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Arnold
Clark’s 50th celebration.
To mark this milestone
in Arnold’s Masonic career, spanning 50 years as a Freemason in Victoria Lodge No 4629, making him somewhat of a celebrity,
a meeting was arranged to celebrate this grand achievement. Arnold and Victoria Lodge were very pleased and honoured to have
Assistant Provincial Grand Master, Dennis Rudd present at this meeting to convey the Province’s official recognition
of Arnold’s service. Accompanying Dennis on this occasion was Provincial Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies Paul Hesketh.
Also present for the meeting was our Group Chairman, David Redhead and over 50 members of Victoria Lodge and friends from
other Lodges.
Arnold was born at home on 8 November 1927
in Hough Green, Widnes, which back then was a small village. He attended a local junior school before moving to Farnworth.
His secondary education was at Liverpool Institute until 1945 where he enjoyed the Junior Training Corps; a similar training
unit as to-days Army Cadet Corps, physical training and football. The school week for Arnold was five and a half days, which
included Saturday mornings and for his half day off on Wednesdays he was expected to take part in games. His school was evacuated
to Bangor in North Wales at the outbreak of the war in 1939, he returned home in the early part of 1940. Arnold recalls that
while waiting for a train to school during the Blitz he saw German reconnaissance planes being shot at.
After volunteering to joint the army in May 1945, Arnold completed his
initial training at Deepcut before being assigned to a battalion based in Elgin. From Elgin he was sent to Edinburgh and then
on to Germany where, after a short period, he was posted to a unit on the outskirts of Paris. He was demobilised after three
years service in May 1948.
By attending night school,
Arnold qualified for a national Certificate in Commerce; this was followed by a day release from work and night school course
to be qualified for the Chartered Institute of Secretaries.
Arnold’s
first civilian job was as a clerk in the foreman’s office of a large wire works in Warrington were he found the range
of items manufactured quite fascinating, ranging from fine wire mesh sieves to large wedge wire floors for whisky stills.
After 12 months he moved to a job in the National Health Service as an Accounts Clerk at Warrington General Hospital where
he stayed for seven years. While working at Warrington General Hospital Arnold was re-called for a fortnight military training
during the ‘Cold War’. His next job was at the Atomic Energy Authority at Risley where he spent the first half
of his career in the Contracts Department placing contracts for a wide variety of items such as machine tools and specialized
engineering products to civil engineering work. The second half of his career at Risley was spent on the ‘opposite side
of the fence’, this involved negotiating and administering contracts for the sale of Atomic Energy Authority services
and the use of their facilities such as test rigs for testing fuel for nuclear reactors. Arnold retired from the Atomic Energy
Authority after 36 years service.
In 1956 Arnold married
Edith and during their many happy years together they have been blessed with two children, Karen and Stuart. They are now
proud grandparents of Rebecca and Danielle. Over the years Arnold has taken his family caravanning all over the UK and Europe.
Walking and skiing are other activities he and Edith enjoyed with family and friends.
Outside of work and family life, Arnold has many varied interests which include being a lifelong
member of the Methodist Church following his father as a trustee, secretary and treasurer at Hough Green; he is now a Steward
and property Steward at Cronton. Farming, table tennis and competing in motor bike cross country trials are a few other of
his interests.
F. A. Clark, a founder member of Victoria
Lodge No.4629 and Arnold’s father, initiated Arnold into Victoria Lodge on 19 May 1960, passed on 18 September 1960
and raised on 19 January 1961. Arnold was elected Treasurer on 17 October 1968 and then appointed Assistant Secretary on 15
October 1970. He was installed as WM of Victoria Lodge on 17 October 1974 and appointed Secretary of the Lodge on 21 October
1976, a position which he held for ten years. Arnold was appointed to Provincial Grand Rank in 1986. He is a long standing
member of Widnes Chapter No. 2819 and has been a member of Mark.
Following
on from the meeting the Festive Board was enjoyed by all and during the presentation of gifts to Arnold, he made a generous
gesture of donating £50 to the Help the Hero’s Charity which the Victoria Lodge Social Fund doubled to make £100
for the charity.
