Blackmore Lodge No. 3625 Installation Meeting

The Province of Dorset consists of 49 Lodges meeting in 17 different locations across the country. Last night was the Installation Meeting of Blackmore Vale Lodge No. 3625, and a large crowd were present to see Bro. Peter Murray installed into the Big Chair at the Masonic Hall in Church Street, Sturminster Newton.

First, a history lesson. Sturminster Newton is a historic market town which once served the farms and villages of the Blackmore Vale in north Dorset. For generations, its Cattle Market was a familiar part of town life, until it closed in 1997. Agriculture was historically Dorset’s major industry but has since lost ground to tourism. Visitors have replaced cattle, although visitors are more difficult to herd and considerably more particular about where they park. Most of Dorset’s coastline forms part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site stretching for 155 kilometres - that’s 96 miles to us proper folk.

Notable dates in the area’s history include the first recorded Viking raid on the British Isles which occurred in Dorset in 789 AD, the Black Death which entered England at Melcombe Regis in 1348, and The Vale of Avon Mark Lodge No.867 who invaded Sturminster Newton in October 2026.

Down to the business of the evening. The Meeting was also an Official Visit by V.W. Bro. Mark Burstow, the Deputy PGM of Dorset. So, the scene was set, the DPGM was escorted in and politely offered the gavel – which he astutely declined. The ceremony then commenced, and Bro. Peter Murray was successfully installed as WM. All Officers performed their duties admirably, with W. Bro. Fish delivering a perfect example of the extended 2nd Degree Working Tools. Then, midway through proceedings, the brethren wandered out of the Temple for tea and biscuits, with provision for any other pressing business. How quaint. I had not realised the ceremony came with an interval.

There were visitors from a considerable number of Lodges. I can’t list them all because of my illegible notes. I can, however, confirm Masonic representation from Dorset, Hampshire & IOW, Warwickshire, Derbyshire and Wales. Anyone omitted should blame the handwriting rather than the hospitality and accept my apologies.

W. Bro. Peter had rather foolishly invited me along as guest organist. It is one thing to confront a totally unfamiliar instrument; it is quite another to discover that you appear to be sitting inside a catafalque - the raised, decorated platform within a crematorium on which the coffin rests. I had expected a music stand, not a departure lounge. As a precaution, I prudently asked the WM not to press any button that might send me down into the depths of Hades before the meeting was over. There might have been some there that would have wished for such relief, but let’s not dwell on that.

With the ceremony complete, it was time for dinner, reached by a route march to St. Mary’s Church Hall. A useful opportunity to stretch the legs and discover whether the person who said “it’s just round the corner” could be trusted. The food is reviewed separately under ‘A Square Meal’. My handwriting may be unreliable, but my appraisal of dinner remains firmly documented.