AUDENSHAW MASONIC CLUBREGALIA SHOP.

For all your Masonic Regalia, Ties, Accessories, etc.Open Saturdays 10am. until noon. Join our Saturday morning

Bacon Butty Club (BBC). Please support your shop.All profits used for the benefit of the club.

Contact Chris Bolton, Tel: 01457 869211

EComp DAVID H THOMPSON.Southern Area, and particularly Audenshaw Dis-

trict, has proved a regular source for selecting seniormembers of our Province. The latest to receive suchan honour is EComp David H Thompson, who theProvincial Grand Superintendant Installed as the 2nd

Provincial Grand Principal on the 10th May 2012.David was Initiated into Parnassus Lodge No 7869

in 1972, appointed Audenshaw District Secretary in1985, receiving Acting Provincial Honours the sameyear with Grand Honours following in 1994. Toreach Grand Rank in Twelve years gives an insightto the confidence placed in him by our Province.

Among the many offices held by David in ourProvince includes Assistant to the Provincial GrandPrincipals with responsibility for Southern Area in

2004, retiring in 2009 and in August 2008, was invited to be the Chairman of the 2015Festival, retiring on the 10th May 2012, when appointed as the 2nd Provincial Grand Prin-cipal.

His Masonic career spreads beyond Craft and Chapter. He was the Provincial GrandSecretary of the Mark Degree and is the currently holding the rank of PGJO with the pre-fix of VWBro. Even though he holds these varied high profile positions, he still takes hispart at the grass roots. He is currently the 3rd Principal of Tonge Hall Chapter No 8763and has been the secretary of Parnassus lodge since 1990 with the exception of takingoffice as Master for a year.

As with most Freemasons, we could not fulfil our duties in the order without the strongsupport of our families. David is well supported by Leslie and his family of two sons anda 20 month old adorable little boy called Isaac who they see as often as they can as bothhe and his parents live in Oxfordshire.

I am sure all the members of Stanley House Wish David the success he deserves as 2nd

ProvGP for some years to come.There is also two other instances of Southern area being a recent source for high ranking

positions. Our APGM, WBro Stephen Blank was recently appointed PGSwdB in the RA,and the APGM for Northern Area, WBro Martin Roach, a member in Southern Area, hasbeen appointed Senior Grand Deacon. They too receive the same best wishes from themembers of Southern Area.

NEWSLETTERAutumn 2012, Issue 53

AudenshawDistrict

To the memory of the passing to theGrand Lodge above of:

GEORGE WILLIAM (Bill) LEECH, JP.

DISTRICT DIARY

28 Sep MEGS visits Aldwyn Chapter.02 Oct Alphin Lodge, Mossley, demonsta -

tion of the 3rd Degree.04 Oct ProvGOrator at Lodge of Faith.05 Oct Sportsman's Dinner for the 2015

Festival.10 Oct APGM visit to Gorton Lodge.12 Oct Friends and Companions Evening.01 Nov Reddish Lodge Centenary. PGM in

attendance.14 Nov Personal 60th WBro Laurie Clap-

ham, Good Companions Lodge.25 Nov Appointment & Promotions Dinner

at Mossley.28 Nov Joint Convocation. Ardwick,

Audenshaw and Concord Chapters.MEGSupt attending.

12 Dec Personal 50th, WBro Hamilton,Good Companions Lodge.

14 Dec APGM visits Alexandra Lodge

2013

14 Feb Parnasuss Lodge Golden Jubilee.WBro David Thompson will be inthe Chair.

FELLOWSHIP DIARY

26 Sep Golden age of Operetta.Richard W Hall

24 Oct All in a Day. Anne Metcalfe.

28 Nov My Life as a Tiller Girl. Carol Ward

12 Dec CHRISTMAS LUNCH.

2013

23 Jan Curiouser and Curiouser.Margaret Curry.

27 Feb Teaching was also Fun.Gordon Greenwood.

27 Mar Mad Moments of a Methodist Minis-ters Ministry. Rev. David Davidson.

24 Apr My Nine Lives. Janet Bradshaw.

22 May Manchester Oddities.Keith Warrender.

03 Jul Annual Trip. SOUTHPORT.

A SPORTSMAN'S EVENINGOctober 5th, 2012. Tickets £20

The Speakers are:NICKY SUMMERBEE, KEVIN CONNELLY and JAMES H REEVE

Contact WBro Paul Waring: sales@lowcostwindows.com

FRIENDS AND COMPANIONS DINNER12TH October, 2012

Will all Lodge and Chapter Almoners contact WBro Paul Waring with thenames of Guests in good time for this dinner.

