Bro Gwyn Joseph of Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia presented the province with a beautiful Mulga Wood gavel and the idea of a Travelling Gavel to encourage visiting between Lodges in the Province of West Wales was born. The province owes a great debt to W Bro Ian Brodie of Saint Padarn Lodge who took the idea of a Travelling Gavel and made it a reality. As a tribute to all of Ian’s hard work, the Traveling Gavel was launched at the Saint Padarn Lodge Installation on Thursday 16th October 2014, and it has gone from strength to strength ever since.
Having claimed the travelling gavel from Frenni Lodge on 13th December 2024, Castlemartin Lodge were hoping for a good turnout in Pembroke Dock at their regular meeting on Tuesday 14th January 2025. As well as large number of visitors, the Provincial Grand Master, RW Bro James Ross made a surprise visit to the lodge to present the Worshipful Master with a Bronze Medal to recognise the progress Castlemartin Lodge has made towards their 2026 Festival target.
The rules state that a minimum of 4 brethren must attend both the meeting and the Festive Board to be eligible to claim the gavel. Frenni Lodge were anxious to reclaim the gavel and sent 11 brethren in a minibus. Surely there wouldn’t be a lodge with more than 11 brethren present.
Frenni Lodge hadn’t considered the desire of the brethren of Tenby Lodge to use the gavel at their Installation meeting on Monday 27th January 2025. The gavel can’t be claimed at an Installation meeting, so the 14 brethren from Tenby were very confident they would leave with the gavel and keep it for at least two months.
St David’s Lodge from Milford Haven had other ideas and they had 17 brethren in attendance and dining. A truly spectacular performance coordinated and driven by the Worshipful Master, W Bro Lewis Eden who was ably assisted by the very persuasive W Bro Paul Holmes.
There was a total of 50 visitors present at the meeting and the Festive Board and a wonderful time was had by all. The next opportunity to claim the gavel will be at the St David Lodge meeting in Milford Haven Masonic Hall on Tuesday 4th February 2025. Details of how to book in for the meeting can be found in the Travelling Gavel section of the West Wales website https://www.westwalesfreemasons.org/travelling-alter-gavel/.