On 28 March 2026, 19 brethren for across East Lancashire came together for the ELLC Learning Session and Breakfast which was kindly  hosted by Bacup Masonic Hall. The sessions are open to masons of all experience, however, the learning is aimed at new masons looking to expand their masonic knowledge.

As with all good learning sessions we started the event with coffee, bacon butties and some time to mingle and chat. WBro Joe Galvin very kindly donated a bottle of whiskey to be raffled in aid of our Provincial Festival.

Following the breakfast the brethren entered the lodge room where we proceeded to introduce ourselves and to tell the other brethren about our ‘Masonic Month’. this involved describing what other masonic events you have been involved in since our last meeting.

Following the Masonic Month we conducted an icebreaker of Masonic Myths where we stood in the East or the West dependant upon a statement was true or false. There was some very interesting questions which, on occasions, the answer was a split decision.

 

The morning continued with a demonstration of the ritual involved with opening a lodge. This gave the brethren chance to practice their ritual and in some cases to occupy an office they have not previously been invested in their own lodge. As this was a demonstration it gave us chance to stop and ask questions and discuss the differences in ritual from lodge to lodge.

The final part of the session was conducted by Bro Olly White who excellently led a presentation of the ancient charges of a freemason which you often hear in a lodge. We learnt the history of the charges and how they originated from operative freemasons (stonemasons) and how they related to sepeculative freemasonry which we practice today. We also learnt what the charges meant and how they teach us to be better masons and better men.

All what was left was to draw the raffle and say our goodbyes. Congratulations to WBro Gary Bradbury who won the bottle of whiskey which raised £46.

Thank you to all those that attended, and those who organised the session. To our next merry meeting, which, will be held at 10:30am on 16 May 2026 at Rochdale Masonic Hall. Signup for this session is already open and you can book you place here: https://forms.gle/ThPoBMa7JEnV319X6