PROVINCIAL GRAND ORATOR

WBro Fred Lomax was appointed ProvincialGrand Orator at the last meeting of ProvincialGrand Lodge. Fred is the second Brother tohold this post since it was officially created byUGL.

He is a prolific Masonic author having writtenmany papers, short and long, covering all as-pects of what we do. There must be hundredsamong us who work the ceremonies in ourLodges and Chapters without the slightest ink-ling as to the meaning of our signs, tokens andwords, and shortly his book “Fred's Five Min-ute Papers” will certainly enlighten us all with

many revelations about what we do. Its publication date will be announced soon.

He is a PM of the Manchester Lodge for Masonic Research, a regular contributor tothe Masonic magazine “The Square” and a regular speaker at our Provinces premierannual event, “The Northern Conference” at Salford and throughout the NorthernProvinces.

Fred is a firm believer that to help to keep any of our members, we need to stimulatetheir interest. There are still many lodges and Chapters who have little on the sum-mons other than opening and closing, yet there is not a lot of value in continuing thatway, even for longer serving members. The Province has stipulated many times thatthere is never a reason for having nothing to do at a meeting. Better still why not bookan Oration into your yearly calendar well in advance; that way you are sure of havingsomething interesting to look forward to.

Fred, or a member of his team, will visit any Lodge in our Province and deliver anOration of approximately 10-15 minutes duration, which often lead to a very interest-ing discussion afterwards. These have proved very popular and thought provoking.All it takes is a phone call or email.

Brethren, please consider what is stated above and you never know what interest maybe stimulated in your members. If you wish to contact Fred, his details are below:

Provincial Grand OratorFred Lomax fredlomax@blueyonder.co.uk

Tel: 01257 400237

Bro JOHN STYLES’ QUESTI was Initiated on 24th November

1992, Passed on 2nd March 1993and Raised on 23rd November 1993at Shooters Hill Lodge No. 4277 inSidcup, Kent. Whilst I held severaloffices at Shooters Hill, I decided,due to pressures of work, to delaygoing through the chair until after Iretired. I later joined my sons Lodge'Unanimity Lodge No. 4327' whilstI was living down south but stayedon the 'Stewards Bench' for thesame reason. I also joined my sonsChapter 'Cadogan Chapter No. 162'.Both Unanimity Lodge andCadogan Chapter meet at GrandLodge in Great Queen Street inLondon.

In 2004 I had the opportunity totake Early Retirement from Legal &General Group after 41 years ser-vice.

When I retired, my wife Lynne andI moved back to be near her family in Woodley. It was through an old & dear friend ofLynne's (and now mine) Ken Clough, that I became a joining member of Good Compan-ions Lodge No. 6005. Now being retired, I was 'persuaded' that it was time to progress tothe chair of King Solomon.

I decided to resign from my Lodge in London but continued to be a member of CadoganChapter and became 1st Principal there in 2010. I still go to my chapter in London andoften drag others from Good Companions Lodge to visit with me.

Getting back to my progression in Good Companions, I finally went into the chair lastOctober and with the help of Ken Clough, tried in vain to get a 'Circuit of Installed Mas-ters' going. This proved fruitless as it seems there are not many Masters who are in thechair for the 1st time. Not being deterred I decided that I would try to visit as many lodgesas possible during my time in the chair. This soon turned into a target of visiting ALL 27Audenshaw lodges in 2012.

