Mark Provincial Grand Lodge
 
The 4th of May saw Mark Masons from all over the Province, and our guests from other Provinces, descend on Southport - well over 500 of us gathered together to see our colleagues appointed, promoted and invested with their new Provincial ranks. The meeting marked the end of the first year in office for our Provincial Grand Master, Keith Beardmore, a year which has passed very quickly for him, with many Team visits all around the Province, both in Mark and Royal Ark Mariner Lodges, superbly supported by the Provincial Team.  Keith Beardmore thanked the Team in glowing terms, and then replaced most of them!  Keith welcomed all the distinguished visitors, and made special mention of Tony Harrison, Provincial Grand Master in the Craft, Phil Gunning his Craft Deputy, and Danny Jones his Deputy Grand Superintendent in the Royal Arch.  He also particularly welcomed his predecessor Peter Connolly. The ProvGM went on to congratulate those brethren who have been appointed to and promoted in Grand rank.
The meeting was punctuated by a visit from the Deputy Grand Master, RW Bro Keith Emmerson who addressed us in the meeting to update us on the very healthy nature of Mark Masons Hall, with the new management doing a wonderful job in all areas. He advised that he is to step down as Deputy Grand Master on June the 7th, and spoke with real emotion of his passion for Mark Masonry, also stressing the importance of the Craft, where we recruit our members. 
Our Prov.GM then had the great pleasure of investing his new and promoted Provincial Officers. The smiles were so obvious, and the applause so generous, that we were all left in no doubt as to the pride and enjoyment shared by all.  The reports on Charity, the Provincial accounts and the report from John Bicknell, the Provincial Grand Secretary, are all available on the Provincial website, and this meant the meeting was a very brief and efficient 2 hours in length, at which stage we all filled the huge dining room, and were treated to a wonderful meal. 
The speeches were suitably brief after dinner, with The Deputy Grand Master shockingly revealing that he comes from Yorkshire! He was forgiven, and was applauded loudly after giving a very light-hearted and interesting speech, and then a toast to our Province, and Prov. GM, to which Keith Beardmore responded in his usual entertaining. He thanked Mike Beesley for his hard work on our Provincial website, which he recommended to us all. The Prov.GM then asked W Bro Frank Thomas to advance to the top table, and thanked him for his 17 years of service to the 21st Century Club, which has raised over £30k for Masonic charities during his term of office. Frank spoke with great emotion, thanking all the brethren for their support over the years, and he was presented with a certificate of thanks by Keith Beardmore.   The winners were read out, with the first prize of £750 going to B Rafferty. Over £2000 has been donated to Masonic charities this year, form the Club.
Our Deputy Provincial Grand Master, Geoffrey Lee then gave the toast to the visitors to our Province, which he claims is the best Province....especially ahead of Yorkshire! He thanked the 12 Prov.GMs, 10 DepProvGMs, 7 Provincial Secretaries and 4 Asst ProvGMs for coming, and of course the Deputy Grand Master, for attending our meeting, and making it the wonderful event it no doubt is.  After some valuable advice on travelling to China with the surname of Lee, our Deputy ProvGM concluded by thanking all our guests, and Ernie Gavan the Provincial Tyler finished the proceedings with the Tyler's Toast.  It was just after 7.30, on a beautiful evening in Southport when the meeting was closed, and we all left feeling that the Province of West Lancashire had indeed had a splendid day.    
 

Words and pictures by Giles Berkley and Bob Boal