Provincial Grand Lodge of
Mark Master Masons of North Wales
Provincial Grand Lodge of
Mark Master Masons of North Wales

 

Fund of Benevolence

100+ Club


With another annual increase in the number of tickets sold, almost £6000 has now been raised, in three years, by the 100+ Club for the North Wales Mark Masons' Benevolent Fund, in support of the Province's 2011 Festival.

The first prize draw of the third series has taken place already, and the remaining five draws will be held between September 2007 and March 2008 during the Official "Team Visits" at the following Lodges:

26th September at St Eilian RAM Lodge, Amlwch
11th October at Idris RAM Lodge, Pwllheli
1st November at St Giles Mark Lodge, Wrexham
16th February at N. Wales Lodge of Inst. M.M.M., Rhyl
20th March at Dyffryn Clwyd Lodge, Denbigh.

Prizes from the second series went to members representing all except one of the lodges in the Province, with one lodge receiving no less than seven, and several others achieving four or five - and two brethren won two prizes each!!

Tickets for the fourth series of draws, beginning in April 2008, will be going on sale shortly and will be available until the end of March.

Remember - the value of prizes for the next round of draws will depend upon the number of tickets sold, though again will equal half of the total proceeds. If you don't have a ticket you can't win, so please buy at least one now. Let us try for at least 1000 this time, thereby raising a further £2500 for the 2011 Festival - we can do it.

Good luck!!

Club Administrator: W.Bro Peter Brindley PPrGSD
Tel : 01248 352682
email: Peter Brindley

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2007 Mark Benevolent Festival


The One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Anniversary Festival of the Mark Benevolent Fund was held under the Chairmanship of R.W. Bro. Fred Cotton, the Provincial Grand Master for the Province of Staffordshire and Shropshire on 7th July 2007.

An Eve of Festival Gala Party was held on the Friday evening, and this was followed by the Gala Dinner at the Telford International Centre on the Saturday.

Our Province was represented by the Provincial Grand Master, R.W. Bro. Gareth Williams, the Deputy Provincial Grand Master, W. Bro. Bill Strain and the Provincial Grand Treasurer, W. Bro. Peter Talbot. These Brethren were accompanied by their wives.

Both events were very well supported with just over 700 dining at the Gala Dinner.

At the conclusion of the evening, R.W. Bro. John Brackley, the Grand Secretary announced the Festival result of £554,082 which included a sum of £6,150 donated from the Mark Province of North Wales.

W. Bro. Bill Strain and Joan at the Gala Dinner.

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Financial help sought

An appeal by a Past Master of Hawarden Mark Lodge No. 838 was made for financial help towards providing under floor heating for his grandson who unfortunately has suffered from Cerebral Palsy since birth.

Within one hour of receiving the appeal, the Executive of the Province agreed to make a donation of £250 from the Centenary and Special Fund towards the costs.

It is anticipated that the Lodge will also make a similar donation.

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Assistance for North Wales Charity

A small Registered Charity called Peace Child Wales based in Chirk, has been recommended to receive a grant of £1,000 from the Mark Fund of Benevolence.

Peace Child Wales was formed to provide holidays for young people from Belarus in the UK. It then started taking young people from the Chirk / Oswestry areas out to Belarus on cultural exchange trips and this has continued now for several years.

The organization has also provided several thousand pounds worth of aid for an orphanage and a school for mentally disabled children in the city of Brest.

The Secretary of the Charity has contacted our Provincial Grand Master and expressed his grateful appreciation for the generous assistance given by the Fund of Benevolence.

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Hospitals Thank Mark Masons

Two local hospitals, Ysbyty Gwynedd Bangor and the Maelor Hospital Wrexham, were each presented with cheques for £48,000 to purchase ultrasound equipment for the detection of prostate diseases.

The Mark Master Masons Fund of Benevolence has donated over £2m to support urology services across England and Wales this year.

 

 • T. Gareth Williams and Bill Strain • 

Pictured on the right, presenting the cheque for the scanner at Wrexham Maelor Hospital on 25/10/2004.
 
 

 • T. Gareth Williams and Bill Strain • 

Presenting the cheque at Ysbyty Gwynedd Bangor on 24/9/2004 to the team of dedicated Urology Staff.

 

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Information...

Wales once had the world's largest copper mines, in Parys Mountain, Anglesey. The golden days of the mine were in the 19th century, but there is evidence of mining here as early as the Bronze Age. Parys Mountain is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

In the AD70s the Romans arrived in Wales and established frontier forts from their base in Chester. Civilian Roman life in North Wales was limited outside of these forts apart from an interest in mining for copper, gold and lead.

The 'Maen Huail' stone in front of Exmewe Hall (now Barclays Bank), Ruthin, is where King Arthur is reputed to have had executed a rival in love.

The real Alice in Wonderland (Alice Liddell) spent her childhood summers in Llandudno, where she met Lewis Carroll. Disappear down a rabbit hole at Llandudno's Alice in Wonderland Centre in Trinity Square to re-live her adventures.

At one time there were 60 inns or pubs in Ruthin - one for every 10 men in the population - and 9 of them were round St. Peters Square.

The last execution to be held in St. Peter's Square, Ruthin, was in 1679, when a Catholic priest was hanged, drawn and quartered.

The ancient remains of Ruthin castle are some of the oldest in Wales - commenced in 1277 by order of Edward 1 - years before the great fortresses of Conwy and Caernarfon.

The Mold Gold Cape is one of the finest examples of prehistoric sheet-gold working and is quite unique in form and design. It was labouriously beaten out of a single ingot of gold, then embellished with intense decoration of ribs and bosses to mimic multiple strings of beads amid folds of cloth. Perforations along the upper and lower edges indicate that it was once attached to a lining, perhaps of leather, which has decayed. The bronze strips may have served to strengthen the adornment further.

Conwy Castle was designed for King Edward I by Master James of St. George and was built between 1283 and 1289. James of St. George was a master mason summoned from mainland Europe to implement Edward's plans. He was born around 1230 and worked on a number of great European castles before starting on his massive undertaking for Edward. The beautiful Beaumaris Castle was his last design in Wales and with this he had perfected the concept of the "concentric castle".

Recorded in the 11th century as a small border town, Denbigh (or Dinbych in Welsh meaning 'Little Fort') grew to become one of the most important and prosperous market