At the time of writing this I have visited 19 of the 27 lodges and plan to visit the othersbefore the end of the year. 'I must add that my dear friend Ray Charlton offered to join meon this quest and has accompanied me on every lodge visit so far.'

Finally I would like to thank the members of my Lodge, Good Companions Lodge whohave supported me throughout my time with them. They really do live up to their name ofbeing GOOD COMPANIONS. I would also like to add that the warm welcome Ray & Ihave been given at every lodge we have visited only goes to emphasise the friendship andfraternity to be found in Masonry. It is for that reason I look forward with great enthusiasmto my future visits as I am sure we will receive the same welcome at every lodge meetingwe go to.John Styles, WM Good Companions Lodge No. 6005

WBro Ray Charlton & Bro John Styles,WM

The Berne Challenge. 9th/20th May 2012.Paul Waring and Graham Rawlinson.

On Friday 18th May Paul and Graham left Manchester tofly to Basle and onward by car to Belp, on the outskirts ofBerne to take part in the International Schweizer ZweitagMarsche in support of the East Lancashire 2015 Festival.

Arriving at Belp, registration and payment was completedsmoothly and the intrepid pair returned to their Hotel to pre-pare for the first day’s challenge and an early night. How-ever, fearing dehydration, Paul insisted that he needed to topup his fluid level and he wasn’t about to deviate from histraining plan.

The event attended by several thousand participants fromaround the world covered 40 Kms over two days and wouldcertainly be challenging. Indeed Day One came as a shockwhen Paul and Graham, who clearly hadn’t done their home-work, found that Switzerland wasn’t flat! A very severeclimb of 3 Kms soon sorted out the field but our representatives battled on and finishedstrongly.

Day Two was a little easier visiting the historic city of Berne and following the fast flow-ing river Aare to the finish at Belp. One final effort saw the pair, in a show of bravado,pass a German military team in the finishing straight and claim their commemorative med-als. After a few quick beers they returned to Basle to start their celebrations in earnest.Their enthusiasm wasn’t diminished even with beer at £8-50 a pint, although Paul was leftreeling the next morning when faced with a bill of £64-00 for four Gin and Tonics.

Congratulations to Paul and Graham for completing a difficult challenge and raising over£3,000-00 for the Festival.Report by Chris Bolton.

Retirement of Province’s longest servingCommunications Officer

Peter Bibby, a member of the Lodge of FaithNo 581, has been listed in the Year Book as theAudenshaw District Communications Officer(DCO) since 2004 – 2005. But he acted in thatcapacity for my predecessors, the Rev DennisThomas and Bill Waite, before the post wasmade ‘official’. In fact Peter is proud of the factthat he has been DCO at Audenshaw District for11 years.

He has done it with a smile and a camera al-ways at the ready. His dedication to the taskwas legendary even when his health has not been at its best. So it is with regretthat I have had to accept that ‘enough was enough’ and that he is retiring as DCOwith effect from 1 July 2012. Lee Marsh of Audenshaw Lodge No 4828 will takeover and is the first to acknowledge he will have plenty to learn from such anexperienced predecessor.

Peter has always made the effort to ensure the District Newsletter has alwaysbeen published on time and never without a sponsor. He will continue to work onthe Province’s Communications Committee as well as the Education & Develop-ment Committee and we of course wish him well.

It only remains for me to express my thanks to Peter on my own behalf, theDistrict Team’s behalf and that of many of our predecessors, for his dedication indefining the role and carrying it out so well.Stephen M Blank APGM PDepGDC GStwd

REALLY SIMPLE SYNDICATION (RSS)

There are many among us who would love to be able to trawlthe Provincial Web Site for news of Masonic events both localand national. Doing so can be a laborious and perhaps a tedioustask.

On the opening page of the Provincial Web Site, at the bottomof the “Latest News” column, can be seen a small orange col-

oured logo as the sample on the left. This is literally a “one click” method takingyou to a list of all types of Masonic news, local and national, each with a short ex-planatory note of it’s content.

