has been found on the pavement outside the Freemason’s Grand Lodge in Dublin which was damaged in a suspected arson attack on New Year’s Eve. Full story: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/anti-vaccination-graffiti-found-after-suspected-arson-at-masonic-hall-1.4767318

I see that there was a Lodge and Chapter named after him but was Sir Crawford himself actually a Freemason?

That will be because the RoI Govt. has made different Covid19 stipulations to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The RoI seems to require lots of evidence of vaccination for indoor activities, this of course is not under GLoI's control. We have had similar situations in the mainland where England, Scotland and Wales have all had different responses to social distancing over the last year and that's not to mention the Islands of Man, Guernsey, Jersey who have also had their own responses too.

I suppose the simplest way to explain it is that to the non-Freemason, on the outside, it looks as if there is one entity called Freemasonry but in reality there are actually 100s and they do not all interact or talk to each other. Most of the variants of M&M fall into the category of small and relatively isolated as they tend not to be recognised by the mainstream and oldest version of Freemasonry where they are. So for example it is quite possible that the Lodge you will be talking to will have not been chartered by https://www.grandlodge.gr/ which is the Grand Lodge of Greece that most versions of Freemasonry around the world do recogise and interact with. In reality this will have little impact on your Freemasonry if you only intend to fraternise around its Lodges but you will not be allowed to visit Lodges under Grand Lodges that do not extend recognition to yours. It's like everything, the impact is determined by what you're looking for.

Hi Panos, welcome to the Forum.

Good bit of film -

I'm not sure whether it's recruiting or not:

snippet: Freemasons to move into former Chester Age UK shop The Queen Street property in Chester was formally occupied by an Age UK shop and advice centre Full article: https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/freemasons-move-former-chester-age-21099299

Thanks for the heads-up, I have updated the link.

Dumfriesshire Freemasons make Generous Donation to Fire-Hit Wheelchair Athletics Club Snippet: Freemasons and the Provincial Grand Lodge of Dumfriesshire joined forces to donate £5,500 to the club, which lost its specialist equipment in a fire in May full story: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/dumfriesshire-freemasons-make-generous-donation-24523391

With that, I'm afraid, your welcome was outstayed.

His answer is not in any way "political" it is just factual. You have either been misled or have misunderstood what you have seen so far and have the wrong idea of what this Fraternity offers to its members. If Freemasonry could be learnt from reading books about Freemasonry there would be no need for Lodges! I would recommend you follow my earlier advice so that you can make an advancement in Masonic knowledge.

When you join Freemasonry you will find Freemasonry not those other things, although you might come across the odd person who is interested in those things. The best thing you can do is find the website of the Grand Lodge where you are and read and if interested make contact. Based on your IP address this would seem to be the right one: https://thegrandlodgeofmacedonia.org/en/home-en/

The first thing that you will have to do is write to the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex to see if it is allowing new Lodges to be consecrated as there was a moritorium put on new Lodges throughout the UGLE some years ago. Nowadays you have to explain why there is a need for a new Lodge, information about the Past Masters and others that will be the Founders and information about the Candidates that you have waiting for it to come about and explain why it will be successful etc. You may have noticed that over the last few years that the only new Lodges have been "special interest" Lodges such as the rugby, football, motoring, etc ones or under the District GLs.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-hampshire-57059148

Absolutely no reason at all why there should be any change to our rules, especially as there is, and has been for over 100 years, a version of Freemasonry where men and women sit together in Lodge. All you have to do is look at its size compared to the original to see whether it is the "future" or not.

That is a question for the Freemasons where you are in the World. What I can tell you is that any membership of your grandfather or uncle will ONLY have any relevance if they are the ones Proposing you to membership of the Lodges that they are members of. Whether you are accepted or not depends solely on you as a person.