United Grand Lodge of England meets in Wales

The Quarterly Communications of United Grand Lodge are almost always held at Great Queen Street in London - though historically they have been elsewhere very occasionally. The resumption of this idea by Pro Grand Master Jonathan Spence proved a resounding success on a sunny September day at the Newport Convention Centre. A party of Shropshire Freemasons including the PrGM, DepPrGM and AsstPrGM (newly appointed WBro Stephen Rogers) gathered just off the M4 with over 1100 other Masons from around the UK (and beyond) to enjoy this excellent event. All who attended heard presentations by Welsh Freemasons as part of the business of the day before an excellent lunch.

A welcome change was the reduction in travel and associated costs - most of the Shropshire contingent had made the two-and-a-half hour journey down the A49, with no need to contemplate hotel and other associated expenses as we do (happily enough) when in London. At the end of the day, MWBro Spence announced that Grand Lodge was very pleased with the way that things had gone, with the largest attendance at a Quarterly Communication in a hundred years. He even spoke sections of the meeting in Welsh, and the Brethren all attempted to emulate him by singing the Welsh national anthem (in Welsh) as well as the English!