UGLE Video Library

In this edition of Solomon Live, we sit down with Pro Grand Master Peter Lowndes to hear about his role and his views on the future of Freemasonry.

Find out more about Freemasonry here: https://www.ugle.org.uk/

In the fifth of our stories from the UGLE X @Brother Masonic Podcast collaboration for #InternationalMensDay, Jack Saunders shares his story of the importance of talking openly and frankly about any concerns you have with your mental health.

Hear Jack's story, and share your own with the hashtag #GetTalkingBrothers

Find Jack Saunders on Twitter @MyLilBlueBook and find Brother. The Masonic Podcast at brothermasonic.com

To find out more about the United Grand Lodge of England, or Freemasonry in England and Wales, head to ugle.org.uk

In the third of our stories from the UGLE X @Brother Masonic Podcast collaboration for #InternationalMensDay, Taz Bhachoo shares his story of experiencing debilitating panic and anxiety attacks, and talks about the steps he took to overcome them.

Hear Taz's story, and share your own with the hashtag #GetTalkingBrothers

Find Brother. The Masonic Podcast at brothermasonic.com

To find out more about the United Grand Lodge of England, or Freemasonry in England and Wales, head to ugle.org.uk

In the third of our stories from the UGLE X @Brother Masonic Podcast collaboration for #InternationalMensDay, Shaun Butler shares his story of experiencing crippling anxiety attacks whilst at university, and how speaking with a therapist helped him feel like an insufferable weight was lifted from his shoulders.

Hear Shaun's story, and share your own with the hashtag #GetTalkingBrothers

Find Shaun Butler on Twitter at @Shaun_UGLE, and Brother. The Masonic Podcast at brothermasonic.com

To find out more about the United Grand Lodge of England, or Freemasonry in England and Wales, head to ugle.org.uk

In the second of our stories from the UGLE X @Brother Masonic Podcast collaboration for #InternationalMensDay, Josh Worley shares his story of his own mental health experience of not realising he was suffering from stress and anxiety, and how having a conversation helped him understand and make changes to his lifestyle to cope with it better.

Hear Josh's story, and share your own with the hashtag #GetTalkingBrothers

Find Josh Worley on Twitter at @Josh_UGLE, and Brother. The Masonic Podcast at brothermasonic.com

To find out more about the United Grand Lodge of England, or Freemasonry in England and Wales, head to ugle.org.uk

In the first of our stories from the UGLE X @Brother Masonic Podcast collaboration for #InternationalMensDay, Neil-Thomas Allen shares his story of his own mental health experience when he suffered a devastating bereavement, just as the country plunged into the first Lockdown in 2020.

Hear Neil's story, and share your own with the hashtag #GetTalkingBrothers

Find Neil-Thomas Allen on Twitter at @NTAMasonic, and Brother. The Masonic Podcast at brothermasonic.com

To find out more about the United Grand Lodge of England, or Freemasonry in England and Wales, head to ugle.org.uk

The United Grand Lodge of England, and our Grand Master, HRH The Duke of Kent are proud to lead its members at home in the UK, and overseas, in an act of Remembrance to all our fallen brethren, and those who gave their lives for our freedom.

In the video, Brother Lieutenant Oliver-Rupert Pelendrides of the Royal Navy reads the Act of Remembrance Exhortation, followed by a rendition of The Last Post, a two minute silence, The Reveille followed by a recitation of The Kohima Epitaph.

Later in the video, wreaths are laid at The Memorial Shrine in Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street by HRH Duke of Kent, Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England, followed by Brother Lieutenant Oliver-Rupert Pelendrides, Brother Colour Sergeant Johnson Gideon Beharry, VC, COG, and Brother Wing Commander Robert Tipping.

Freemasons’ Hall stands on Great Queen Street, on a site that has been used to hold meetings for Freemasons since 1775. The present building, the third Masonic Hall on the site, was constructed between 1927 and 1933 as a memorial to those who died in the First World War and was for many years known as the Masonic Peace Memorial.

