Almost three years to the day since the Lodge of Dawn’s previous foreign trip, to Dublin, 16 brethren, plus four guests (from Zetland Lodge, the Lodge of Fidelity and Philanthropic Lodge) boarded a coach and headed north to Edinburgh. The first leg of the trip was brightened up by a quiz, arranged by resident quizmaster, Bro Andrew Ullmann.
The first stop on the trip once we arrived in Edinburgh was the Royal Yacht Britannia. After a quick lunch on board, the party toured the royal yacht, but with the added benefit of a personal guide in the form of W Bro. Gareth Davies, our guest from Philanthropic Lodge. Gareth spent 10 years working on the yacht, and gave us all a fascinating insight into life on board and regaled us with his many and varied memories of his time with the late Queen and the rest of the royal family, and life on board.
After a quick change at the hotel the brethren headed over to St John’s Street, to the Chapel of St John, the oldest purpose-built masonic room still in constant use in the world, for our visit to Lodge Canongate Kilwinning no2. Before the ceremony commenced, we were given a talk on the quite extraordinary history of the lodge, its many famous old members and the rooms themselves, including the stunning Royal Arch basement vault.
Following a well-delivered initiation ceremony, we were hosted in fine fashion at the festive board, known as the ‘harmony’ in Scotland, and treated to a stunning rendition of couple of Scottish folk songs by RWM Bro. Cameron Goodall, from the Lodge of Journeymen Masons No8.
The following morning commenced with a tour of the Grand Lodge of Scotland at Freemasons Hall on George Street. We were shown the meeting rooms, briefly met the Grand Master Mason in his office (I don’t think he was expecting 20 brethren crowded into his office when he arrived for work) and then the impressive Grand Temple.
The trip was completed with a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of Edinburgh and a leisurely lunch. Despite the short glitch of our coach’s flat battery, we returned to Leeds at around 9.00pm. Many thanks must go to W Bro. Rob Phillips for his immense efforts and hard work planning the trip, which went so smoothly.
Take a look at our album below of photos from what will be a long-remembered trip.
Visiting other lodges is one of the highlights of Freemasonry. It is a major part of the social side of Freemasonry, giving everyone the opportunity to meet, and make new, friends and acquaintances as well as watching ‘same but different’ ceremonies. The Lodge of Dawn is very active in arranging lodge visits and you can read all about all of our most recent visits here.
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.
And if you would like to join The Lodge of Dawn in Leeds, please feel free to get in touch via our ‘Contact Us’ page.