The Rugby Lodge went on tour for its annual away fixture for the third year running. This years tour was to the beautiful historic city of York on Thursday 31 August 2017. Castlegate at York is the home Lodge of the Worshipful Master RWBro Bob Clancy – The Provincial Grand Master for the Province of North & East Yorkshire. Castlegate is literally around the corner from York Minster, an unbelievable setting for a Rugby Lodge meeting.
There were 56 Brethren present and 54 dining, which literally filled the Lodge and Dining rooms.
The Worshipful Master started the proceedings by welcoming all members of the Rugby Lodge to York.
The picture shows the unusual situation for the Organist VWBro Stephen Holt, high up above the Senior Wardens pedestal. You can just see Stephens head over the parapet.
On starting to play the Opening Ode the Director of Ceremonies (WBro Simon Archer) shouted that the organist was playing the wrong tune! The Deacon at that end had to wave and knock his wand on the parapet to get the Organist to stop. In his defence, Stephen claimed that as a scrum half he was not used to being elevated to such heights and had become disorientated. He duly received a yellow card at the social board.
The main item on the agenda was a very informative talk on the development of Freemasonry by VWBro Richard Moss, which was very well received.
The social board was a very lively event with plenty of “Yorkshire v Lancashire” banter. All carried out in good taste.
As the Lodge Chaplain could not be present, an excellent substitute was found in WBro Morris Hatton, The Provincial Grand Chaplain for North and East Yorkshire. When saying “Grace” WBro Hatton used some Yorkshire words not normally received in an East Lancashire Lodge, for which he promptly received a straight red card.
The DC was showing cards at regular intervals and everyone has now lost count how many cards VWBro Holt has collected since the Lodge was formed.With an hour to go, the Worshipful Master decided a fine of £1 for a yellow and £2 for a red should be introduced. By the end of the evening, £20 had been collected by the DC. In traditional rugby tour practice, a number of members could be found in the bars and clubs of York well into the early hours of next morning.
The only mishap was that the “Working Plans” in the form of scrolls, of great value to the Lodge, were left behind. The Treasurer WBro Barry Heal, who had taken the scrolls to York by train, refused to take the blame for them being left behind and said it was the Senior Wardens (WBro Graham Rawlinson) fault for not depositing them in a place of safety.