W.Bro. Louis Cohen, P.A.G.D.C.
W.Bro. John Anderson, P.Prov.G.I.G.
W. Bro. Sidney Frank Shipway, Prov.G.S.O.
Bro. Frederick Ayer
Bro. Edgar Caldwell Page
Bro. Roger Herbert Pye
Bro. Hubert Clifford Peckett

The Provincial Grand Master Right Worshipful Brother George A. Harradon, P.G.Treasurer accompanied by Grand and Provincial Officers entered in procession and he appointed his Officers and opened a Mark Lodge at 3-00p.m.

Bispham-with-Norbreck Mark Lodge No. 866 was consecrated in due form. The Lodge was called off and after a short interval was re-opened with V.W.Bro. Major A.M.Pooley, P.G.O., Deputy Provincial Grand Master occupying the Masters Chair. W.Bro.Thomas Cocking presented W.Bro. Louis Cohen, P.A.G.D.C. as Master Elect, and he was Installed as Master. The W. Master appointed the Officers of the Lodge for the ensuing year. W. Bro. Cohen presented mementoes in the form of pencils to the Consecrating Officers and a Deacons Wand to W. Bro.Cocking. The Lodge was closed at 5-30p.m.

At the next Lodge meeting on 10th January 1929  six joining members were proposed and after a favourable ballot it was proposed that they would be designated Promoters with the equal rights of Founders. A ballot was taken for three new members. The ballot for Worshipful Master proved in favour of W. Bro. Louis Cohen. The W.M. vacated the Chair in favour of W. Bro. Fred Taylor, P. Pr. I. G.   Brothers S.P.G. Cohen and T. Rushton were then advanced into Mark Masonry. The Lodge was called off and on resuming W. Bro James Grimshaw, P.Pr.G.D.C. occupied the Masters Chair and Advanced Bro Arthur Knowles.  There was one proposition for a joining member and two for membership.  The Lodge was closed at 8-30p.m.

The last meeting of the Lodge at the Cliffs Hotel was on Thursday 13th April 1939. 

The next meeting was held at the Palatine Hotel and was noteworthy for its brevity…opening at 6-45p.m. and closing at 7-15. There is no mention of why the Lodge ceased to meet at the Cliffs but I, being old enough to remember, subscribe to the opinion that the Cliffs Hotel was requisitioned by the Government for the duration of the war. 
The sojourn at the Palatine was short, and in October 1942 it was proposed, seconded and carried that the Lodge move to the Masonic Hall, Adelaide Street. The following month a letter was read from the secretary of the Masonic club confirming the move and the rent to be £20-00 per annum.  At the same meeting it was agreed that the Annual subscriptions for members in the Forces be reduced to 10/6d this was retrospective to the start of the hostilities.

It was resolved at the February meeting in 1948 that byelaw number 1  be altered to read “that the Lodge shall meet at the Masonic Hall, Adelaide Street on the second Friday of each month, May, June, July, August and September excepted, at such hour that the Worshipful Master shall appoint”..

The Lodge was honoured with the presence of the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master, Bro. Shepherd Eastwood at the Installation of Bro. Harold Vincent Cottam on 9th February 1951.
Friday 2nd. March 1954 marked the advancement of Bro. George Thurman into the Lodge (he celebrated 50 years in Mark Masonry on the 12th March 2004), the ceremony was conducted by W. Bro. B.S.P.Thurman his cousin. 

Worthy of note in the minutes of the Meeting dated 9th March 1956 is the receipt of a letter from the Club Secretary asking the Lodge to use the new Lodge room for all future Lodge Meetings. Also read was a reply to the Club Secretary, which was not detailed in the minutes, but must have been a refusal because a proposition four and a half years later at the October meeting in 1960 resulted in a rejection. A notice of motion was given of a proposal that the Trustees of the Lodge purchase 25 £1.00 fully paid Ordinary shares in the Masonic Hall Ltd.  This was passed at the next meeting of the Lodge

The Lodge adopted new byelaws on the 8th March 1957. The fees for advancement £5.50, joining £4-4-0 & re-joining £1-0-0. The annual subscription £2-12-6 for Country membership (members residing outside 20 miles radius of Blackpool) was 10s-6d.
The Brethren at the December meeting must have been looking forward to their Christmas dinner. The Lodge was opened at 6-30p.m. There were two letters under correspondence, 14 apologies, the accounts were passed for payment and two brethren were proposed for advancement. Greetings were given on behalf of the Provincial Grand Lodge and greetings from the visiting brethren. The Lodge was closed at 7-00p.m. 

