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The Year That Was – 2024
Its that time of year again.
Where I look back over the previous year and answer the same 40 questions.
1. What did you do in 2024 that you’d never done before?
OK, New things :-
- Wrote the Forward for a book (Robert Lomas – Daniel Owen’s The Township).
- Won the CQ paper writing competition.
- Became the Provincial Assistant Mentor in Chapter as well as Craft.
- Took an office in Wrexhamian Chapter (Joshua)
- Became a senior Provincial Officer (Provincial Secretary in SRIA)
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Last year I challenged myself to get at least one of the NWAMS books published and available to buy, and get my website updated.
I did publish book 1 “The Rise of Freemasonry in the Province of North Wales” which can be ordered from Amazon. And I have updated my Website, and have started moving all the multiple sites to the new main one wayne-owens.uk
I have not yes come up with a challenge for 2025.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No births at all this year that I am aware of.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
It has been a bad year for Masons.
There seems to have been a fair number of Masons that I know who passed away this year.
5. What countries did you visit?
The normal, mainland UK ones.
I did pop over to Anglesey, and that should count as its own country.
6. What would you like to have in 2025 that you lacked in 2024?
I would like to have hope.
Oh, and an end of this Labour government!
7. What dates from 2024 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
- August – For the release of Robert Lomas’ book that I wrote the introduction to.
- December – For becoming the Provincial Secretary of SRIA.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Being asked to write the Introduction for Robert Lomas’ latest Daniel Owen translation, and becoming the SRIA Provincial Secretary, See Question 7!.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Failing miserably in trying to save Wrexhamian Lodge.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing!
I managed to survive the whole year without even so much as a cold.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
A Voice Amplifier with Wireless Headset Microphone thing, which is handy for giving talks.
Which is sad for the best thing gotten, but I have not really got anything great this year.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
- Still Myself, because I am just so Awesome.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
The people who voted our current government in, that in the few months they have been in power have broken every election promise. Have stabbed business’s, pensioners, students, working people, in the back. Have freed thousands of murderers, rapists, and violent people early from prisons to make room for all the people they are having arrested for posting opinions on social media that go against the “Party Line” Russia has about 400 arrests this year for people speaking their minds, the UK is over 4000. The world is looking at the UK the way we used to look at Russia and North Korea. They are planning to go against the vote of the people and reverse Brexit and make it so we can never leave the EU again.
And because the hatred for the government is so high, they are planning to cancel all the upcoming council elections to prevent the losses they will have.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Books, More Books, Possibly a few more Books.
I may have a problem, at least I can admit it.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I do not think I got really excited about anything this year.
Don’t get me wrong, it has been a good year, with many great things happening. I just do not think there is any event that stands out as making me super excited.
16. What song will always remind you of 2024?
It is a hard choice this year. I have been rewatching Critical Roll, and the Legend of Vox Machina.
Due to that, these two songs have equally been stuck in my head, and will always remind me of the year 2024.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
- a) happier or sadder? Happier
- b) thinner or fatter? fatter
- c) richer or poorer? Richer
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
- Writing.
- Following my Dreams.
- Conquering the World.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? .
Eating 🙂
I could do with losing some weight.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Eating too much, drinking too much, and doing a TV marathon I normally pick a film series to binge over Christmas, like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Marvel, etc.
I have not decided what this years watch will be, maybe I will pick something more obscure.
21. What was your favourite month of 2024?
February: Because I published the first NWAMS book, and completed 50% of my New Years Resolutions at the start of the year, so I could then relax for the rest of the year.
22. Did you fall in love in 2024?
Only with the legendary Ashley Johnson!
23. How many one-night stands?
I do not believe in one-night stands. How can you tell if you realy like something unless you try it at least a couple of times?
24. What was your favourite TV programme?
Way too many to mention, As well as all the excellent ongoing TV shows, There was the new finds of :-
- Tracker.
- High Potential.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Last year I answered “You know what? NO! I do not believe I hate anyone this year that I did not hate previously. Maybe I am growing as a person, becoming more enlightened? Or is everyone already on THE LIST”.
This year I have the same answer, so I am now convinced everyone is already on THE LIST!
26. What was the best book you read?
This is always a very hard question. According to Goodreads I have read about 100 books this year. Trying to pick the best of that lot is not going to be easy.
But if you are going to hold a gun to my head and force me to answer, I will say “The Astrology Letters by Julius Harlande”, or “Daniel Owen’s The Township by Robert Lomas (Because I wrote the introduction)”.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
None. Mostly this year I have been listening to classic rock radio station, so nothing new.