Each time a news item is added to the web, a link to this item is posted on theRSS site making it, or any of the others, a click or two away for access.A view of the terrain our intrepid heroes had to contend with.

Paul on the left and Graham on the right

STANLEY HOUSEJUBILEE DINNER

To celebrate Her Majesties Diamond Jubilee abanquet was arranged an event on the 2nd ofJune which proved to be very different indeed.Guests dressed in black tie and cocktail dresses,were greeted with Champagne and canapés onarrival, which must have signalled a start tosomething special.

The ticket price included a raffle ticket to beused in the “Diamond Draw” which contained awatch, necklace and ear rings, locket and cuff-links and tie pin, all of which contained dia-monds. With such “sparkling” prizes on show,many more raffle tickets were soon sold.

As we have come to expect from our Chef,Gary, the five-course dinner prepared was per-fect. A bar was stocked with Champagne andPimm’s to compliment the dinner for those with delicate tastes. The band supportedour guests which pleasant music whilst they dined and throughout the evening.

Following the banquet, dancing and a Casino were on hand, both of which were wellattended. With two Blackjack tables and a Roulette wheel arranged in an adjoiningroom, Las Vegas seemed a step closer. All the monies raised from this event, includingthe Casino, were divided between the 2015 Festival, £250, and the Hall, £200.

Our Chairman WBro John Pearson commented:“Denise and I were delighted to have been able to attend the Diamond Jubilee Dinnerand our thanks must go to Hall Chairman Barry Leech and his team and of course toGary and Janice for all their hard work to make the occasion such a success. I thoughtthe Parade of Banners by the Air Training Corps was an excellent way to commencethe evening. Freemasons have proposed more toasts to Her Majesty during the last 60years than any other organisation or institution in the world. In our ceremonies wepledge our allegiance to the Sovereign of our native land and this event was an oppor-tunity to pay our own tribute to the wonderful reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.”

Our thanks must go to Barry and Janice and their teams for the arrangement of somuch detail for this very successful evening. The comments from guests were suchthat it is intended to run the event again next year.

THE BACONBUTTY CLUB

(BBC)

There are few mem-bers of SouthernArea who are notaware of Chris Bol-ton’s regalia shopbased at the top ofthe stairs at StanleyHouse. For someyears, the Saturdaymorning opening hasalways been a wellattended semi-social

occasion with free coffee and biscuits to boot.

Three years ago, a group of the attendees got their heads together looking at thisgathering and saw an opportunity to help improve the financial situation of theHall. The Bacon Butty Club was duly initiated. They are now at the start of theirfourth year and going stronger than ever. Where else can you have breakfast ingood company in a club providing free membership?

We are all aware that Stanley House is an expensive building to run, and also awareof various Masonic Halls not too far away being in debt or even closing. There aretalks taking place within our Province to help struggling Halls to share one build-ing. The Stanley House Committee is trying their best to ensure this situation doesnot arise at Audenshaw.

Funds raised from these informal social gatherings at the BBC have helped with theroofing fund, Lodge and dining room carpets, decorating the function rooms, uni-forms for the staff, equipment for the office and kitchens and many more. Quite animpressive list. This of course is a continuing process. Constant maintenance isessential if we are to continue being in front of creeping debt.

Among our many members at Audenshaw are Brethren and Companions with skillsthat can be useful in helping to maintain our Hall. If you feel you can help in anyway, large or small, please contact one of the Hall committee?

Financial help is also vital. Although we all donate to various charities, without aHall in which to meet would see the end of our charitable giving. Please considerthis when distributing monies from your charity account. That old adage says;Charity begins at home. Never a truer word spoken.

A FREEMASON VISITS A DOCTORA Freemason goes into the doctor's office and says that his body hurts wherever hetouches it."Impossible," says the doctor. "Show me."He raises his finger and pushes his elbow and screams in agony. He pushes his kneeand screams, pushes his ankle and screams. Everywhere he touches makes himscream.The doctor says, "Are you by any chance a Lodge DC”?He says "Yes. How did you guess”?"I thought so," he says. "You have a broken finger

PROVINCIAL GRAND ORATOR

WBro Fred Lomax was appointed ProvincialGrand Orator at the last meeting of ProvincialGrand Lodge. Fred is the second Brother tohold this post since it was officially created byUGL.