A notice of motion at the Lodge meeting dated 13th December 1963 calling for a change in dates for the Lodge meetings was deferred for 12 months and subsequently postponed sine die

A recommendation to the Lodge on 12th March 1965 for a charge for meals and an increase in subscription was referred to the Lodge Past Master meeting for discussion.
The Lodge meeting on 10th March 1967 witnessed the ballot for and advancement of Bro. J.T.Hudson. He was installed as Master in February 1976.
The 1967 November meeting saw the introduction of a 5/- charge for meals, excluding the Christmas and Installation Meetings.

On an amendment at the Lodge meeting of January 1968 to a change in the dates of the Lodge meetings, it was carried that the Lodge continue to meet seven times per year with a charge of 5/- for meals at the meeting in March, April, October, November and January. £1.00 per head at the December meeting and £1.50 at the Installation. 

The documentation of the minutes for the October 1970 meeting contain, for the first time, notation of both sterling and decimal currency. The bye-laws were altered to read Advancement £5.25, joining £4.20, re-joining £1.05. Annual subscription £4.00, Country membership £1.50.  The accounts passed for payment all in sterling, which continued for the next two meetings after which all money is recorded in decimal.

W. Bro.B.S.P. Thurman reported to the Lodge at the April meeting 1974 that the Masonic Hall Ltd. was now free from mortgage.

The 1976 Installation meeting brought changes to the fees. The annual subscription rose to £6.00 plus capitation fee of £3.50 where applicable and country membership increased to £5.00 plus £1.00 capitation where applicable. A year later the Advancement fees were again increased to £10.00. Joining members £8.00. Re-joining £6.00. The Bye-laws were altered to read five meetings per year in January, March, April, October and November. It was also proposed and carried that a levy of £1.00 per member for one year and the dining fees were raised to £1.50. The Lodge fees were further increased to £7.00 in 1978. These were the days of galloping inflation and the introduction of the three day working week.

The fiftieth anniversary of the Lodge on Friday 12th January 1979 passed without any particular celebration, except the Advancement of Bro. Harold Spence, Secretary 1998-2008.

The 340th Meeting on Friday 12th October 1979 marked the Golden Jubilee of Very Worshipful Brother William Foster, P.G.O. at which the Lodge received the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master Kenneth Maxwell Stoddart, the Deputy Provincial Grand Master Bro James Reginald Leggart, the Assistant Provincial Grand Master, the Rev. Jack Jermy accompanied by other Grand and Provincial Grand Officers.  The Lodge presented a cheque in the sum £850.00 to the R.W. Provincial Grand Master towards the New Building Fund. The W.M. presented an embroidered Cushion and Fall on which would rest the Volume of the Sacred Law to Right W. Bro Foster. He said he accepted it with grateful thanks and humility and asked the W.M. to receive it on behalf of the Lodge with his gratitude and appreciation for the happy comradeship he had shared in the Lodge, and which was a feature of Mark Masonry. It is worthy of note that the Charity Plate realised the sum of £226.00. 

The November 1979 meeting brought a further increase in the subscriptions to £8.00 for members of Craft Lodges meeting at Adelaide Street and £10.00 for other members.

The R.W. Provincial Grand Master and his Deputy, accompanied by other Grand and Provincial Officers, were received into the Lodge at the April meeting in 1980 on the occasion of the Mark Festival, which featured a Lecture entitled “Mark Masonry, the Early Years” researched and delivered by W.Bro. T. Hudson and which was received with great acclaim. The W. M. presented a cheque for £420.00 to the R.W. Provincial Grand Master towards the New Building Fund.

