Queens College, Taunton Lodge

The Lodge, which currently has sixty members, meets four times a year, in January, March, May and October, at the Masonic Hall in Taunton. Meetings start at 4.00 p.m. and are followed by dinner, also held in the Masonic Hall. Our meetings are well attended and we always welcome a good number of visitors.

The Lodge is open to former pupils of the School, their fathers, sons and other direct relatives, current and former members of staff and current and former Governors of the School.

Future meetings are scheduled for:

• Saturday 4 September: Feberation of School Lodges Meeting [Royal Grammer School, High Wycombe]
• Saturday 24th September 2010: Ladies Festival [Somerset Cricket Ground, Taunton]
• Saturday 9th October 2010: Lodge Meeting
• Saturday 9 October: Lodge Meeting
• Saturday 15January 2011: Lodge Meeting
• Saturday 19 March 2011: Lodge Meeting (Installation)

Further details/ information for potential new or joining members, or visitors can be obtained from:

The Lodge Secretary, David Sargison

(a) 4 St Luke's Road, Beckington, Somerset BA11 6SE
(t) 01373 831799
(e) davidsargison@hotmail.com

The Worshipful Master, Jamie Ware

(a) Little Acre, Dolberrow, Churchill, Winscombe, Somerset BS25 5NS
(t) 01934 852323
(e) jamie@churchillinvestments.co.uk

Recent News

ENTENTE CORDIALE – A VISIT TO VERSAILLES

“Trains and boats and planes” (remember the 60’s song!) were the different modes of transportation chosen by seven members of the Lodge and their wives to make their way to Versailles in mid May to visit “Respectable Loge Le Delta No. 134” under the Grande Loge Nationale Francaise and the Province of La Grande Couronne. This visit was to renew a contact of the late R W Bro Ken Kinnersley who used to visit quite regularly with members of the Royal Sussex Lodge No.53.

Having arrived at our hotel on Avenue du General de Gaulle and checked out the hotel bar, we were joined for dinner at a nearly restaurant by our host from Le Delta Lodge, Jean Boissiere, a Past Deputy Provincial Grand Master, and another Grand Officer from the Lodge.

The following day was spent in the magnificent chateau of Versailles and its splendid gardens, with a leisurely lakeside lunch before returning to the hotel for another visit to the bar and to prepare for the Lodge meeting. The ladies chose a Lebanese restaurant for their evening’s entertainment while the Brethren were at work.

We were kindly escorted by several of our hosts to the Lodge building, cunningly disguised as an apartment block, and presented immediately with a bottle of champagne that W Bro Mike Kinnersley quickly took possession of. The Lodge meeting started at 7.30 p.m. and we were privileged to witness a ceremony of initiation (“Scottish rite”), similar to our own in some respects, very different in others, and absolutely fascinating. The ceremony was followed by an introduction of our delegation by W Bro Mike (in French) and then a presentation on the history of our Lodge by W Bro Andy Rodgers, again in French. Both Mike and Andy did fantastically well and were able to demonstrate their modern language skills learnt many years ago at Queen’s. The Queen’s delegation was then presented with individual Lodge jewels and certificates to mark the special occasion. At the conclusion of the meeting (10.00 p.m. by now), we retired to the basement of the building for a magnificent Festive Board (correctly termed a Banquet). Toasts and speeches followed and it was just after midnight when W Bro Mike rose to reply to the toast to the visitors and to present the Worshipful Master of Le Delta Lodge with a Richard Coggan signed print of Queen’s College. The whole evening was a wonderful Masonic experience and we were showered with hospitality and friendship. We look forward to Le Delta’s return visit to Queen’s one day.

The following day saw most of the party off early in to Central Paris for a sightseeing morning before meeting up on Andy and Chris Rodgers’s barge, moored close to Place de la Bastille, for a leisurely afternoon in the sun drinking the champagne given to us the day before – and much more! The Brethren were eventually sent ashore for food and returned, after a compulsory bar stop, with a huge Chinese take-away and an indulgent glut of pastries. Tiredness soon began to set in and we quickly decided on a metro trip back to our hotel in Versailles, a last drink together and an early night before starting the journey home the following morning.

The visit was a great success. We had a wonderful Masonic time and thoroughly enjoyed our other activities together and, more importantly, each other’s company. We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs! Where next?

DIAMOND JUBILEE ANNIVERSARY

The Lodge celebrated its Diamond Jubilee Anniversary with a lunch in the Performing Arts Centre at the School on Saturday 3 July. Seventy-seven members with wives and guests sat down to a wonderfully prepared and served summer lunch. Guests included the Headmaster, the Chairman of the Board of Governors, the Provincial Grand Master for Somerset and the two pupils who had won this year’s Lodge prizes for Community Service activities to be awarded at Speech Day.

After pre-lunch drinks during which several pupils provided a variety of excellent musical entertainment, the Worshipful Master, Jamie Ware, introduced proceedings with a welcome to everyone followed by some reflections of Britain in 1950 when the Lodge was established. After lunch and once the champagne had been served, David Sargison proposed the main toast to the Founders, the Lodge and The School and the Headmaster responded.

Jamie Ware presented the Headmaster with a copy of a magnificent reference book for the School’s library recently published by the Province entitled “Freemasonry in the Province of Somerset From 1733.”

During the afternoon, visitors were able to tour the School and to watch some cricket and tennis in the sunshine. A fitting end to a wonderful celebratory day.

History

The Lodge was consecrated on 8 July 1950 and came into being as a result of the enthusiasm of a number of English and Welsh Old Boys of the School who were Masons. The Lodge of Unanimity & Sincerity No 261, also meeting in Taunton, sponsored the Lodge. The founders established that the Lodge should work the Oxford ritual. This has been adapted over the years to produce our own unique “Queen’s Working.”

The Lodge has been privileged over the years to have had many eminent Brethren from Somerset and other Provinces as members. In May 1980, Ken Kinnersley (father of Mike and Alan), who joined the Lodge in January 1958 and was its Master in 1968, was appointed and installed as Provincial Grand Master for Somerset, an office that he held until 1990. At present, the Lodge can boast one Grand Officer and many Provincial Officers as members as well as both the current and immediate past Provincial Grand Masters for Somerset as Honorary Members. During its sixty years, the Lodge has initiated eleven Lewis’s. A brief history has been written and copies are available from the Lodge Secretary.

The Lodge is a member of the Federation of School Lodges and has hosted the Annual Festival of the Federation on two occasions, in 1967 and 2000.

The Lodge celebrated its Silver Jubilee Meeting on 12 July 1975 and its Golden Jubilee Meeting on 8 July 1950 (50 years to the day after the consecration of the Lodge). The Diamond Jubilee Anniversary was celebrated by a lunch at the School on 3 July 2010.

The Installation of the Lodge is held in March each year. A Ladies Festival is held annually at which the Lodge supports a charity, chosen by the wife of the Master, through its fundraising efforts.

The Lodge welcomes enquiries from OQs who might like to consider becoming a member of their old School Lodge or simply visiting us from time to time.