Easterford Lodge  ·  Est. 1890

Easterford Traditions

Over the years events become traditions, some of which at Easterford have been repeated for several decades. Below is the background to some of the most memorable.

Festive Boards

Ceremonial dinners celebrating Masonic fellowship and brotherhood

Uniformity of dress was established by the founders and has continued ever since with evening dress and black ties as normal attire for all Craft and the same for Mark meetings but black with white spotted bow ties. Morning suit is the dress for Chapter meetings.

After each meeting there is a glass of sherry before the call to the Festive Board which at Easterford follows traditions established over the years. Apart from special days, Easterford soup is always the first course followed by a main course and then cheese and biscuits. The Easterford soup tradition was established in 1982 by W.Bro. Robert Brice who was a man of ample proportions who supervised the catering for many years and was installed with the Carver's apron. Stewards serve the meal and no catering staff are allowed in the dining room. All members, apart from active officers, are considered to be stewards, whatever their rank or station in life.

Each year the Master is presented with a firing glass and these are sufficient to be actively employed after every toast. The toast to absent brethren is given when the clock strikes nine and is always accompanied by the song "Absent Brethren."

Easterford is fortunate to have many members with musical talents so the song to the newly installed Master or a new initiate is always robust. Speeches are short and to the point and appropriate for the occasion. At the Installation meeting the ceremony of the loving cup is performed at the Festive Board.

Strawberries and Sweet Peas

A cherished tradition unique to Easterford Lodge

Each July we have what is known as the "Strawberry Meeting". The Flower Show and Garden Party held on 5th July 1922 in the gardens of Dr. Salter's house in Tolleshunt D'Arcy was rained out. At the end of the day large quantities of strawberries remained untouched. Cyril Deal was attending the party. "Deal, what shall we do with these strawberries?" asked the doctor. After a moment's thought, Cyril replied "We have a meeting at Easterford tomorrow afternoon, why not take them there." The Easterford brethren enjoyed them the next day and strawberries have been a feature of the July meeting ever since, and were for many years supplied by Tiptree farmer and member Bro. Fred Birkin.

Bro. Bertram Deal, a member of the Lodge, was a seed merchant and an expert on Sweet Peas. He always exhibited at the D'Arcy show, as did Dr. Salter. Despite many attempts to win First Prize at the show, Dr. Salter's gardener had been unable to upstage Bro. Bertram's exhibits. Bertram Deal thought one year it was about time the "Old Doctor" won. The judge of the sweet peas was a Mr. C Keeble, a sweet peas specialist employed by Bertram Deal. Eventually the doctor won first prize and he was so pleased and proud that he placed them on the top table at Easterford the next day. Dr. Salter afterwards supplied sweet peas to decorate the top table every year at the July meeting until his death. W.Bro. Cyril Deal continued the custom afterwards and it has been continued by other brethren to this day.

Special Anniversaries

Celebrating the Centenary (1990) and 125th Anniversary (2015) of Easterford Lodge

The Centenary meeting was held on Monday 19th March 1990 and owing to a shortage of accommodation, only members of the Lodge were admitted. Sixty-one attended among whom were R.W.Bro. F.E.R. Leistikow P.G.M., W.Bro. R.G. Eggleton APGM, W.Bro. J.W. Deal PAPGM and three Grand Officers. The proceedings were lavish and well prepared. The summons for the Consecration had been printed on stiff paper, azure-blue in colour and adorned with decorative edging coloured red and black. The summons for the Centenary contained an exact replica of it.

At the meeting Worshipful Master W.Bro. R.C. Taylor together with the Secretary W.Bro. Robin Jarvis read a short paper titled "The Conception and Consecration of Easterford Lodge." Centenary Jewels, having only just arrived, were then presented to Brethren by the APGM, W.Bro. R.G. Eggleton. Champagne for the reception in the Salter Room had been put down five years earlier by W.Bro. C.M. Cook before a Festive Board of six courses, wines, port, cognac and whisky. A feature of the meeting was Ice Pudding which was recreated from a recipe 100 years earlier. There was one special toast to Sir William Abdy without whom the Festive Board would not be celebrated in such a fine manner.