At the November meeting the Lodge celebrated 50 years in Mark Masonry of W. Bro. Ernest Flower, P.A.G.D.C.  Congratulatory letters were read from the Grand Secretary and the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master, which also expressed their apologies for absence. V.W.Bro.W.Foster, P.G.O. reviewed W. Bro. Flowers service in the Lodge and his progress in Mark Masonry at the conclusion of which he presented a Ballot Box, suitable inscribed, to W. Bro. Flower. There was sustained applause. After a short address by W. Bro John Escott, P.A.G.D.C., representing the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master, W. Bro. Flower presented the Ballot Box to the Worshipful Master with the request that it should become part of the Lodge furniture.

The furniture of the Lodge was further enhanced at the Installation meeting in February 1986 by a gift of a handcrafted wooden box containing three Overseers mauls made and presented by Bro. George Thurman.

The refusal of the Lodge, in 1956, to meet in the “new” Lodge room, i.e in the basement, must have been rescinded because the Lodge once again proved its support for the Masonic Club by donating £125.00 towards a carpet for the Lower Temple in February 1987.

Three months later the Lodge presented the annual Fylde Mark Festival entitled “Moses and the creation of the Tabernacle”. This covered a period of over four hundred years and related to the bondage and harsh treatment under the Pharaohs, the birth and life of Moses and the acceptance of the Ten Commandments, the creation of the Tabernacle, the ten Plagues and the dividing of the Red Sea. 

Models of the Tabernacle and its furnishings were erected during the presentation which was accompanied by suitable organ music that gave reverence and dignity to the occasion. The presentation was concluded with acclaim and applause by the Brethren.

The Lodge furniture was added to by a presentation of a new Wicket Gate by W. Bro. A. J. Whittaker, P.Pr.G.J.D. at the October meeting in1990.

To celebrate fifty years in Freemasonry is an achievement. To serve fifty years in Mark Masonry is dedication. Very Worshipful Brother B.S.P. Thurman, P.G.J.O. accomplished 60 years in Mark Masonry on 10th April 1992 which was celebrated in the Lodge. A cheque of £500.00 was presented to V.W. Bro. Thurman which he handed to the Deputy Provincial Grand Master. W. Bro. Walton thanked W. Bro. Thurman and the Brethren and presented to the Lodge a special gavel to mark the contributions by the Lodge to the 2000 Mark Festival.

The Brethren were notified of the death on 11th November 1992 of the R.W. Prov. G.M. Bro. Dr. Brian Bennett Radcliffe at the January meeting 1993. It was at this meeting that the Lodge subscriptions were increased to £20.00 per annum.

The Lodge had the honour of being selected to give the Mark Festival Presentation on Thursday 30th March 1995 entitled “Old Mark Workings”. The Presentation team, in period dress, entered the Lodge and gave a demonstration of the Opening Ceremony circa 1850. Then a First and Second degree Opening practiced during the years 1788-1878 concluding with the Ceremony of Advancement and Lodge closing. The Presentation was received with great acclaim and applause.

A year later the Lodge was saddened with the announcement of the death of V.W. Bro. B.S.P.Thurman, P.G.J.O. on 20th March 1996. The W.M. paid tribute to the achievements attained in Freemasonry by V.W. Bro. Thurman and the contributions he had made to the order, particularly in the Fylde, during his Masonic career.

A further increase of £1.00 in the Lodge subscriptions was carried at the November meeting.

The Worshipful Assistant Provincial Grand Master Bro. Peter Connolly, P.G.S.D. and the Provincial team were received by the Lodge on Saturday 11th. October 1997 and entered the Lodge accompanied by the pipe music provided by Bro. Pipe Major Bryson for the “Demonstration of  Scottish Rite” by fifteen Brethren of Salfire Lodge No.1505 S.C.  At the end of the Demonstration W. Bro. Connolly thanked the Scottish Brethren for their endeavours and the Worshipful Master, Bro. Mel Cross for the arrangements.

