Caldercruix St John 1314

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void;  and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. Genesis 1:1-3

Last night It was a great personal delight for the first time in my capacity as a Grand Lodge of Scotland, Steward to  join the GLoS deputation which was headed by Depute Grand Master Bro J Bell when we visited  Lodge Major Ness 948 to witness 1 Diamond  jubilee and 2 golden jubilee certificate presentations. A Deputation from The Provincial  Grand Lodge of Lanarkshire Middle Ward headed by RWPGM Bro A Miller also attended to assist in the presentation to Bro George Kelly PPGM PSGM #60years and Bro Alex Kelly PSPGM and Bro Andy Edwards #50years 

There are a limited number of tickets available for the Caldercruix St John 1314 Sportman's dinner which is being held in the Masonic Temple Clark St Airdrie on  Friday 13th May 2022. Entry 7pm for 7.30pm Tickets are priced £25 which includes a free raffle. The  Chairman on this occassion is Bro Billy Brooks PM 203.  The guest speakers are Bro David Ross PM 440 and John Gahagan ex footballer. Its sure to be a great occassion so dont delay! Get your tickets asap as they are selling fast! Contact any 1314 member  to purchase tickets! AMH PM Sec.

I think you will like this amusing entry from the lodge history archives. On the 6th of October 1972. It was agreed to purchase a new Masonic Carpet. At the next regular meeting Bro. Jimmy Simpson P.M. Founder Member said that the carpet was only fifty years old and that he thought it would do a few years more.   It must be remembered that Bro. Simpson was losing his sight and could not see the holes in the carpet.  

On the 2nd of March 1954. It was intimated that Bro. A. E. McVey had now become the Mayor of Barnsley, and the Secretary sent a message of congratulations on behalf of the Lodge. I therefore did some research and much to my astonishment I stumbled across this wonderful photo of Bro A. E . McVey and Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II. Bro A E McVey welcomed the Queen to his town at the town's railway station and then he and his wife escorted the new monarch on a tour of the town and the Yorkshire coalfields. I also found an oil painting of Bro McVey and his wife which hangs in the Cannon Hall Museum in Barnsley. Also pictured is a scanned article giving a full account of the day that The Queen visited Barnsley and was the very special guest of Bro McVey.  

On the 7 th  of December 1926 a debate took place among the brethren of Caldercruix St John 1314 on whether the installation ceremony should be a wet or dry occassion, and Im not talking about the weather! as up until then the installation ceremony of Lodge office bearers had always been an alcohol free event. In the end the brethren decided that for the first time ever the installation ceremony would be a wet affair. It was decided that the tickets for the installation would be set at 2/6d. This brought to mind a funny story I heard from my good friend and brother , Bro Larry Sloan who told me that at the installation ceremony of Bro Eddie Nelson in 1988 everything went well and then at the after dinner speeches PM Bro Norrie Muirhead declared that for the first time ever in the history of Caldercruix St John 1314 they had in the person of RWM Bro Eddie Nelson , their first ever tee-total RWM. He then said that in the coming year ahead that the brethren of the lodge hoped to cure ...

In a previous blogpost I focused on the lodge leaving it's spiritual home in Caldercruix. Then subsequently  moving to Airdrie in 1994. Here is a copy of the programme from the last ever Caldercruix St John 1314 meeting in Caldercruix.

I suppose all Lodges all over the world will have many firsts in their history. We at Caldercruix St John 1314 are fortunate to have some of these unique events documented. Here are just a few which we have highlighted for your perusal. I think you will find them interesting and informative. On the 25th May 1924 Lodge Caldercruix St John 1314 held their inaugural divine church service. The venue was Caldercruix Parish Church. 107 brethren attended the service consisting of the R.W.M., Office Bearers & Brethren of 1314 as well as the R.W.M. & deputation’s of Lodges 88, 166, 203, 544, 484, & I.P.M. & deputation of Lodge 1145. Our Lodge Chaplain Bro. W B. Jack preached from the text of Exodus 12, Verse 26 “What mean you by this service” On the 7th of October 1924 our Lodge office bearers conferred a degree for the first time since the formation of the Lodge as up until then degrees had been conferred with the assistance from Brethren of Sister Lodges from Airdrie. On the 1...

