Within Freemasonry it is not uncommon for Lodge’s to experience stresses and strains. Due to dwindling members and no new initiates it gets to the stage where the Lodge committee has to decide their next steps which include handing in their warrant which is an incredibly sad fact to have to deal with.
Thankfully however Noel Lodge 2444 did not do this despite the hard times they found themselves in. The members of the committee were desperate to revive their Lodge and came to the conclusion they would turn it into a specialist lodge. They decided they would become a Motorcycle Lodge which would then go on to be known as Noel Surrey Motorcycle Lodge 2444.
It didn’t take long for the committee to see the results of their decision and found themselves gaining a few extra members who were interested in motorcycles. With this new enthusiasm the committee of Noel Surrey Motorcycle Lodge 2444 came up with another great idea of approaching the Widows Sons to see if they would come on board and help grow this fantastic lodge again.
Almost without hesitation the Widows Sons agreed and several members from the local Widows Sons Surrey Chapter went on to become members. Several of these members have now gone on to take office within the Noel Surrey Motorcycle Lodge 2444.
Following on from their continued growth and now with the Widows Sons on board the Noel Surrey Motorcycle Lodge 2444 started to get a number of visitors over the years from all over the country. Some of these visitors also then went on to become a member of this unique lodge.
Then in the late summer of 2022 the Secretary of Noel Surrey Motorcycle Lodge 2444 WBro Derek Hay kindly put out an invite to the newly formed Quarrymen Dorset Chapter of the Widows Sons. A couple of the Quarrymen kindly took WBro Derek up on his offer which was on behalf of the newly elected Master of the Lodge WBro Alan Boult and his officers.
On the afternoon of the 23rd of November 2022 Vice President WBro Paul Bishop and Secretary Bro Tony Pereira from the Quarrymen travelled to Surbiton in Surrey with WBro Derek. They were given a tour of this magnificent building which was the Surbiton Masonic Hall. The building is huge with three temples, two dining rooms and most importantly an enormous bar. The history on display in the Surbiton Masonic Hall is truly special and well worth a visit.
The time then came to start the meeting which was an installation of WBro Alan Boult. At this very special meeting we were privileged to be in the company of numerous distinguished officers and brethren from all over England. Also in attendance at this meeting was Right Worshipful Past DpGM Richard Wileman of Surrey. VW.Bro Richard is also a member of the Noel Surrey Motorcycle Lodge 2444 and a patched member of the Widows Sons Surrey Chapter.
One of the unique things about the Noel Surrey Motorcycle Lodge 2444 is during their ceremonies and dining members and visitors are required to wear their cuts instead of their jackets along with the aprons.
The ceremony was amazing and it is always nice to see how different lodges conduct their ceremonies which gives them their identity. It was nice to see the officers both from the previous year and newly elected officers working together to make it extra special for their new Master WBro Alan.
On the last rising in the temple Bro Paddy Cooper another visitor to the Noel Surrey Motorcycle Lodge rose. Bro Paddy explained that his elderly mother had always had a strong passion for motorcycles after being brought up around them in her younger days in Northern Ireland. Bro Paddy’s mother told him pre covid that she would like him to get a motorbike but unfortunately due to his circumstances he was not able to do this. Following some research Bro Paddy came across the Widows Sons and the Noel Surrey Motorcycle Lodge 2444. He made contact with them to see if they would help in making his mother’s upcoming birthday extra special by taking her on the back of a motorcycle. Of course the Widows Sons accepted this invite and 12 of them turned up to meet Bro Paddy and his mother and took her for a ride on the back of a trike. Bro Paddy says that she absolutely loved this gesture and nothing he bought for her was able to beat this as she was so overjoyed by this experience. Bro Paddy then passed on his thanks from his family towards the Noel Surry Motorcycle Lodge 2444 and the Widows Sons for their incredible generosity.
Next was the festive board with 31 in attendance which was the highest number of attendees the Noel Surrey Lodge 2444 have received for some time and all money raised was going towards creating a website for them to help with enticing new members to the lodge and for regular updates. The amount raised was over £200 which was fantastic meaning this has set them well on their way to achieve their goal of setting up their lodge website. The food at the festive board was some of the nicest food on offer at lodge meetings which was prepared by the fantastic chefs and served by the professional waitresses and waiters.
Rather surprisingly Bro Tony Pereira was asked to respond to the visitors’ toast which he kindly accepted this privilege of saying thanks to this superb lodge on behalf of all the visitors and wished them well and a Happy Christmas and New Year to all.
The festive board was wrapped up with some phenomenal signing by WBro Chris Sims who has an incredible voice. The only thing missing from the festive board was the Dorset fire 😀.
At this meeting there were several members of the Widows Sons from the Surrey Chapter, Shires Chapter, Southern Chapter and the Quarrymen. This was a great opportunity for the older chapters to finally meet some of the members from one of the Widows Sons newest Chapters, the Quarrymen as we only received our Charter in July of this year. As expected we all got on amazingly and we made some good friends and discussed various opportunities for events and rides going forward.
The Quarrymen would like to wish all members and visitors from the Noel Surrey Motorcycle Lodge 2444 well, thanks for the invite and would look forward to seeing you all again soon wherever that may be. We would also like to wish WBro Alan all the best as he finally received the good news he is finally in remission.