 Left
to right are; David Redhead, Dennis Rudd, Arnold Clark, Steve Nash, Master of Victoria Lodge and Paul Hesketh
Arnold, left, being presented with a gift from Victoria Lodge by Tony Tallon, who was present at Arnold’s
initiation. Foreground, Steve Nash, Master of Victoria Lodge
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Victoria Lodge donation to Holyhead RNLI
At the Sportsman’s Evening held by Victoria Lodge No. 4629 last October, the raffle raised £100
which the Lodge kindly made up to £200, to be donated to the RNLI. Brian Harris then contacted the RNLI Press
Officer, Ray Steadman, at Holyhead and arranged to visit them and present the cheque. The reason for choosing Holyhead
was because Brian, and his wife Jean, had been invited by a family member, Malcolm, who works for ITV Wales, to be part of
their group on a visit to Holyhead and actually have a good look inside the lifeboat. The trip was scheduled for the first
week in December last year, but unfortunately weather conditions dictated otherwise and the trip was cancelled. It then took
over 4 months to coordinate the next trip and get everything in place to be able to present the cheque to Holyhead RNLI. So,
after months of waiting, the intrepid trio found themselves travelling down the A55 to Anglesey, the sun was shining, it was
a lovely day, but, over the hill heading down into Bangor black clouds appeared. Fortunately the rain stayed away and
it stayed bright all day, but with a cold wind. Brian
said that they found the RNLI Lifeboat Station in Holyhead with the help of their large flag flying over the building and
were met by Ray Steadman who took them upstairs to the crews’ area and were given a very warm welcome, offered
a hot drink, and were introduced to some of the crew members. Ray said that the lifeboat, named RNLB Christopher Pearce, is
an all-weather Severn Class and cost over £2 million, had recently gone out on a mission with the second crew to rescue
a loose boat that had escaped its moorings, but that it would be back in 20 minutes. The lifeboat tour started once the ‘Christopher Pearce’ had returned and the
boat was moored up and the crew had disembarked. Brian said that when they first entered the main cabin they were immediately
confronted by an enormous control panel which seemed nearly as complicated as that on Concorde. The luxury seats, all
8 of them in the cabin, were all mounted on very strong spring supports to absorb the impact when hitting waves at full speed
in bad weather.
 The bridge of the Christopher Pearce
The full-harness seat belts looked to be quite useful as well, apparently,
when the boat turns upside down it can be quite hair-raising, although it does right itself very rapidly. The engine room
was immaculate, you could use the exhaust pipe as a mirror to shave in and there were two massive engines, every inch of them,
including the nuts and bolts, were highly polished.
Brett in the engine room of the Christopher Pearce
Having finished the tour we stood
outside on the deck and presented the cheque to the coxswain, Tony, which was very gratefully received. It was then back into
the lifeboat station for another welcomed hot drink, after which Ray showed us around the inshore lifeboat station where the
D Class inflatable boat was stored.
D
Class inflatable
Plaques
on the wall showed the names of all the boats that had been used going back many, many years. We were then shown all the equipment
that the crew have to wear, hanging on separate pegs with the crew member’s name above each set, all of it being
bright yellow, yes even the ‘wellies’ were yellow. Sian, the young lady in the crew who showed us around told
us she was going on what sounded like a very hairy survivor training course the following week.
Ray said that they were most grateful for the donation as it would help them to buy
the smaller items of equipment which they have to supply themselves with, such as the special and ferocious-looking, sheath
knife we were shown, which is use for cutting through ropes or other material quickly when required on a rescue. Ray then
told us that the lifeboat station is open to visitors on a Sunday morning, and I’m sure you would get the same warm
welcome that we were offered.
Their website is www.holyhead-lifeboat.co.uk and contains some very interesting historical facts. If you
click on ‘News’ button you get all the latest news, including cheque being presented.
 Pictured
left to right are, Sian, Tony, the coxswain, Brian Harris, Ian, Hefin, Brett.
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London Weekend
Officers and brethren
from a number of Widnes lodges and their guests had a very enjoyable weekend in London in November 2009 when they visited
The United Grand Lodge of England and also took in the Lord Mayors Show.
Organised by the newly installed Master of
Victoria Lodge, Steve Nash, who said “The weekend was a great success. Since joining freemasonry I have always wanted
to visit Grand Lodge at Gt Queen Street and the afternoon did not disappoint”.
The group were met in the museum
where a very knowledgeable guide gave an explanation of a number of exhibits on display. They then continued on the tour of
the building stopping to see the Memorial to those who fell in The First world War before proceeding into Grand Lodge via
the very impressive and hugely ornate main doors.