He is a prolific Masonic author having writtenmany papers, short and long, covering all as-pects of what we do. There must be hundredsamong us who work the ceremonies in ourLodges and Chapters without the slightest ink-ling as to the meaning of our signs, tokens andwords, and shortly his book “Fred's Five Min-ute Papers” will certainly enlighten us all with

many revelations about what we do. Its publication date will be announced soon.

He is a PM of the Manchester Lodge for Masonic Research, a regular contributor tothe Masonic magazine “The Square” and a regular speaker at our Provinces premierannual event, “The Northern Conference” at Salford and throughout the NorthernProvinces.

Fred is a firm believer that to help to keep any of our members, we need to stimulatetheir interest. There are still many lodges and Chapters who have little on the sum-mons other than opening and closing, yet there is not a lot of value in continuing thatway, even for longer serving members. The Province has stipulated many times thatthere is never a reason for having nothing to do at a meeting. Better still why not bookan Oration into your yearly calendar well in advance; that way you are sure of havingsomething interesting to look forward to.

Fred, or a member of his team, will visit any Lodge in our Province and deliver anOration of approximately 10-15 minutes duration, which often lead to a very interest-ing discussion afterwards. These have proved very popular and thought provoking.All it takes is a phone call or email.

Brethren, please consider what is stated above and you never know what interest maybe stimulated in your members. If you wish to contact Fred, his details are below:

Provincial Grand OratorFred Lomax fredlomax@blueyonder.co.uk

Tel: 01257 400237

Bro JOHN STYLES’ QUESTI was Initiated on 24th November

1992, Passed on 2nd March 1993and Raised on 23rd November 1993at Shooters Hill Lodge No. 4277 inSidcup, Kent. Whilst I held severaloffices at Shooters Hill, I decided,due to pressures of work, to delaygoing through the chair until after Iretired. I later joined my sons Lodge'Unanimity Lodge No. 4327' whilstI was living down south but stayedon the 'Stewards Bench' for thesame reason. I also joined my sonsChapter 'Cadogan Chapter No. 162'.Both Unanimity Lodge andCadogan Chapter meet at GrandLodge in Great Queen Street inLondon.

In 2004 I had the opportunity totake Early Retirement from Legal &General Group after 41 years ser-vice.

When I retired, my wife Lynne andI moved back to be near her family in Woodley. It was through an old & dear friend ofLynne's (and now mine) Ken Clough, that I became a joining member of Good Compan-ions Lodge No. 6005. Now being retired, I was 'persuaded' that it was time to progress tothe chair of King Solomon.

I decided to resign from my Lodge in London but continued to be a member of CadoganChapter and became 1st Principal there in 2010. I still go to my chapter in London andoften drag others from Good Companions Lodge to visit with me.

Getting back to my progression in Good Companions, I finally went into the chair lastOctober and with the help of Ken Clough, tried in vain to get a 'Circuit of Installed Mas-ters' going. This proved fruitless as it seems there are not many Masters who are in thechair for the 1st time. Not being deterred I decided that I would try to visit as many lodgesas possible during my time in the chair. This soon turned into a target of visiting ALL 27Audenshaw lodges in 2012.

At the time of writing this I have visited 19 of the 27 lodges and plan to visit the othersbefore the end of the year. 'I must add that my dear friend Ray Charlton offered to join meon this quest and has accompanied me on every lodge visit so far.'

Finally I would like to thank the members of my Lodge, Good Companions Lodge whohave supported me throughout my time with them. They really do live up to their name ofbeing GOOD COMPANIONS. I would also like to add that the warm welcome Ray & Ihave been given at every lodge we have visited only goes to emphasise the friendship andfraternity to be found in Masonry. It is for that reason I look forward with great enthusiasmto my future visits as I am sure we will receive the same welcome at every lodge meetingwe go to.John Styles, WM Good Companions Lodge No. 6005

WBro Ray Charlton & Bro John Styles,WM

The Berne Challenge. 9th/20th May 2012.Paul Waring and Graham Rawlinson.

