Welcome! The Old Cliftonian Lodge is delighted to be hosting the 85th Public Schools Lodges Council Festival 2018. The Guest of Honour will be the Deputy Grand Master, R.W. Bro. Jonathan Spence, and we look forward to welcoming him, and members of the PSLC sister lodges, their families and friends to come and enjoy west country hospitality with us at Clifton College, Bristol on Saturday 2^nd June 2018.

History

In 1909, the year of consecration of the Old Cliftonian Lodge, the Lodges of Westminster, Charterhouse, Cheltenham, Sherborne & Clifton agreed to form a “Standing Committee of the Public Schools Lodges” to foster public school Masonry and this later became the Public Schools Lodges Council. The Old Cliftonian Lodge meets in London three times a year, at Freemasons’ Hall, and holds a dinner afterwards. It also meets once a year at Clifton, on the Saturday nearest to Remembrance Sunday. Although it is a London Lodge, it has a special relationship with the province of Bristol.

The 2018 Festival is a significant event for the Lodge, not only because it will be the fourth occasion on which it has hosted the Festival, but also in this the Centenary year of the end of World War 1, through the School’s strong military ties. These are evidenced by the 582 OC casualties in WWI whose names are inscribed on the Memorial Arch, opened in the presence of Field Marshal the Earl Haig – an Old Cliftonian and a Scottish Freemason.

The full programme for the day appears on the Festival page and includes a masonic meeting during which our friends from Robert Thorne Lodge No. 3663 (Bristol Grammar School) will demonstrate some of the key parts of the Bristol Working of the 1^st Degree ceremony. Suitable alternative entertainment is being offered to spouses and non-masonic guests during the masonic meeting.

The event is open to both masons and non-masonic guests alike and the 200 places will fill up fast so please book early via the online forms on the "Tickets" page above.

We look forward to welcoming you all.