LEDBURY’S Freemasons celebrated their 150th anniverary with a large gathering of fellow Herefordshire masons at the Feathers Hotel, on Saturday, September 20.
The Eastnor Lodge first met at the Feathers on September 20, in 1858 and the lodge still meets there.
Lodge member Mike Roff gave an talk on the history of Ledbury and the Lodge, from Victorian times to the present day.
He revealed an number of interesting facts about Ledbury in 1858, when there were 37 pubs in town and, incredibly, seven schools.
He said: “The railway did not arrive until 1861. In fact, the last horse drawn passenger coach from Ledbury to Gloucester survived until 1885, when the Great Western branch line from Ledbury to Gloucester opened.”
Ledbury town itself owned one coach, the Paul Pry, which ran to Worcester three time a week, returning the same night.
The Lodge is well known for its charity and, after the talk, Lodge Master Neil Hood presented a cheque of £1,500 to Graham Lloyd, chairman of the Ledbury Branch of Age Concern.
An anniversary dinner followed and each Lodge member was presented with a special commemorative whisky tumbler.
The Provincial Grand Master for Herefordshire, Rodney Smallwood praised the Lodge for its unbroken continuity over 150 years and said: “I hope it will continue to go from strength to strength.”
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