28. What did you want and get?
A new Website.
I finally got around to updating my 18year old out of date personal website. It is not finished yet, but there is enough there to count as a “New Website”. And I can add to it as I go along.
29. What did you want and not get?
Wrexhamian Lodge to start trying to fix itself, or at least not continuing to destroy itself.
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
- Deadpool & Wolverine.
- Borderlands.
- IF
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I am still not having birthdays. I have decided to stop having them so that I can live forever.
It is SCIENCE!!!!
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If the People who killed Wrexhamian Lodge had been truthful about their wishes to try and repair the damage that they caused.
Oh, and the death of the Woke agenda.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2024?
Mostly Cargo Pants (I like the extra pockets) Jumpers.
Oh and suits, because suits are awesome…… True story
34. What kept you sane?
Sane? Sane? “You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means”.
I think the Sunday Night Beer Chat has done a lot to keep me sane, and save lives!
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Marisha Ray, Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey
I may have been re-watching Critical Role Campaign 1. As well as The Legend of Vox Machina.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The General Election!
For years now we have had Labour supporters saying everything wrong in the world is the fault of the Conservatives, and that if Labour was in power we would all be in a utopia. Then due to record low turnouts of voters, Labour had gotten into power with a massive majority.
And they instantly break every election promise they made, they attacked the pensioners putting them at risk due to removing the winter fuel allowance. They are looking to tax cars off the road, tax working people, remove the single person relief on house tax’s. Basically bankrupting every working or retired British person, so that they can fund massive pay rises for the unions, and spend billions a day putting the illegal immigrants in nice hotel rooms.
Then they released all the sexual and violent offenders from prison so they had room to lock up all the people who speak bad of labour on social media.
And as for sleaze, the new Labour PM has had more gifts for favours then the last 5 Conservative PM’s combined. And pays less tax than any of them.
It would have been nice if the people voting Labour had taken a look at Wales before voting. We have only ever had Labour in charge and we have the worst Healthcare (even though we get more money that the other home nations), Worst Education, Worst Roads, Worst public Transport, Lower speeds than the UK, More expensive alcohol, Tourist Tax. Wales is the worst in the UK. Well now the rest of you are under Labour Rule I guess you will soon be the same as us.
37. Who did you miss?
No one. “ high functioning Sociopath” Remember? Remember? from Question 22?
38. Who was the best new person you met?
I do not think I met any new person who exceptionally stood out.
The question is… Does that say a lot about me as a person, or people in general?
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2024?.
AI Knows All!
Oh, and if you actually buckle down and do the work you can get things done!
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
The adventure begins
They were always beside you
Your nerdy best friends
And the DM to guide you
The last Masonic Meeting of 2024 – Christmas Dinner Count
This evening was my last Masonic Meeting of 2024!
Tonight was the turn of Wrexhamian Lodge’s December meeting, which is usually more of a social gathering than a meeting, and a chance for us all to escape families between Christmas and New Year. Depending on how many excited kids you had to deal with over the Christmas week, this escape is necessary.
Originally the Secretary of the Lodge had asked me to arrange someone to come give a talk, but I had to cancel that when I found out the DC was planning on just doing a Walking Charge in the 3rd Degree because he wanted to.
Due to this, we did not have enough people turn up on the night to be able to have a festive board after the meeting, and we had to have several guests come to fill in for officers so we could open. And most people were doing multiple jobs. Only the DC, ADC, WM, JW, and SD were the actual officers.
So we opened and closed in the 3 degrees, did the 3 tools, and the walking charge. And it was the first time some had done the opening and closings, some visitors had to step in, so with no rehearsals it was a bit of a mess. Which was made worse by the DC team just sitting there and not prompting, or knowing what was going on. On the positive side, several of us were sat drinking in the pub less than an hour after the opening.
All in all it was a very poor way to end the year. Lets hope 2025 will be better.
And this year I managed to just have TWO Christmas dinners, one masonic and one family. I think it is the lowest number I have had in many years.
BBW – Christmas Party
This evening we had our Monthly Blood Bikes Wales NE meeting, and on this occasion we combined it with a Christmas Party.
The meeting was packed with people, most of whom were wearing Christmas Jumpers. I feel like I should own one for such occasions, but I would want a geeky one which may not be as valid, or appropriate for such events. Although, saying that is any Christmas Jumper appropriate for a Bikers party?
So I turned up, and there was a Pint already sat waiting for me at my place thanks to the fact Hugh had gotten there first. So greetings were made, and then we had the special privilege of presenting Blood Bikes Wales with a cheque for £1,500 from the Lodge of Rhuddlan Castle.
