This evening was my final Masonic event of 2025! and I swear, this time it really is the last one.

Hugh had been battling a bad cold and couldn’t make it to Wynnstay Lodge on Wednesday, so we agreed the year wouldn’t feel complete without a proper Masonic pint with him. That’s how I ended up visiting his Lodge of Wrexhamian.

In hindsight, I should have just met him afterwards for the drink and ended my Masonic year on the high note of the tribute to Norman.

The Lodge room was practically empty. The Junior Warden sat alone on his side of the room. Numbers were so low, in what was once one of the largest Lodges in the area, that the only Steward had to double as Inner Guard and Tyler, while the A.D.C. was doing triple duty as A.D.C., I.P.M., and Chaplain.

We had the usual annual talk on the Royal Arch, followed by the Membership Officer giving a presentation on recruitment. Ironically, every suggestion offered was something the Lodge used to do before the current leadership took over and ran it into the ground.

During the closings, a member stood to propose a charitable donation, only to be told that the Lodge had decided (without any vote) that members are no longer allowed to propose charity giving. All decisions will now be made solely by the Committee. Ordinary members, it seems, no longer get a say.

The whole evening reminded me that I made the right choice in leaving Wrexhamian Lodge. Its decline isn’t just continuing, it’s accelerating.