Having a Dave Day
 
Cleverly coinciding with the Dave Day motor cycle ride out the Joey Dunlop Lodge of MMM No 1881 choose to hold its latest meeting at Newby Bridge Masonic Hall on the Saturday morning prior to the procession arriving.
Joey Dunlop was one of the great road motor cyclists of all time having, amongst other events, won the Isle of Man TT race on no less than 26 occasions. He was a freemason.
Members of Joey Dunlop Lodge of MMM with Dennis Laird and Dave Sear

Although the lodge members are principally from Leicestershire and Rutland the lodge draws its membership from many areas, for example David Smith of Jubilee Mark Lodge is a member. It is a peripatetic one lodge holding its three meetings in various parts of the country.
 
Dave Day is of course the motor cycling tribute to Hairy Biker Dave Myers who was born in Barrow in Furness. I cannot claim to have known Dave well but when he lived at Roa Island some years ago I occasionally passed the time of day with him in the local post office when I went to collect my morning paper. He was just as he came over on television.
 
The rally sets off from London led by the other Hairy Biker Si King and makes it way to Barrow with other motor cyclists from all over the UK joining the column on the route. This year 30,000 motor bikes headed along the Furness peninsula to Barrow.
Brothers on bikes
As they travel crowds gather on motorway bridges to wave them along whilst once they get into Barrow itself the streets are lined with locals clapping and waving them along in welcome. It took nearly 3 hours for the column to pass. I actually missed Si and the lead riders as they were ahead of schedule as Burton Services had had to be by-passed as it was crammed full to capacity. The smiles on the faces of those in the rally when they see the welcome laid on for them is wonderful to observe.
 
The next day, Sunday, there were various events taking place. One of these was a display of motor cycles in the town centre.
Your northern correspondent models a souvenir t-shirt
In an excellent position in the centre of the display of motor bikes were the members of Joey Dunlop Lodge of MMM. They had a display proudly proclaiming themselves as Freemasons and were ready to chat and answer queries from passers-by. They were particularly keen to declare themselves as Mark Masons. It was a pleasure to meet them. Dennis Laird IPM of The Furness Mark was passing by as I was arranging for a photograph to be taken so he was roped in to pose alongside me.
 
Of the various things to mark Dave Day one of my favourites was the special ale called “Hairy Bikers” produced by Theakston’s brewery which was on sale at limited venues. Well, if they’ve gone to that much trouble it would be rude not to wouldn’t it - it went down well.
 
Words by Dave and pictures by Su Sear