Picture: The War Memorial at Great Queen Street
All
the features and fittings in the main Temple were described very eloquently by the guide who also allowed us ample time to
take photographs. The visit concluded in the museum where time was spent taking in the many exhibits before a quick visit
to the shop for souvenirs.
We spent two very comfortable nights at the Tower Hotel on the banks of the Thames including
a dinner on the Friday evening.
On Saturday morning the group had grandstand seats for the Lord Mayors Show which was
very entertaining although a little wet. The weather did not spoil our enjoyment as we were well prepared for the all that
the weather had to offer as early that morning the Immediate Past Master Peter Kenny, an emergency planning officer, put his
experience to good use when he had the foresight to visit a local Sainsbury’s store where he bought a number of wheelie
bin sized plastic sacks which kept the wet weather at bay.
London Freemasons pass St Paul’s Cathedral during the Lord Mayors Show
During
the afternoon most of the group had a flight on the London Eye before enjoying free time to visit theatres, restaurants and
take in some liquid refreshments.
Sunday morning was spent in the Oxford Street area of the city doing a little Christmas
Shopping before returning to Widnes.
Everyone said that they had enjoyed the weekend immensely and plans are underway
for the next one. It has been suggested that we go to the Colonels Review which is the dress rehearsal for the Trooping of
the Colour Ceremony at Horseguards Parade the week before the main event.
New Master for Victoria Lodge 4629
The installation of a new Master was carried
out at the October meeting of Victoria Lodge No. 4629, by retiring Master, Peter Kenny. Steve Nash was installed as Master
of the Lodge for 2009 - 2010. On this occasion, the Lodge was honoured by the presence of Leon Tax, Assistant Provincial Grand
Master. Also attending was David Redhead, Chairman of the Widnes Group of Lodges. After performing the installation ceremony,
Peter presented a cheque to Leon for £250 on behalf of the Lodge towards the 2010 Festival, added to this was an anonymous
personal donation, which with Giftaid, made a total of £325. Other charities that benefited from Peter’s
year as Master were, Halton Haven £1200 and McMillan Nurses £800 from money raised at the Sportsman’s Evening.
Ken Myers received a cheque for £250 on behalf of Widnes Masonic Hall Ltd for the Building Fund. Valiant, a group who
run Sport for Disabled Young People, received £250 and Help for Heroes received £250, making a grand total of
£3075 in charitable donations.
Sportsman's Dinner raises over £2K
A Sportsman’s Evening organised by Victoria Lodge Social Committee for all Lodges and non-masons raised £2145
for its two chosen charities, Halton Haven Hospice and Macmillan Cancer Support. The guest speaker was David Johnson, ex Liverpool
and Everton legend with supporting act, top comedian Lester Crabtree.
Before the evening got underway we were introduced
to Shaun Pollard, Operational Director for Halton Haven Hospice who gave us a brief insight to the work of H.H.H. The Hospice
provides a free, quality of life service and a Family Support service to those who need it, at a cost of £1.8m per year,
of which £900k needs to be raised from donations.
Following the meal, we were entertained by David Johnson, who
gave a masterly talk about football and his career. This was followed by Lester Crabtree, who had us all in stitches with
our eyes watering with his quick fire jokes.
The evening raised £1800 from Bingo and raffle plus £345 from
a spontaneous glass collection for H.H.H. The Master of Victoria Lodge, Peter Kenny would like to offer his personal thanks
to all his supporters throughout his year for their generosity and he feels that the reason for the success is because the
two charities are close to everybody’s heart. Macmillan
Cancer Support improves the lives of people affected by cancer. They provide practical, medical and financial support and
push for better cancer care. Cancer affects us all. We can all help. The primary goal for Macmillan Cancer Support is to reach
and improve the lives of everyone living with cancer and they’ve set themselves an impressive ambition to achieve this
aim.
During Peter’s year as Master we have raised over £3k which was given out to Masonic and Non Masonic
charities at our October Installation.
 Pictured left to right, Peter Kenny, Worshipful Master of Victoria
Lodge and Shaun Pollard, Operational Director of Halton Haven Hospice.
Pictured left to right, Peter Kenny, Worshipful Master of Victoria
Lodge, comedian Lester Crabtree and guest speaker David Johnson.
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