MARTIN Rigby took over as the new master of the Thurston Lodge of Freemasons at the annual meeting of the lodge at Ulverston Masonic Hall. The ceremony was delivered by his predecessor Christopher Eccles. There were some 75 Masons in attendance.

Special guest on the evening was Chris Butterfield a senior masonic figure from Preston, who was accompanied by the Furness and South Lakeland group chairman Peter Schofield.

To mark the occasion Carnforth resident Martin presented Chris with a donation of £700 to the Masonic Charitable Foundation, the national Freemasons’ charity.

The lodge, founded in 1894, is named after the old name for Coniston as it originally met in that Lakeland village prior to moving to Ulverston several years ago.

After the formalities of the masonic ritual a four-course meal was enjoyed where a raffle raised more funds for good causes.

Pictured from left to right, are; Christopher Eccles, Chris Butterfield and Martin Rigby.

founded in 1894 is named after the old name for Coniston as it originally met in that beautiful Lakeland village prior to moving to Ulverston several years ago.

At the recent annual meeting of the lodge at Ulverston Masonic Hall Martin Rigby took over as the new master in a masonic ceremony delivered by his predecessor Christopher Eccles. There were some 75 Masons in attendance to observe proceedings.

Special guest on the evening was Chris Butterfield a senior masonic figure from Preston who was accompanied by the Furness and South Lakeland group chairman Peter Schofield.

To mark the occasion Carnforth resident Martin presented Chris with a donation of £700 to the Masonic Charitable Foundation, the national Freemasons’ charity.

On receiving the cheque Chris commented, “This donation is very welcome. The Foundation has just given £4,000 to the local North West Ambulance Service as part of its annual distribution to such services throughout the country. This years grants of £140,000 means that a total of £2.4 million has been donated to the air ambulance service since 2007. There will also shortly be the annual allocation of funds to each hospice in the country. The continued generosity of Freemasons’ make this possible.”

As always following the presentation of the donation the next business was a collection to re-fill the charity coffers.

After the formalities of the masonic ritual a four course meal was enjoyed where a raffle raised more funds for good causes.

Pic 1:

Pictured from left to right, are; Christopher Eccles, Chris Butterfield and Martin Rigby.