Cynon Dare Mark Lodge was so named in allusion to the confluence of the rivers Dare and Cynon, both of which flow through the town of Aberdare, the birthplace and home of the Lodge.
The town of Aberdare is situated of course approximately twenty-four miles north-west of the South Wales coastline. The town itself lies in the upper reaches of the Cynon Valley whose river is a tributary of the famous Taff, which meanders in a south-easterly direction and, at Cardiff, flows into the Bristol Channel. Aberdare, as we know it today, began its development about the year 1800 because of the presence in the area, of an abundance of raw materials essential for the developing iron and coal industries. Before this period, Aberdare was a rural village of a hundred or so residents. It consisted mainly of St John the Baptist Church, built in stone during the early 1600s, on the site of a previous wooden structure, and a dozen or more tradesmen’s cottages.
One indication of its expansion was the establishment in 1856 of its first Craft Masonic Lodge, St David’s Lodge No.679, and the opening of a Masonic Hall there in 1880. It was at the Masonic Hall in Aberdare, during the late 1970s, that a few local Masons had an informal meeting to discuss the feasibility of forming a Mark Lodge in the town. At that time, the nearest Mark Lodges were at Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd. These Brethren were mainly from the local Craft Lodges such as St David’s, Aberpennar and the newly-formed Afon Dar.
At their meeting it was decided that forming a Lodge would be a viable enterprise and further consideration of its founding would be pursued. The Masonic grapevine in the valleys became active and the brethren of Merthyr and Pontypridd showed considerable interest.
On 3 September 1982, a meeting at the Masonic Hall in Aberdare was held to confirm the decision to form the Lodge. The following were present:
WBro H L Collins
WBro W B Geake
Bro B Longman
Bro G Griffiths (Organising Secretary)
Bro H J Sambrook
Bro D B Rogers
Bro T I Burrows
Bro Dr M P Rowlands
Bro K E E Williams
Bro C Perry
Bro G Bull
Bro D J Pugsley
Bro J Reed
Apologies for absence were received from Bro P M Walters and Bro D E Howells. WBro H L Collins was unanimously elected to chair the meeting. Bro K E Williams enquired if it was a requirement in the Mark Degree to obtain sponsorship by another Mark Lodge and – if so – he suggested St Tydfil Mark Lodge. It was proposed by Bro D B Rogers and seconded by Bro H J Sambrook that the meetings of the proposed Lodge be held on the third Tuesday in January, March, May and November, and that the Consecration of the Lodge be arranged as soon as possible. At this meeting, it was calculated that the Founder’s fee would be £50, excluding the first annual subscription. It was decided that the annual subscription for new members would be £10, and the Advancement fee would be £17.25.
A list of the proposed Founder members was read out by the Secretary and they were named as follows:- WBro L H Collins, D E Howells, WBro W B Geake, Bro B Longmore, G Griffiths, H Sambrooke, P M Walters, D B Rogers, T T J Morgan, T I Burrows, K E Williams, Dr M P Rowlands, T Price, G Bull, C Perry, D J Pugsley, T Jones, S Archer and J Reed. All were unanimously accepted, subject to the prior Advancement of six brethren into the St Tydfil Mark Lodge No.639.
discussion took place with regard to the name of proposed Lodge and the following names were considered, including Wilfred Baden Porter Lodge, St Elfan’s Lodge, St John’s Lodge, Abertaff Lodge and Cynon Dare. It was decided to allow the brethren time to consider the subject of a name, and the matter was deferred to the next meeting, which would be at 7pm on 16 November 1982. At the meeting which was held on 16 November a ballot took place to decide on the Lodge name. In fact, there were three ballots, at the end of which the name Cynon Dare Mark Lodge was selected.
Bro H Sambrook announced that he had opened an account at Lloyds Bank in Aberdare on behalf of the proposed Lodge in order to receive fees from Founder members.
Part of a letter from the Provincial Grand Secretary, in respect of submitting a petition, was read. The organising Secretary stated that a notice had been placed on the Masonic Hall notice board following the previous meeting and three new proposed founder members were added to the list, namely Bro J James, Bro A James and Bro T J Harvey.
The Master Designate stated that arrangements were in hand with the Master of St Tydfil Mark Lodge to Advance the necessary number of Candidates on 20 January 1983.
At that meeting of St Tydfil Mark Lodge, the Provincial Grand Master, RWBro Norman A Morgan, accepted the gavel from the Worshipful Master and carried out the Ceremony of Advancement for the following Brethren:
Bro D J Pugsley
Bro James James
Bro R G Reed
Bro Alwyn James
Bro Richard G Jones
Bro T J Harvey
Bro C Perry
A token Candidate was selected which proved to be Bro Richard G Jones. It was customary in those days to physically escort a Candidate from the Senior Warden’s pedestal to the WM’s pedestal at speed. Inevitably, Bro Richard fell during this manoeuvre. At the end of the ceremony, the Provincial Grand Master presented the Book of Constitutions and By-Laws to every Candidate.
During the First Rising, WBro H L Collins presented a petition on behalf of the Aberdare Brethren who were desirous of forming a Mark Lodge in Aberdare and stated that it was intended that he, Bro G Griffiths and Bro H Sambrooke would be, respectively, the Master, Senior Warden and Junior Warden of the new Lodge.
