Chorley Masons at Cenotaph Whitehall
8th November 2015
Regrettably, our Team Leader (V.W.Bro. Paul Snape) for expeditions to London to export a West Lancashire Mark wreath on the Cenotaph had pressing family matters which required his attendance in Aberdeen.
 
It therefore fell upon his wine Steward (your humble scribe) to organise the annual West Lancashire expedition.

Our distinguished party of your scribe, his wife Jennifer and their very good friends Bill and Steve Hogan set out at 09.58 on Friday 6th November from Preston.

On arrival in London and checking in to our hotel we set off to explore London and introduce our friends to some of London ' highlights including St. Paul's Cathedral, the Monument to the Great fire of London in Pudding Lane, the Bank of England and Newgate Street, we stumbled upon a hostelry called the Knights Templar.

Being a member of this Masonic Order we thought that we should take a short break and avail ourselves of a small libation or two.

We then returned to our hotel for the evening and discovered we had (reportedly) traversed no small distance of approximately 8.5 miles!
Left - St. Paul's Cathedral
Right - Monument to the Great Fire of London
 
We awoke on Saturday to heavy rain but, nevertheless, took a bus to Harrods in Knightsbridge for Christmas shopping, then made our way via Buckingham Palace and St. James' park to 86 St. James' Street where our travel companions had heard that there was a portrait of a certain well known Chorley character was on display.
 
We had pre - booked theatre tickets for "Gypsy" at the Savoy Theatre which can be thoroughly recommended.
       
Sunday morning dawned dry but overcast but the weather forecast had been for very mild dry weather. Bill and I set off for the Cenotaph via Euston bus station when we were offered a complimentary taxi to Trafalgar Square for the Remembrance parade - I suspect the West Lancs Poppy wreath we were carrying had something to do with this!
 
The service and parade were organized with the usual precision and we eagerly awaited permission for us to place our wreath on the Cenotaph but it was unfortunate that the Salvation Army were to hold a "short" service of Remembrance which actually lasted over 40 minutes in addition to a 30 minute delay in them actually arriving at the Cenotaph. During this period the temperature plummeted to 12 degrees.
 
Left W.Bro. John Bicknell and Bill Hogan
 
Right The West Lancs Mark Wreath

On receiving permission I approached the Cenotaph where a delightful young police woman received the wreath and placed it in a prominent position as indicated in the accompanying photos.
Article and Photographs courtesy of John Bicknell