The Goffs Oak Lodge No.7169
Travelling Gavel
Last Updated 14th October 2005
READ ALL ABOUT IT !!
See page 30 of MQ issue 15 to read our Secretary's letter !!
HOT NEWS
It appears that the Goffs Oak Lodge travelling gavel has been spotted in Denmark !! Our Lodge Secretary is trying to verify this and hopefully we will post further details here soon.
At the Festive Board following the Lodge's 50th anniversary meeting on 20th April 2002, our highly esteemed Treasurer, W.Bro. R. C. Gibbs, presented the then Worshipful Master, Bro. L. W. Edmonds, with a travelling gavel.
W.Bro. Gibbs had made this magnificent travelling gavel for use by the Worshipful Master on this auspicious occasion but he had also provided a hand made box to protect the travelling gavel on its journey, which was to start immediately after the Festive Board. He had further included a log book to record the details of each Lodge that had received the travelling gavel in the hope that its progress around the UK (and beyond ?) could be reported back periodically to the Worshipful Master and Brethren of the Lodge.
The travelling gavel was taken from the Festive Board by our Secretary to be used at the next meeting of his mother Lodge, Old Actonians No. 4094, London (at Freemason's Hall, Great Queen Street). It was then taken by one of the visitors to his mother Lodge, Totteridge No.6130, Province of Hertfordshire (at Southgate Masonic Centre, Middx), and from there - well I guess you have already got the idea.
Here is an extract of the travelling gavel's journey that we know about:
| Date of Meeting | Lodge | Province | Centre |
| 20th April 2002 | Goffs Oak 7169 | Hertfordshire | Halsey Hall, Cheshunt |
| 8th June | Old Actonians 4094 | London | Freemasons' Hall |
| 18th October | Totteridge 6130 | Hertfordshire | Southgate Masonic Centre |
| 29th October | St. James 167 | London | Royal National |
| 22nd November | Borough of Finsbury 3901 | London | Corvino Restaurant, London |
| 13th December | Essex Border9427 | Essex | Harlow |
| 14th December | Ubique in the East 3338 | London | Mark Masons' Hall |
| 3rd February 2003 | Pax Magna 3916 | Nottingham | Masonic Hall Nottingham |
| 8th March | Walesby Forest 9674 | Nottingham | Masonic Hall Nottingham |
| 20th June | Commercial Travellers 5089 | Durham | FM Hall, Darlington |
| 1st October | Withy 7733 | West Lancashire | Leyland |
| 1st October | Coventrian 5982 | Warwickshire | Coventry Masonic Hall |
| 24th October | Old Veseyan 7924 | Warwickshire | Sutton Coldfield |
It would appear from the above that the travelling gavel was used at two Festive Boards on the same day in two different Lodges which meet at centres120 miles apart !!
Recently the travelling gavel has become a bit 'lost' and we are anxious to discover its current whereabouts and keen to trace its continuing journey from Lodge to Lodge.
If you have any information on the whereabouts of the Goffs Oak Lodge travelling gavel, or can remember seeing it at a Lodge meeting at any time, please contact the Lodge Secretary. Even the smallest detail will be thankfully received and faithfully applied !