On Friday 18th May Paul and Graham left Manchester tofly to Basle and onward by car to Belp, on the outskirts ofBerne to take part in the International Schweizer ZweitagMarsche in support of the East Lancashire 2015 Festival.

Arriving at Belp, registration and payment was completedsmoothly and the intrepid pair returned to their Hotel to pre-pare for the first day’s challenge and an early night. How-ever, fearing dehydration, Paul insisted that he needed to topup his fluid level and he wasn’t about to deviate from histraining plan.

The event attended by several thousand participants fromaround the world covered 40 Kms over two days and wouldcertainly be challenging. Indeed Day One came as a shockwhen Paul and Graham, who clearly hadn’t done their home-work, found that Switzerland wasn’t flat! A very severeclimb of 3 Kms soon sorted out the field but our representatives battled on and finishedstrongly.

Day Two was a little easier visiting the historic city of Berne and following the fast flow-ing river Aare to the finish at Belp. One final effort saw the pair, in a show of bravado,pass a German military team in the finishing straight and claim their commemorative med-als. After a few quick beers they returned to Basle to start their celebrations in earnest.Their enthusiasm wasn’t diminished even with beer at £8-50 a pint, although Paul was leftreeling the next morning when faced with a bill of £64-00 for four Gin and Tonics.

Congratulations to Paul and Graham for completing a difficult challenge and raising over£3,000-00 for the Festival.Report by Chris Bolton.

Retirement of Province’s longest servingCommunications Officer

Peter Bibby, a member of the Lodge of FaithNo 581, has been listed in the Year Book as theAudenshaw District Communications Officer(DCO) since 2004 – 2005. But he acted in thatcapacity for my predecessors, the Rev DennisThomas and Bill Waite, before the post wasmade ‘official’. In fact Peter is proud of the factthat he has been DCO at Audenshaw District for11 years.

He has done it with a smile and a camera al-ways at the ready. His dedication to the taskwas legendary even when his health has not been at its best. So it is with regretthat I have had to accept that ‘enough was enough’ and that he is retiring as DCOwith effect from 1 July 2012. Lee Marsh of Audenshaw Lodge No 4828 will takeover and is the first to acknowledge he will have plenty to learn from such anexperienced predecessor.

Peter has always made the effort to ensure the District Newsletter has alwaysbeen published on time and never without a sponsor. He will continue to work onthe Province’s Communications Committee as well as the Education & Develop-ment Committee and we of course wish him well.

It only remains for me to express my thanks to Peter on my own behalf, theDistrict Team’s behalf and that of many of our predecessors, for his dedication indefining the role and carrying it out so well.Stephen M Blank APGM PDepGDC GStwd

REALLY SIMPLE SYNDICATION (RSS)

There are many among us who would love to be able to trawlthe Provincial Web Site for news of Masonic events both localand national. Doing so can be a laborious and perhaps a tedioustask.

On the opening page of the Provincial Web Site, at the bottomof the “Latest News” column, can be seen a small orange col-

oured logo as the sample on the left. This is literally a “one click” method takingyou to a list of all types of Masonic news, local and national, each with a short ex-planatory note of it’s content.

Each time a news item is added to the web, a link to this item is posted on theRSS site making it, or any of the others, a click or two away for access.A view of the terrain our intrepid heroes had to contend with.

Paul on the left and Graham on the right

STANLEY HOUSEJUBILEE DINNER

To celebrate Her Majesties Diamond Jubilee abanquet was arranged an event on the 2nd ofJune which proved to be very different indeed.Guests dressed in black tie and cocktail dresses,were greeted with Champagne and canapés onarrival, which must have signalled a start tosomething special.

The ticket price included a raffle ticket to beused in the “Diamond Draw” which contained awatch, necklace and ear rings, locket and cuff-links and tie pin, all of which contained dia-monds. With such “sparkling” prizes on show,many more raffle tickets were soon sold.

