Recollection Of days Prior to Consecration

W.Bro John Alfred Edmondson PJGD PPrGReg
“I had been a Freemason for thirteeen years when Septem Lodge was consecrated, but I had moved to reside in the Dover district too late to be a Founder of the Lodge. However one of my colleagues, Senior Warden – designate Bro. C R R Macauley invited me and my father in law, a Past master of a Lodge in New Zealand, who was on holiday in Britain, to be his guests at the consecration.

At the time I was a Junior London District Trinity Hous Pilot and restricted to the ships I was allowed to Pilot. Also, Pilots were self-employed and in those days, had no holiday or leave scheme, so when one was called to duty one either attended or you lost your fees.

I was called to duty some 24 hours before the consecration so there was a reasonable chance that I might get home to attend, but as the day wore on and night fell, there was no ship for me. I slept the night on the Pilot cutter and was just about to go in to the Mess for breakfast when the duty seaman stuck his head in the door and said “Job for you” I asked what it was and was told a ‘schuyt’ (a small ship) for Dover. Dover was some seventeen miles awayand the ship was slow. High water was less than two hours away and the dock gates were closed immediately the tide stopped rising. It looked as if it was going to be a case of so near and yet so far.

In those days the western entrance of the harbour was still blocked from the days of the war and only the eastern entrance was open to shipping, which meant an extra mile to steamto turn in to the flood tide before approaching the entrance, but, unkown to me masonic strings were being pulled. My host, having heard from the cruising cutter that I was on my way, contacted the superintendent of the Dover office, a member of a Folkestone Lodge, and he in turn contacted the Harbourmaster. As I thundered through the eastern entrance, the ship I was on having only the basic means of communication, one of the signalmen came out of the signal station with a loudhailer and bawled”Straight to the dock and get a move on”. So across the harbour, round the pier and through the dock entrance where the lock gatekeepers were standing by and just as soon as the ship’s stern was clear of the gateway, they closed the gates.

My wife had been alerted and was on the dockside to run me home where I changed before she then drove me and my father in law to Dover Town Hall where we arrived to take our seats with minutes to spare”.

W.Bro John was one of the first four Joining members of the Septem Lodge who joined at the first regular meeting on the 13th January 1962 and became a very much loved and respected member of the Septem Lodge, where he remained a very active member until he passed to the Grand Lodge above on the 14th August 2015 aged 89.

‘Lived respected, died regretted’ ‘Requiescat in Pace’