As only members could attend the March meeting there was a further celebration on 6th October with a meeting and banquet at the Moot Hall in Colchester, attended by the Senior Officers of the Province as well as other distinguished guests.

Unless you are a Founder member or guest of a new lodge you will not experience a Consecration ceremony. Easterford did the next best thing to mark its 125th Anniversary in 2015. The Provincial Grand Master John Webb agreed to undertake the re-enactment of the Ceremony of Consecration on 5th March 2015. This involved extensive rehearsals conducted by the Provincial DC, Paul Reeves. Once the lodge had been formally opened, the PGM John Webb entered the lodge and conducted an amazing ceremony of Invocation, Dedication and Constitution accompanied by prayers, hymns and special organ music. It was followed by champagne, canapes and a six course Festive Board. The evening concluded with a toast to the Founders by W.Bro. Paul King with a response by W.Bro. Peter Hine, the most senior Pastmaster and grandson of one of the founders.

This special anniversary was marked by a specially produced brochure which included a reproduction of the original summons of the Consecration of 19th March 1890, which took place at the Public Hall in Kelvedon, together with the minutes of the meeting and an extensive report of the proceedings printed in the Essex Standard. In appreciation of the ceremony conducted by the PGM, John Webb was invited to become an honorary member and has specifically contributed to the lodge by acting as candidate on two occasions on the demonstration of the third degree by the Lodge of Instruction.

Ladies, Presidents' Nights and 80th Birthdays

The origins of some of the Lodge's most cherished gatherings

In 1969 the Earl of Warwick P.G.M came to install W.Bro. Reg Buck as an APGM. After the ceremony, which Lord Warwick performed immaculately, he turned and asked "Do any daughters of members ever have their wedding receptions at the Lodge?" The reply was "Good heavens, no Sir," to which Lord Warwick replied "I don't see why not, you have wonderful facilities and they would be used." Following that conversation, the Ladies were invited to a supper buffet. It was a great success and has been perpetuated as President's Night each year since.

We also celebrate the 80th birthdays of members with a luncheon in the lodge. Ladies have been invited to those events for a number of years. Each Christmas there is a widow's lunch hosted by members. Lord Warwick's intervention had certainly brought about further use of this magnificent building.

Ladies nights have always been traditional at Easterford and in the 100th year there was a special dinner at the Embassy Suite in Colchester as well as a Lodge of Instruction lunch held at Easterford. Today this tradition continues but the format varies according to the current Master's wishes.

The Easterford Burns Supper Tradition

How a single performance became a lasting Lodge tradition

Tradition forms an important part of how we define organisations and the identity of individual units within an organisation. Nowhere is this more important than within Freemasonry in general and Easterford Lodge in particular. In this vein, if we do something once it is an occasion, do it twice and it becomes a habit. Three times and it has achieved the status of tradition. So it was with the Easterford tradition of the Burns Supper. Due to the timing of our meetings we cannot celebrate the anniversary on the exact day but do mark the memory of the Bard at our January meeting.

How this arose is inextricably linked to the talents of one man, the late Worshipful Master Lieutenant Colonel Willie Allan. Willie lived in Rivenhall, so it was obvious that he was an ideal joining member for Easterford Lodge which he joined on 4th November 1999. W.Bro. Martin Bevan recounts the first Burns supper.

Willie's skills as a highly accomplished piper were well known both by reputation and by witnessing performances. An opportunity came in January 2001 in celebrating the centenary of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. The lodge could both sing the last verse of the National Anthem from the Easterford Song Book, notable for the line "Long may Victoria reign", and drink a toast to her memory, in the same dining room that members of Easterford Lodge had toasted her in January 1901. Paul King and Martin Bevan delivered a talk by candlelight about events during her long reign. It came to a conclusion with a brief contemporary account of her funeral procession.

To follow that in 2002, with a piper who could also give a dramatic rendering of the Address to the Haggis, the stage was set for another occasion. Anyone who has witnessed Willie addressing and killing a Haggis on its groaning trencher will not forget having witnessed a true Master of the art. Repeating it in 2003 made it a habit. A further event at the January 2004 meeting and it was firmly embedded in the Easterford calendar as a tradition.