As we have come to expect from our Chef,Gary, the five-course dinner prepared was per-fect. A bar was stocked with Champagne andPimm’s to compliment the dinner for those with delicate tastes. The band supportedour guests which pleasant music whilst they dined and throughout the evening.

Following the banquet, dancing and a Casino were on hand, both of which were wellattended. With two Blackjack tables and a Roulette wheel arranged in an adjoiningroom, Las Vegas seemed a step closer. All the monies raised from this event, includingthe Casino, were divided between the 2015 Festival, £250, and the Hall, £200.

Our Chairman WBro John Pearson commented:“Denise and I were delighted to have been able to attend the Diamond Jubilee Dinnerand our thanks must go to Hall Chairman Barry Leech and his team and of course toGary and Janice for all their hard work to make the occasion such a success. I thoughtthe Parade of Banners by the Air Training Corps was an excellent way to commencethe evening. Freemasons have proposed more toasts to Her Majesty during the last 60years than any other organisation or institution in the world. In our ceremonies wepledge our allegiance to the Sovereign of our native land and this event was an oppor-tunity to pay our own tribute to the wonderful reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.”

Our thanks must go to Barry and Janice and their teams for the arrangement of somuch detail for this very successful evening. The comments from guests were suchthat it is intended to run the event again next year.

THE BACONBUTTY CLUB

(BBC)

There are few mem-bers of SouthernArea who are notaware of Chris Bol-ton’s regalia shopbased at the top ofthe stairs at StanleyHouse. For someyears, the Saturdaymorning opening hasalways been a wellattended semi-social

occasion with free coffee and biscuits to boot.

Three years ago, a group of the attendees got their heads together looking at thisgathering and saw an opportunity to help improve the financial situation of theHall. The Bacon Butty Club was duly initiated. They are now at the start of theirfourth year and going stronger than ever. Where else can you have breakfast ingood company in a club providing free membership?

We are all aware that Stanley House is an expensive building to run, and also awareof various Masonic Halls not too far away being in debt or even closing. There aretalks taking place within our Province to help struggling Halls to share one build-ing. The Stanley House Committee is trying their best to ensure this situation doesnot arise at Audenshaw.

Funds raised from these informal social gatherings at the BBC have helped with theroofing fund, Lodge and dining room carpets, decorating the function rooms, uni-forms for the staff, equipment for the office and kitchens and many more. Quite animpressive list. This of course is a continuing process. Constant maintenance isessential if we are to continue being in front of creeping debt.

Among our many members at Audenshaw are Brethren and Companions with skillsthat can be useful in helping to maintain our Hall. If you feel you can help in anyway, large or small, please contact one of the Hall committee?

Financial help is also vital. Although we all donate to various charities, without aHall in which to meet would see the end of our charitable giving. Please considerthis when distributing monies from your charity account. That old adage says;Charity begins at home. Never a truer word spoken.

A FREEMASON VISITS A DOCTORA Freemason goes into the doctor's office and says that his body hurts wherever hetouches it."Impossible," says the doctor. "Show me."He raises his finger and pushes his elbow and screams in agony. He pushes his kneeand screams, pushes his ankle and screams. Everywhere he touches makes himscream.The doctor says, "Are you by any chance a Lodge DC”?He says "Yes. How did you guess”?"I thought so," he says. "You have a broken finger

AUDENSHAW MASONIC CLUBREGALIA SHOP.

For all your Masonic Regalia, Ties, Accessories, etc.Open Saturdays 10am. until noon. Join our Saturday morning

Bacon Butty Club (BBC). Please support your shop.All profits used for the benefit of the club.

