Tuesday December 16th saw Worshipful Master Dave Jackson, initiate his third new brother of the Masonic year 25/26. The Lodge of Dawn welcomes new brother, Christopher Weightman. The Initiation ritual was impeccable, something we have come to expect here at Castle Grove.
Notably, Brother Raw stepped in at the last hour to deliver The Apron. A piece of ritual he delivered beautifully.
We had 49 in attendance with 6 visitors from 4 Lodges including 2 recently initiated Entered Apprentices from Excalibur Lodge 9214 who were invited to join the candidate on the floor of the Lodge for the explanation of the first degree Tracing board by Worshipful Brother Derek Sendrove.
The regular Junior Deacon, although present, wasn’t able to perform his regular duty as he is recovering from a hip replacement. The Lodge Secretary, Worshipful Brother Nigel Ziff, left his desk and deputised.
Once initiation was complete we moved along to a very special moment. Worshipful Brother Nevil Tolkin was presented with a certificate to commemorate 50 years since his Initiation into the Lodge of Dawn by Worshipful Brother Geoffrey Caplin.
Worshipful Brother Nevil Tolkin was initiated into The Lodge of Dawn on 9th December 1975, passed on 9th March 1976 and raised on 8th June that same year. He became Master of The Lodge in September 1992 and subsequently became Almoner for 12 years. He was promoted to Provincial Grand Lodge initially as Past Provincial Junior Deacon and then later promoted to Past Provincial Registrar.
Worshipful Brother Tolkin spoke candidly about being stationed on Christmas Island during the nuclear testing of the hydrogen bomb and atom bomb. About 22,000 are believed to have taken part, between 1952 and 1967 and Worshipful Brother Tolkin received The Nuclear Test Medal in November 2023. It arrived in the second class post from Prince Charles.
If you would like to read more about Worshipful Brother Tolkin’s nuclear story please click HERE
Worshipful Brother Nevil Tolkin (right) was presented with a certificate to commemorate 50 years since his Initiation into the Lodge of Dawn by Worshipful Brother Geoffrey Caplin.
Festive Board commenced with Worshipful Brother Brown lighting of the Hanukkah candles. The ‘festival of lights’ is a Jewish tradition and celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple. It was the fourth night of Hanukkah and four candles were lit.
Festive Board continued into a lively and festive spirit with Turkey and Christmas Pudding aplenty, along with Christmas crackers and mince pies. The icing on the cake was Worshipful Master Dave Jackson treating all brethren to doughnuts (part of the Hanukkah tradition) and the very talented and mystifying Franklin The Mind Magician. On a cold and miserable evening weather-wise, 49 brethren left Castle Grove with a warm glow of fraternity, good food and a head of poor jokes.
Our usual raffle raised £218 in favour of the 2028 Festival.
We all bid farewell before anybody had time to change into pumpkins.
Joining the Lodge of Dawn
If you are not a Freemason and, having read the above, would like to find out more, read our Seven Reason to Join The Freemasons, our guide on ‘How to join The Freemasons‘ or our simple ‘What is Freemasonry?’ page.
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