The Lodge met at Freemasons’ Hall, London for our annual Installation meeting on Thursday 8th October. As the Worshipful Master was unavoidably detained, W.Bro Shackleton was the Installing Master. W.Bro Saunders was installed into the Chair of King Solomon in a fine form. The addresses to the Master, Wardens and Brethren was expertly delivered by Bros. Birch, Ross-Barnard and Dudley.
The annual Installation meeting is where officers change duties within the Lodge. So for many members there will be new experiences to enjoy and roles to prepare for. It is especially enjoyable to see so many new members taking an active part within the Lodge.
After the meeting the bethren retired to Bucks Club for an excellent dinner.
During our Festival, which can be read about in more detail here, we received three first class talks. The authors have kindly provided the scripts for you to read and enjoy at your leisure. These files are in .pdf format.
Here are a selection of photographs taken at the 82nd Festival of the Public School Lodges’ Council at Wellington College on 30th May 2015. Paddy Balls, the photographer and member of the OW Lodge, has generously given permission for you to download and keep any photos from this gallery as a memory of the day.
The page may take a short while to load all photographs. Then you can click on any image enlarge it. You will then be provided with a download link to a high resolution image to save.
On Saturday 30th May 2015, the Old Wellingtonian Lodge hosted the 82nd Festival of the Public Schools Lodges’ Council at Wellington College.
Worshipful Master Alex Stuart-Bamford with his father, Eric-Stuart Bamford Provincial Grand Master of Surrey and the MW Pro Grand Master Peter Geoffrey Lowndes
The day began with a tea and coffee reception providing time for guests to enjoy the splendid surroundings of College. For many this was their first visit and for others, it had been many years since their last. Some commented their last arrival had been via school coach when playing Wellington at sport. The impressive buildings only adding to their nerves before the big game.
During this morning start, the Lodge was opened and business was transacted before being called off.
At 10:30 a chapel service was held. Many favourite hymns were sung with gusto and Father Tim Novis delivered a meaningful sermon for the day. Following the service we remained in Chapel for a talk about the Battle of Waterloo. Col Giles Orpen-Smellie (OW), provided insight into the preparation for the battle with great detail of the intensity and close call of the battle itself.
Following this splendid talk, masons attended Old Hall for the remainder of our masonic business while non-masonic guests enjoyed champagne in the sunshine on Combermere Quad.
Festival lunch
In our masonic meeting, we received the MW Pro Grand Master, Peter Geoffrey Lowndes. W.Bro Stephen Dudley delivered an excellent Oration detailing the little known facts about the Duke of Wellington as a Freemason.
Once the meeting was concluded, we joined our guests for a refreshing glass or two of champagne. We were blessed with glorious sunshine.
Lunch was held in the Dining Hall, where we enjoyed poached fillet of salmon, Beef Wellington and Wellington Mess; all accompanied with excellent wines. After lunch we gave various toasts and listened to speeches. Amongst which the Old Wellingtonian Lodge presented two charitable cheques for £10,000 – one to Metropolitan Grand Lodge, supporting the London Air Ambulance. The other to College, contributing to the recent purchase of Maclise’s “The meeting of Wellington and Blucher after the Battle of Waterloo“.
We then returned to the sunshine where the wine continued to flow and guests could explore College. The day concluded with everyone having enjoyed a memorable day. We wish Christ’s Hospital Lodge no. 2650 the very best for their festival in 2016.
Thank you for requesting tickets for the 2015 PSLC Festival.
All 250 tickets have been reserved, but your request is now in the waiting list. If tickets become available, we will offer these to those on the waiting list in the order they were booked.
In the meantime if you have any questions please contact me.
Trains: Please note that National Rail have confirmed that due to engineering works, trains to Crowthorne will be via North Camp and will take 1 hour and 4 minutes (with a 26 minute wait at North Camp). Those who prefer a shorter train time, but longer taxi ride, could travel by train to Bracknell and then by taxi.
Taxis: These can be booked in advance through JJM Taxis www.jjmtaxis.com from Bracknell to Wellington College. Telephone 01344 455355 or 01344 483887. If you still intend to arrive at Crowthorne Station we can arrange to have you picked up. Please advise accordingly.
The following options to arrive at Crowthorne and Bracknell are:
All 250 tickets for the Festival have now been reserved. However you are invited to continue with a booking below on a waiting list basis. If tickets do become available, we will contact those on the waiting list in order. If you decide to take up the booking, at that point we will request payment (£80 / ticket)
If you have any questions or if we can assist in any way not covered by this form, please contact Simon Wilson, the Festival Secretary – festivalsecretary@owl3404.org
NOTE: All tickets have been sold. This form is for waiting list places.
The Old Wellingtonian Lodge no. 3404 is proud to host the 82nd Festival of the Public Schools Lodges’ Council on Saturday 30th May 2015
Worshipful Master Alex Stuart-Bamford will host the 82nd Festival of the Public School Lodges Council at Wellington College on Saturday 30th May 2015.
This will be the third time that the Old Wellingtonian Lodge has hosted the Festival, having hosted 165 Brethren in 1922 and 250 Brethren and Partners in 1992.
On this occasion the Festival will coincide with the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and will include a talk about the battle.
We do hope that you will be able to join us at Wellington for what we hope will be a truly memorable Festival.
09:30hrs – Registration and coffee in Great School where you will collect your copy of the programme 10:30hrs – Chapel Service11:15hrs – Non Masonic Event – a Talk on the Battle of Waterloo by Giles Orpen-Smellie 11:45hrs – Champagne reception starts for non-Masonic guests 11:45hrs – Masonic event in Old Hall 12:00hrs – Masonic guests join Champagne reception 13:00hrs – Lunch in the Dining Hall 16:00hrs – Tea available in Combermere Quad 16:30hrs – Festival Closes
Please download an electronic copy of the Fesitval Programme here. You will also receive a printed copy on the day.
For directions to Wellington College and suggested accommodation, please click here
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