In the first vestibule of Freemasons' Hall, leading up to the Grand Temple is The Memorial Shrine. The Memorial Shrine was created in bronze by Walter Gilbert (1871-1946). Its design and ornamentation incorporated symbols connected with the theme of peace and the attainment of eternal life. It takes the form of a bronze casket resting on an ark among reeds, the boat indicative of a journey that had come to an end. In the centre of the front panel a relief shows the hand of God set in a circle in which rests the soul of man. At the four corners of the Shrine stand pairs of winged seraphim carrying golden trumpets, and across the front are four gilded figures portraying Moses, Joshua, Solomon and St George.

The Roll of Honour is guarded by kneeling figures representing the four fighting services at the time it was designed (the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the Army and the Royal Flying Corps). On either side of the Shrine are the bronze Pillars of Light decorated with wheat (for resurrection), lotus (for the waters of life) and irises (for eternal life) with four panels of oak leaves at their base. The Roll of Honour displayed at the Shrine on a parchment roll includes more than 350 names not included in the Roll of Honour book and additional lodge details for about 30 names already known.

Find out more about Freemasons' Hall at Freemasonry at ugle.org.uk

Read by Brother Lieutenant Oliver-Rupert Pelendrides, Royal Navy

For the Fallen is a poem written by Laurence Binyon. It was first published in The Times in September 1914.

Over time, the third and fourth stanzas of the poem (usually now just the fourth) have been claimed as a tribute to all casualties of war, regardless of state.

This selection of the poem is often taken as an ode that is often recited at Remembrance Day services, and is what the term "Ode of Remembrance" usually refers to.

The poem is read in the vestibule at Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street on a site that has been used to hold meetings for Freemasons since 1775. The present building, the third Masonic Hall on the site, was constructed between 1927 and 1933 as a memorial to those who died in the First World War and was for many years known as the Masonic Peace Memorial.

Read by Brother Group Captain Barry Dale, Royal Air Force

John McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Fields which inspired the use of the poppy as a symbol of Remembrance. In the spring of 1915, shortly after losing a friend in Ypres, a Canadian doctor, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote his now famous poem after seeing poppies growing in battle-scarred fields.

The poem is recited in front of the Victoria Cross Memorial Stone, located within the Tower Entrance Hall of Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street.

The Remembrance Stone was commissioned in 2016 by Granville Angell to commemorate all English Freemasons who were awarded the Victoria Cross. The VC is the highest award for gallantry that can be conferred on a member of the British Armed Forces and since its introduction in 1856, more than 200 Freemasons have been awarded the Victoria Cross – making up an astonishing 14% of all recipients.

The Remembrance Stone was carved by Emily Draper, who was Worcester Cathedral’s first female Stonemason apprentice, having been sponsored by local Freemasons. During the preparation stage of the stone, Emily also found out that her Great Uncle was a Freemason VC recipient.

Read by Brother Lieutenant Oliver-Rupert Pelendrides, Royal Navy

Dulce et Decorum est is a poem written by Wilfred Owen during World War I, and published posthumously in 1920.

The Latin title is taken from Ode 3.2 (Valor) of the Roman poet Horace and means "it is sweet and fitting". It is followed by pro patria mori, which means "to die for one's country". One of Owen's most renowned works, the poem is known for its horrific imagery and condemnation of war.

It was drafted at Craiglockhart in the first half of October 1917 and later revised, probably at Scarborough but possibly Ripon, between January and March 1918. The earliest surviving manuscript is dated 8 October 1917 and addressed to his mother, Susan Owen, with the message: "Here is a gas poem done yesterday (which is not private, but not final)."

The poem is recited in front of the Victoria Cross Memorial Stone, located within the Tower Entrance Hall of Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen Street.

The Remembrance Stone was commissioned in 2016 by Granville Angell to commemorate all English Freemasons who were awarded the Victoria Cross. The VC is the highest award for gallantry that can be conferred on a member of the British Armed Forces. Since its introduction in 1856, more than 200 Freemasons have been awarded the Victoria Cross – making up an astonishing 14% of all recipients.

The Remembrance Stone was carved by Emily Draper, who was Worcester Cathedral’s first female Stonemason apprentice, having been sponsored by local Freemasons. During the preparation stage of the stone, Emily also found out that her Great Uncle was a Freemason VC recipient.