Contact Chris Bolton, Tel: 01457 869211

EComp DAVID H THOMPSON.Southern Area, and particularly Audenshaw Dis-

trict, has proved a regular source for selecting seniormembers of our Province. The latest to receive suchan honour is EComp David H Thompson, who theProvincial Grand Superintendant Installed as the 2nd

Provincial Grand Principal on the 10th May 2012.David was Initiated into Parnassus Lodge No 7869

in 1972, appointed Audenshaw District Secretary in1985, receiving Acting Provincial Honours the sameyear with Grand Honours following in 1994. Toreach Grand Rank in Twelve years gives an insightto the confidence placed in him by our Province.

Among the many offices held by David in ourProvince includes Assistant to the Provincial GrandPrincipals with responsibility for Southern Area in

2004, retiring in 2009 and in August 2008, was invited to be the Chairman of the 2015Festival, retiring on the 10th May 2012, when appointed as the 2nd Provincial Grand Prin-cipal.

His Masonic career spreads beyond Craft and Chapter. He was the Provincial GrandSecretary of the Mark Degree and is the currently holding the rank of PGJO with the pre-fix of VWBro. Even though he holds these varied high profile positions, he still takes hispart at the grass roots. He is currently the 3rd Principal of Tonge Hall Chapter No 8763and has been the secretary of Parnassus lodge since 1990 with the exception of takingoffice as Master for a year.

As with most Freemasons, we could not fulfil our duties in the order without the strongsupport of our families. David is well supported by Leslie and his family of two sons anda 20 month old adorable little boy called Isaac who they see as often as they can as bothhe and his parents live in Oxfordshire.

I am sure all the members of Stanley House Wish David the success he deserves as 2nd

ProvGP for some years to come.There is also two other instances of Southern area being a recent source for high ranking

positions. Our APGM, WBro Stephen Blank was recently appointed PGSwdB in the RA,and the APGM for Northern Area, WBro Martin Roach, a member in Southern Area, hasbeen appointed Senior Grand Deacon. They too receive the same best wishes from themembers of Southern Area.

NEWSLETTERAutumn 2012, Issue 53

AudenshawDistrict

To the memory of the passing to theGrand Lodge above of:

GEORGE WILLIAM (Bill) LEECH, JP.

DISTRICT DIARY

28 Sep MEGS visits Aldwyn Chapter.02 Oct Alphin Lodge, Mossley, demonsta -

tion of the 3rd Degree.04 Oct ProvGOrator at Lodge of Faith.05 Oct Sportsman's Dinner for the 2015

Festival.10 Oct APGM visit to Gorton Lodge.12 Oct Friends and Companions Evening.01 Nov Reddish Lodge Centenary. PGM in

attendance.14 Nov Personal 60th WBro Laurie Clap-

ham, Good Companions Lodge.25 Nov Appointment & Promotions Dinner

at Mossley.28 Nov Joint Convocation. Ardwick,

Audenshaw and Concord Chapters.MEGSupt attending.

12 Dec Personal 50th, WBro Hamilton,Good Companions Lodge.

14 Dec APGM visits Alexandra Lodge

2013

14 Feb Parnasuss Lodge Golden Jubilee.WBro David Thompson will be inthe Chair.

FELLOWSHIP DIARY

26 Sep Golden age of Operetta.Richard W Hall

24 Oct All in a Day. Anne Metcalfe.

28 Nov My Life as a Tiller Girl. Carol Ward

12 Dec CHRISTMAS LUNCH.

2013

23 Jan Curiouser and Curiouser.Margaret Curry.

27 Feb Teaching was also Fun.Gordon Greenwood.

27 Mar Mad Moments of a Methodist Minis-ters Ministry. Rev. David Davidson.

24 Apr My Nine Lives. Janet Bradshaw.

22 May Manchester Oddities.Keith Warrender.

03 Jul Annual Trip. SOUTHPORT.

A SPORTSMAN'S EVENINGOctober 5th, 2012. Tickets £20

The Speakers are:NICKY SUMMERBEE, KEVIN CONNELLY and JAMES H REEVE

Contact WBro Paul Waring: sales@lowcostwindows.com

FRIENDS AND COMPANIONS DINNER12TH October, 2012

Will all Lodge and Chapter Almoners contact WBro Paul Waring with thenames of Guests in good time for this dinner.