Provincial News
- Written by: Simon Key
An online public vote is to be held between the 12th of June and 31st of July 2017 to decide which local charities within the Masonic Province of Northants & Hunts will receive up to £25,000 each, as part of Freemasonry’s 300th anniversary celebrations.
Freemasons have nominated six good causes to receive the Province’s share of a special £3 million Community Awards Tercentenary Fund.
The charities that the Province has selected for the public vote are:
- Peterborough and District Riding for the Disabled
- Carers Sitter Service - Stamford
- Northampton Mencap
- Crazy Hats Breast Cancer Appeal - Northamptonshire
- The Acorn Cancer Support Group - Huntingdon
- DACT - Daventry
Anyone who wishes to vote for one of the nominated charities should visit mcf.org.uk/vote, select the Masonic Province of Northants and Hunts page and vote for the charity of their choice. All the nominated charities are guaranteed to receive a grant, but the public vote will determine the amount from £4,000 up to £25,000.
The £3 million fund, which is being distributed to mark the 300th anniversary of the formation of the first Grand Lodge in 1717, is being administered by the Masonic Charitable Foundation and will be distributed to 300 charities across the country.
The Masonic Charitable Foundation receives all of its funding from Freemasons and their families. It is estimated that half of Freemasonry’s total charitable expenditure of over £33m goes to charities that help people in communities across the country.
In relation to the vote, the Northants and Hunts Provincial Grand Master, RW Bro Max Bayes, said -
We are delighted to be able to invite the whole community to join our 300th anniversary celebrations by helping us to decide which of these excellent local charities should receive the highest award. Every vote counts, so I encourage everyone from the Northants & Hunts Province to visit the website and take part.
- Written by: John Fergusson
After attending the Annual Convocation of the Royal Arch Province of Lincolnshire at the Lincolnshire Showground on the morning of 10th May 2017, our Grand Superintendent, E Comp Wayne Williams, accompanied by the Provincial Grand Scribe E, E Comp David Brown, continued their travels towards St Ives for the evening Convocation of St Ivo Chapter.
In addition to a fine exaltation ceremony during which Companion Mike Osborne was welcomed and introduced to the Supreme Degree, the occasion was a well-planned opportunity to present a Jubilee Certificate marking 50 years in Royal Arch Masonry to E Comp Vic Bashford, PPrGScN at the spritely age of 96 years. The Grand Superintendent recalled the occasion of our own Provincial Convocation in June 2013 when it was his pleasure to present to E Comp Vic his “Certificate for Meritorious Service” to recognise his exemplary service to the Royal Arch in this Province in two of our Chapters (St Ivo and Ailwyn) and in which he had served as ME Zerubbabel on two occasions in both as well as MEZ in our First Principals’ Chapter in 2004. E Comp Vic has held the Provincial Rank of PPrGScN for some 25 years - a seasoned campaigner in every sense of the word and a stalwart for the Royal Arch in this Province, having held one senior Chapter office or another consecutively for no less than 31 years. 
During the presentation, the Grand Superintendent also referred to E Comp Vic’s wartime service in the Royal Air Force when he served on the very first of the dreaded Russian North Atlantic convoys in 1941, escorting Hurricane aircraft parts to the Russians as part of the allied war effort. For such courage and bravery, the Veterans were rightly awarded, over time, the Russian Ushakov Medal and, more latterly, the newly minted Arctic Star medal by way of formal British recognition.
E Comp Vic responded in such modest terms expressing his appreciation to all concerned and one who, over the years, has rightly earned the respect and admiration of us all.
Local artist and Freemason, Martin Taylor, from Spelhoe 8576 has been selected by United Grand Lodge of England to have his work featured in a art exhibition running at Great Queen Street.
The United Grand Lodge of England, in partnership with the Library and Museum, will host an exhibition of emerging artists' work in June to mark this years Tercentenary celebrations. All artwork will be created on site at Freemason's Hall, with artists granted unprecedented access to the building and organisation to capture contemporary masonic life. The artworks will capture key initiatives taking place in 2017 and bring different views of Freemasonry to life through a variety of different mediums.
Martin's description of his painting follows.
"I decided to paint the building as much of the Freemasons' ideology is based around buildings and their construction as an allegory or metaphor for how we live our lives. On the day I did my study the building seemed powerful, stoic and upright with good light. I chose to be accurate in showing the blue hoarding which places the painting in a particular timeframe. The people who occupy the foreground brought the scene to life and showed it to be busy as a meeting place as well as giving a sense of scale."
Martin Taylor was born in 1954 and is based in Northamptonshire. He studied at the Ealing School of Art, Wimbledon School of Art and Goldsmith’s College. Martin’s work reflects his love of nature, played out in exquisitely detailed studies of the countryside surrounding his studio, a converted stable on a farm. Every season brings fresh inspiration, and to achieve the precision and focus so characteristic of his work Martin paints ‘en plein air’, returning to the same position for weeks at a time even in deepest winter. The combination of intricate detail and careful composition in his work celebrates nature on every scale, from the twigs on the forest floor to the clouds skimming the vast skies. Martin also pays the same attention to detail in his representations of buidings and townscapes.
Martin works in oil and watercolour and continues to practice the art of drawing, through studies and the use of the sketchbook.
Taylor has won two RWS (Royal Watercolour Society) awards: the Chris Beetles award (1988) and the Jeffrey Archer award in (1989). He has shown at the Royal Academy, and had numerous dedicated exhibitions in Northamptonshire and London, and is widely collected in the UK and USA. Martin Taylor is currently represented by Gladwell & Pattersons, 5. Beauchamps Place, Knightsbridge London.