The next meeting, in November, was one of the highlights in the history of Bispham-with- Norbreck Mark Lodge; the Presentation and Dedication of the Lodge Banner in the presence of the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master, Brother Anthony Walton and the Provincial Team. The Provincial Grand Master was offered and retained the gavel. He then appointed his Officers and addressed the Brethren on the purpose of the Meeting. The Banner Bearer W. Bro. George Partington, P.Pr.J.G.W. and the Deputation entered the Lodge and after the Dedication the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master presented the Banner to the Worshipful Master.
The Lodge is very proud of the Banner and it is displayed at every meeting of the Lodge.

On Friday 29th. March 2001 the Lodge presented the 31st.Blackpool and District Association of Mark Lodges Festival entitled “Mark Tokens and Others.”  The presentation explained with the aid of projected pictures how Mark and other Tokens were made and used in Masonry and in general use throughout the ages. At the conclusion the Brethren were presented with a booklet explaining in more detail the making and use of Tokens. The Provincial Grand Master thanked the presentation team which the Brethren supported by their applause.

On the 9th January 2004 the lodge celebrated it’s 75th Anniversary when the members presented “Medieval Mark Masons and their Tools” in period dress & was attended by some 115 Mark & Craft mason’s who for £15 dined on Stilton & Port Pate with Blackcurrant Marmalade and Oak Biscuits, Lamb Henry, Baked Apple & Sultanas, Cheese & Biscuits.

On the 15th April 2004 the lodge celebrated the 50 years in Mark Masonry of Bro George Samuel Thurman in the presence of the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master, Brother Anthony Walton. On the 10th December 2004 Bro Thurman presented two oak gavels to the lodge one for use on the VSL and the other for use by the Inner Guard.

In May 2005 W.Bro John Powell was invested as the Provincial Grand Senior Warden.

W.Bro. Harry King OBE the lodge secretary for ten years passed away on the 13th January 2006. Harry served with the RAF during the 2nd world war, becoming one of the elite band of airmen when serving as a navigator with the pathfinder crews. He was a Group Captain & Commanding Officer at RAF Gaydon and received an OBE in 1962 for his service to the air Ministry.

W.Bro’s G S Partington; P Armstrong and H Godson were made an Honorary Members in October 2006 for services rendered.

On Friday 17th. April 2008 the Lodge presented the 38th.Blackpool and District Association of Mark Lodges Festival entitled “The Albany T.I. Tracing Board.”  The presentation explained the Tracing Board which is a beautiful crafted three dimensional model produced by W.Bro M Cross
The Provincial Grand Master R.W. Bro Peter Connolly applauded W.Bro M Cross and the presentation team who took part in the presentation.

The Lodge approved new By-Laws on the 9th April 2010, a member more than six months in arrears shall not hold office in the lodge and shall be liable to exclusion. If he be eight months in arrears, he shall be excluded. This was approved by Grand Mark Lodge on the 4th August 2010.

On the 8th April 2011 the lodge celebrated its 500th meeting in the presence of R.W.Bro. Peter Connolly Provincial Grand Master who was presented with a cheque to the sum of £1000 for the West Lancashire Masonic Charity. The brethren dined on Pea and Ham Soup, Braised Lamb Shank and Lemon Tart at a splendid Old English Night. On a sad note it was reported at the meeting that W.Bro Harold Spence who was secretary for 10 years between 1998 to 2008 had passed away.

We have been very fortunate that since the Consecration, the Lodge has had candidates for most of the regular meetings and in some instances more than one.
Some of our members have attained high ranks in other Degrees that include, Assistant Provincial Grand Masters and Grand Officers in the Craft, Assistant to the Provincial Grand Principles and Grand Officers in the Royal Arch, Group Chairmen and Group Officers and Grand Officers in other Degrees.

We have had a fair share of Grand and Provincial Grand honours during our history. 
The members have always been expedient and generous in request for support to Masonic and non-Masonic charities.

Quite often it is quoted that the Mark Degree is a happy Masonic Order. 
Bispham-with-Norbreck Mark Lodge No.866 is proud and honoured to be part of that happy band.

Originally compiled by W. Bro. Bill Eardley P.Prov.G.M.O. to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the lodge & amended by W.Bro.H.Spence and W.Bro A.W. Dickson as a record of the lodge history for our candidates.