After that bit of business was concluded, it was time for a quick update meeting, to get the boring admin and news out of the way. And after that ten minutes, it was time to party. There was beer to drink, food to eat, and socialising to be done.
We also had a raffle, and to the amusement of everyone there when I got my tickets, I had this number.
I posted on Social Media that I suspected the raffle was trying to tell me something, and the internet agreed with me having that number.
Thank you Internet! I will have you know I am sweet and innocent!!
Well the joke is on them, because that raffle number won me a pen!
And if we have learnt anything from “Death Note”, then we have learnt that if I write someone’s name with this pen bad things may happen to them. My Nephew’s partner has already requested I test it out on him. She is such a caring person 🙂
But even better than the cursed pen of evil. I got a Christmas gift from one of the Blood Biker-Masons who was at the party. A lovely Penderyn miniature selection box, which was very nice of him.
Memories of the Day – Trip to Vote
This popped up on my Facebook Memories for the day.
Storm Darragh
Storm Darragh has hit the UK in full forth!
The road I live on is blocked in both directions by fallen trees, the road is a river, and around the corner a powerline is sparking dangerously. It is chaos out there, I hope everyone is safe.
Personally I am trapped by blocked roads, so I am unable to get to the Provincial AGM, but I am making the most of it by watching Wales get battered.
The storm got worse, and then the power went out around 11am Saturday morning!
I was not worried about the power cut, they are understandable in bad weather. I did start getting worried when I heard about the live powerline down across the road on my road, and even more so when I saw the burnt out junction box on a nearby pole, with burnt through power lines. This was not going to be a short cut!
I then remembered it was winter, and all my heating and lights are electric, and COFFEE! I may have lost it for a short while, in a panic until I remembered I had access to a camping stove, so coffee was sorted. So I busted out the stove, some torches, and a kindle, and sat down to wait.
Sunday came, and there was no sign of the power returning, so I borrowed a generator that I could run occasionally to power the internet and to recharge torches, phones, etc.
At 9pm Sunday I got excited as 4 vehicles full of engineers turned up to work on the blown joint after fixing the downed line. They were there for ages and managed to get power to most the houses in the area. ALAS not mine, but it was a start right?
Right?
Monday came, and I was cold, bored, and longing for power. At 6pm word came over the local gossip system that engineers were working to replace the downed line, and the houses by there were getting power back! Hope returned. At 7pm the four vehicle team turned up to work on the joint affecting me, and I got really excited.
Until! An engineer came into my place to disconnect the house from the meter. It turns out the blown joint also allowed the live power to back-feed via the neutral wire into a few houses. This was spotted all weekend (until they semi fixed the joint Sunday evening) by lights being on in the house, even though there was no electricity, the trips were all off, and the light switch was off.
This back feeding of power could have done serious damage, so the affected houses had to be disconnected as the power supply was repaired, and then a 3rd part engineer would need to come and test the building to make sure it was safe to be reattached to the national grid.
I can tell you that there was a moment of worry while waiting on permission to get power again. Luckily all was well (I guess we wired the place good) and vert late Monday evening permission was give, and power was returned!
I may have randomly turned lights on all over the place just to celebrate winning over darkness!
SRIA – Province of Western Counties and North Wales
Today was the Annual General Meeting of the Province of Western Counties and North Wales SRIA. Members from all over our large Province braved Storm Darragh to head to Cheshire View for the meeting.
Unfortunately, the road I live on was blocked in one direction by three large trees across the road, and the other direction had a tree and live power lines blocking the way. Add to that a massive flood, and I was trapped and unable to attend. I was later trapped, and without power but that is another story.
It was a shame I was not there to support the two colleges I am a member of. It was also a shame to miss my last outing before I stood down as the Provincial Conductor, a role I have held for the last 6 years (I will miss taking the candidates around in the Vault of Adepts). I am sure my replacement will be excited to take over, just as I am excited to take over my new role. I am now the Provincial Secretary, a role I hope I can do to the same standard as the previous two Secretaries.
Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.R.I.A.)
The Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.R.I.A.) stands as the world’s oldest independent society of Rosicrucian Freemasons, proudly composed of Master Masons from Lodges acknowledged by the United Grand Lodge of England.
Our Colleges are strategically located across the globe, including England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Wales, France, and Holland. To find the most convenient location for you, please click HERE to access our interactive map of S.R.I.A. College Locations.
For more information on the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, please click on the link to the Societies website, or the Province of Western Counties and North Wales website.
