Amazing - On Parade 5th April

On Parade 5th - The West Kent Military Lodge

We will shortly be on Parade 5th (the 1st Friday in April) at the Wilmington Masonic Hall, Hawley Road, Dartford, Kent DA1 1PA – what3words = small.market.putty (1730hrs). Please book as soon as you can as we have had to ‘close the book’ early for our last two meetings (we have already received over 60 confirmations from attending/dining brethren).

Unfortunately we do have to restrict the total of attending/dining numbers as the Lodge Room/Mess Hall simply cannot accommodate too large an audience. To this end we can only apologise to our much valued and highly respected supporters of the Lodge who may be unable to secure a place at this meeting due to the restriction imposed. Hence the advice to ‘Book Early’ (on parade 5th).

As you may be aware we are, for the future, considering a ‘Mess’ membership that will afford ‘Mess’ members a ‘priority’ on attendance and a definite place at the Festive Board/Mess Hall. Further details will be published on this in due course.

On parade 5th

This is a very important meeting for our Lodge for two especial reasons:

1. It is the Lodge’s 152nd anniversary - Beauchamp held its first every meeting in April 1872 in Roorkee, India,
2. Major Stephen Reynolds, Chairman of the Circuit of Service Lodges is coming to visit the Lodge to assess our application to become a member Lodge.

To this end Clive Moore, Lodge Military Historian, will be taking us on a journey through India, to the depths of the Jungle (where the Tigers roam), when Officers were both Gentlemen and Freemasons, and Princes were members of the Lodge. He will cover our history, our distinguished brethren and our achievements to date so that the Major (Chairman of the CoSL) has the best possible information regarding our Lodge’s fantastic history and impeccable pedigree.

To this end we hope that all visiting brethren will consider this to be a Scale A on parade 5th and show their support by being present with their; headdress, their boots bulled and their medals polished.

For those on parade 5th be aware that the DC will be inspecting, to which end we trust you will all have polished your medals & boots and that your headdress is brushed - you have been warned!

The Festive Board will be commemorating the Lodge’s 152nd anniversary with a ‘King and Country’ theme. Leon, our Chef, will be providing us with an excellent Indian Menu to commemorate our heritage in-keeping with this meeting’s theme.

Starter - Poppadom and Chutneys, 
Main - ‘’Railway Chicken’
(Chicken Keema Aloo - minced chicken curry with sliced potatoes), 
Bhaji, Samosa, Rice
Pudding - Mango Sorbet
Cheese & Biscuits
Tea/Coffee

The cost of the meal is £25 (payment should be made at your earliest convenience to our Treasurer)
Acc. Name: Beauchamp Lodge No. 1422, Sort Code: 30-65-41, Acc. No.: 33401868.
Should you have any dietary requirements please ensure you inform us.

A couple of general points to hopefully assist in maximising everyone’s enjoyment of the on parade 5th evening:

• As you know our meetings are always well attended and although we have restricted attendance for this meeting there will still be 90 brethren at the meeting. To this end we should be most grateful if, wherever practicable, those attending would consider car sharing, not only to help the environment but also to reduce car numbers in the car park

• When parking in the Wilmington Masonic Hall car park please consider other car park users and park as near to the next car as allows you (and others) a safe access to/egress from your vehicle and is practicable and considerate

• Our meeting is due to start at 1730hrs so please allow plenty of time for your journey, for parking and for signing in. The Hall should be open from around 1600hrs onwards,

• Finally the Wilmington Masonic centre DOES NOT have a card machine so any purchases and/or donations to charity and/or the raffle (and there will be two raffles - one for a very special prize) can only be made by cash. Please therefore bring plenty of small notes (£5) and plenty of £1 coins for our collection boxes/any fines imposed - on parade 5th

This on Parade 5th post has been created by the West Kent Military lodge for information. If you would like to now more about the Lodge contact us here