The last Friday in October is always a special night for White Ensign Lodge as we commemorate the immortal memory of Lord Nelson following his victory at Trafalgar on the 21st October 1805.
Some 25 brethren of White Ensign being in attendance and 61 other brethren taking passage from other lodges around the provinces, of which 7 were from Newry in Northern Ireland and 3 from Germany, it being rather ‘cosy’ in the temple. The lodge was opened in the first degree by the Worshipful Master W.Bro. Martin Carver for the immediate business including two eulogies for recently departed Brethren delivered by W.Bro. Tom Kennedy. The business being concluded, the gavel was duly passed to W.Bro. David Crump to conduct the Passing ceremony.
The candidate Bro. Buddy Kibbles-Searle acquitted himself extremely well under examination with the questions leading to the Second degree, the rest of the formalities being concluded he left the temple. On resumption of the Passing ceremony, W.Bro. Alun Jones conducted the candidate around the temple, Bro. Paul Tuckley delivered the extended working tools and the ceremony was concluded by W.Bro. Martin Green delivering the Charge.
On conclusion of the Passing ceremony and resuming the lodge in the first degree , the gavel was passed back to the Worshipful Master. The remaining business of the evening was concluded and W.Bro. Tom Kennedy sporting a ‘Bosuns call’ promptly piped ‘Cooks to the galley’ and the closed was closed shortly afterwards.
The brethren duly retired to the lounge for ‘up spirits’ and the enjoyment of the customary ‘tot’ at White Ensign, the exception being if the brethren were ‘UA’ (Under Age i.e. <20 years old) or ‘T’ (Temperance), then soft drinks were available from the bar as an alternative.
There was a double ‘Dutch auction’ for two different items which had been kindly donated to the lodge, one being a commemorative plate depicting Lord Nelson, the other a ‘jerry can’ containing a bottle of gin and a pair of glasses to assist in the consumption of said bottle. There was considerable interest amongst the brethren for both items and the ‘Dutch auction’ raised £201.
What is not unusual at White Ensign Lodge festive boards is for the ‘Shore Patrol’ to apprehend those offenders who then generously acquit themselves of any wrong doings by paying a nominal fine. The generosity amounted to a total of £158.45 to wipe the ‘slate clean’.
There was a flurry of both the informal and formal toasts, W.Bro. Tom Kennedy delivering the toast to the Immortal memory of Lord Nelson. Alms were also collected for charity which raised a further total of £612.75. The grand total raised for the evening being £972.20, a fantastic effort.
A brother also made a further generous donation of £100 to the evening.
The Worshipful Masters chosen charity being SSAFA; the daughter of W.Bro. Ian Fothergill is running in the London Marathon (2024) on behalf of SSAFA, a £1000 will be donated to SSAFA.