Wrexham, Caergwrle & Dee Valley Lodges & Chapters
The Province of North Wales is broken down into 10 groups, each with a Group Chairman and a selection of Lodges and Chapters that fall into that Group or Area.
For the last few years Group 8 has been shrinking due to Lodges and Chapters closing, or moving to different Halls. During the same time Group 7 has been growing, mostly due to the relocation of lodges from Group 8. It was therefore decided, that since both Group 7 & 8’s chairmen were stepping down this year, that the two groups would merge together and create a supergroup with a new Group Chairman. (It made sense since most the people in the Group were in both groups anyway due to locational closeness)
Since September the new Super-Group has been in existence and this evening a bunch of us met up to plan what we are going to do moving onwards. There are a lot of plans moving forward.
BBW – Talk for the Lodge of Rhuddlan Castle
Today Nev, Hugh, and Myself went along to the White Table meeting of The Lodge of Rhuddlan Castle, to give a presentation on Blood Bikes Wales.
It was a well attended meeting, with a large number of Masons, and None-Masons (or not yet Masons) in attendance. The Lodge pledged £5657 to the 2028 Festival, £350 to the North Wales Mountain Rescue, and £1,500 to Blood Bikes Wales.
We were then treated to a Gourmet five course meal, in great company, with as much wine and port as we wanted (poor Nev was the designated driver).
It is a hard job, but someone has to do it. #ItsWhatWeDo
Blood Bikes Wales
Blood Bikes Wales is a charity that transports blood, plasma, platelets, samples, vaccines, donor breast-milk & any other urgently required medical items to hospitals at night, weekends and bank holidays. This service is provided completely free of charge, allowing the NHS to divert funds where they are needed most.
Our riders are a hardy bunch that operate in all but the very worst weather.
A Secret Flowering of Skill and Genius
This evening I went along to Mold Masonic Hall to attend the Daniel Owen Festival English lecture by Robert Lomas titled “A Secret Flowering of Skill and Genius, about how Daniel came to write Y Dreflan.“
It covered the time between Daniel coming back to Mold from Bala, his accident, and the start of his writing career.
It was an enjoyable talk, and the Mold lodges managed to raise some money for charity.
In 1881, Daniel Owen’s wrote his first original novel which was originally published in chapters in Y Drysorfa during 1879-80. In the 140+ years this important piece of Welsh literature has never been translated into English.
This was a shame, since it prevent newer generations from reading this work, even older Welsh speakers would struggle with the unique Mold Welsh in which Daniel wrote.
Robert Lomas has spent the last two years translating this book, and it is now for the first time available in English. You can pick it up from Amazon, or all sensible book stores.
(I am not just saying this because I wrote an introduction in the book)
The Never-ending Chair
At the recent Installation meeting of Wrexhamian Chapter, we had a slight issue. A friend of mine who was elected to go into the chair of Joshua had to pull out due to some ongoing health issues, which would prevent him being able to take on the role this year. Before his illness got worse, I had told him that I would cover for him, and any meetings he was unable to attend, I would simply stand in on the night. So when we received the news he was unable to take the role this year, I was asked could I save the day and commit myself to three years as J,H & Z. My father was J at the time, so it would also mean I got my father putting me into the three chairs. So it was a no brainer. I accepted!
But this has got me realising a few things.
Since I tool the chair of Bishop Wilkins College in 2018, I have been in at least one chair every year since (at the worst three chairs). Abd it now looks like this will continue for at least three years.
But it gets worse. Since I first ever went into a chair, which was Llannerch Lodges chair way back in 2011, there has only been two years when I have not been in a chair. And one of those I was doing all the ceremonies from the IPM’s spot.
I wonder if that is a record? Especially since I am only in four orders.
| YEAR | CRAFT | ROYAL ARCH | SRIA | ROSE CROIX |
| 2011 | Llannerch Lodge | |||
| 2012 | Llannerch Lodge | |||
| 2013 | ||||
| 2014 | J – Wynnstay Chapter | |||
| 2015 | H – Wynnstay Chapter | |||
| 2016 | Z – Wynnstay Chapter | |||
| 2017 | ||||
| 2018 | Bishop Wilkins College | |||
| 2019 | Bishop Wilkins College | Valle Crucis Chapter | ||
| 2020 | Bishop Wilkins College | Valle Crucis Chapter | ||
| 2021 | Wrexhamian Lodge | Bishop Wilkins College | Valle Crucis Chapter | |
| 2022 | Valle Crucis Chapter | |||
| 2023 | Clwyd College | |||
| 2024 | J – Wrexhamian Chapter |