Of the twelve founding members who were office bearers at the consecration of Lodge Caldercuix St John 1314 in 1923…. five brethren were from Airdrie St John 166, four brethren were from New Monkland Montrose 88, one brother each from Bucksburn St John 795, Livingstone St Andrew 573 and Lodge Kentigerns 429. With the majority of the office bearers being from 166 and 88 you can still see and hear to this day the influence of these both lodge’s ritual work in parts of the Caldercruix St John version of ritual. It would be interesting to see and hear the ritual work of the other three lodges whose brethren helped formed our lodge just to see which part of their ritual if any is used in our ritual work.  Here is a scaned photo of the list of office brethren from our consecration programme

19th April 1994. The last egular meeting in Masonic Hall, Airdrie Road, Caldercruix. The M.M. Degree was conferred by the Lodge Past Masters headed on this occasion by Bro. John Laird P.M.. A brief history of the Lodge was issued & a moving tribute from Bro. Jeff Spence R.W.M. to Brethren who had faithfully assisted in running the Lodge over the past 50 years. He also intimated that moving to a new meeting place would ensure the survival of Lodge Caldercruix St John 1314. Over 160 attended this meeting brethren form inside & outwith the Province Here's the speech which Bro Jeff Spence PM gave to the assembled brethren Caldercruix St John has a long history, a tradition that has been forged by many dedicated freemasons. Everything we are today, everything we aspire to is based firmly on the foundations which they laid. Our commitment to upholding the decorum, the integrity & principles of our order are why we have arrived at this difficult decision. Any failure in our re...

Here is an account of the day the The Grand Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Scotland Bro David Liddel Granger of Ayton visited Caldercruix St John 1314. 14th Feb 1973 At approximately 1515 Hours, the Grand Master Mason & his party arrived at the Temple of Lodge Caldercruix St John No 1314. This party consisted of David Liddel Granger of Ayton the Grand Master Mason, Bro. Kenneth O. Byres D.G.M.M., David Straiton P.G.M. Lanarkshire Middle Ward, Robert T. Sime P.G.D.M., George Sneddon, Robert Russell, Joe Parvin, P.G.S.M’s and Andrew Miller P.G.Treasurer. On arrival, the above deputation was warmly welcomed on behalf of Lodge Caldercruix by their R.W.M. Bro. David McMeekin supported by W.S.W. William Kelly, W.J.W. Arthur Shevill, I.P.M. Alexander Stewart, James Simpson P.M. Founder Member John Graham P.M. D.M John Watt P.M. S.M. John Laird P.M.& 9 Brethren of the Lodge. If you were one of these brethren please let the Lodge know so that we can add your name. In addition to...

Whilst browsing through the lodge archive pages I came across an interesting lodge minute which stated that on the 1 st  of December 1941 at the annual general meeting there were only 14 brethren present and each was elected to take up office for the ensuing year. I presume the reason for the low attendance at such an important meeting in the lodge calendar was that our country was at war and the general public were suffering severe hardship. It’s in times like these when our honourable organisation is needed most and there is no better an example than a minute from that same meeting in 1941 which stated that our lodge ,Caldercruix St John 1314 agreed to send a donation of £3.3d to the Red Cross appeal for Russia. I being a young chap and not around back then I was intrigued to find out more about this appeal. So after some research I discovered that in 1941 an appeal was made by Mrs Clementine Churchill the wife of the British Prime Minister and Great War Leader Winston Churchill ...

Blackpool is famous for many things. The Tower, The Winter Gardens, The Pleasure Beach, The Illuminations, kiss me quick hats and of course Blackpool Rock From Cannon and Ball to Little and Large the holidaymakers of Blackpool have over many decades been thoroughly entertained each and every year with the best of British music hall acts who visit the English North West holiday destination. However on Friday the 25 th  of September 1987 a select group of men from the town of Blackpool had the pleasure of witnessing something they had never seen the likes of before. On this day in history our Lodge, Caldercruix St John 1314 formed a delegation and for the first time ever and the only time ever left the country and travelled to England to confer an exemplification of the Master Mason degree in our own unique Cruix manner. Our lodge was invited to the Province of West Lancashire by Bro. Allan Forrest J.W. of Lodge Benevolence No 6340 English Constitution who was a regular attender at o...

The Craig Instiute. Where whist drives & dances were organised by the locals of the village in Caldercruix to raise funds for the formation of our Masonic Lodge.