Bro T H Jones agreed to provide the timber for the Overseers pedestals, and WBro Leslie Jeans promised to make them. WBro H L Collins said he would supply the Stones, and Bro T Harvey offered to supply the templates for them. In addition, it was decided that the Tracing Board should be purchased from Cambrian Leathercraft.
The Consecration took place in the Masonic Temple at Aberdare on Tuesday 17 May 1983. A total of 66 Brethren attended the meeting and the Consecrating Officer was RWBro Norman Alexander Morgan, the Provincial Grand Master of South Wales.
Together with his assisting officers, he entered the Temple in procession, took the Chair of Adoniram and appointed the following officers:
WBro A Neville Lanson, ProvGSW Senior Warden
WBro J Gwynne Williams, ProvGJW Junior Warden
Bro Revd. Gerald Leach, ProvGChap Chaplain
WBro Wilfred L Jones, ProvGSec Secretary
WBro Cyril A Griffin ProvGDC Director of Ceremonies
WBro Arthur G Jones, ProvDepDC Deputy Director of Ceremonies
Bro Hadyn Lloyd, ProvGOrg Organist
WBro Alun H Edwards, ProvGIG Inner Guard
WBro Trevor L Phillips, ProvGTyler Tyler
The Lodge was opened in due form by the PGM, who afterwards addressed the Lodge on the development of the Lodge in the town of Aberdare. He referred feelingly to the recent death of Bro Bayden Longmore, a Petitioner and the Chaplain Designate of the Lodge.
The Provincial Grand Master then welcomed RWBro Lt Cdr T C A Waghorn, PGM of Cornwall, to the assembly.
Following the Consecration, the Provincial Grand Master thanked WBro Leslie Jeans for the construction and presentation of the Consecrating Vessels (pictured on the left) that had been used for the first time in a Mark Lodge.
After a short recess, a Board of Installed Masters was formed and the Chair of Adoniram was occupied by WBro Stanley Bernard Roberts, Deputy Provincial Grand Master, as Installing Master. WBro H Lingard Collins PGJD, was then Installed as the first Master of the Lodge.
The Address to the WM was delivered by the Provincial Grand Master and WBro D Elwyn Howells was invested by the WM as the first IPM of the Lodge. The By-Laws were read and approved.
It was proposed by Bro Glyndwr Griffiths (Senior Warden) and seconded by Bro Harry Sambrook that the Consecrating Officers be made Honorary Members of the Lodge. This proposal was carried unanimously.
It was proposed by WBro Bryan Geake, and seconded by Bro Harry Sambrook that the Provincial Grand Master of Cornwall (Lt Commander T C A Waghorn ) be made an Honorary Member of the Lodge. This was carried unanimously.
The occupations of the Founder members of the Lodge were as follows
H Lingard Collins Office Manager
D E Howells Hairdresser
G Griffiths Colliery Manager
H J Sambrook Police Superintendant
D Rogers Factory head of department
T T J Morgan Colliery Electrical Engineer
P Walters Solicitor
B Longmore
M P W Rowlands Medical Health Officer
D J Pugsley University Lecturer
T I Burrows
W B Geake Toolmaker
T Price Family Butcher
T Jones Painter & Decorator
R J Reed
S Archer Sales Manager
J James Factory Manager
C Perry Police Officer
R G Jones Solicitor
A James Garage Proprietor
T J Harvey
G Bull Solicitor
At the first domestic meeting following the Consecration, three Candidates were Advanced into the Order, namely Bro James J Wratten, Bro Philip Jones and Bro Gareth George Jones. The Secretary announced that the By-Laws of the Lodge had been approved by Grand Lodge. The Secretary announced that the Candidate for the next meeting would be Bro Denis Whitmore Cotter, a Master Mason of the Afon Dar Lodge No.8829, subject to a successful ballot.
Following the first domestic meeting a goodly number of Candidates were Advanced and at one period the Lodge numbered fifty-four. Discussions ensued regarding an application for a Lodge Banner and it was decided that Bro Gareth Gait would submit a design. The Banner design was approved by the Lodge, Province and Grand Lodge. The Lodge name is derived from the Cynon and Dare rivers which meet at Aberdare and when the Cynon Dare Mark Lodge was Warranted on 29 April 1983, the Founder members had agreed a design that reflects this confluence on the Founder’s Jewel. That design is reproduced in the central plaque of the banner. It depicts the two rivers, Cynon and Dare, situated in a dense wooded valley, converging in the centre, at Aberdare. This depiction of the ancient Cynon Valley supports the Keystone of Mark Masonry. Symbolically, this alludes to the support and maintenance of the fraternity of Mark Masonry in the Cynon Valley area. The main colours of the Banner reflect the traditional colours of the Degree of Mark Masonry.
During the year 2000 concerted efforts were made to promote the 2004 Festival and at the Provincial meeting held on 12 June 2001 the Provincial Grand Master, RWBro Desmond Barnett, announced that Cynon Dare Mark Lodge was the winner of the Charity Plate, which was inscribed as follows, ‘Presented to Cynon Dare Mark Lodge No.1590 in appreciation of their superlative effort towards the Mark Fund of Benevolence’. The plate was presented to WBro Malcolm L Clarke, the Master of the Lodge. Further fund-raising events were planned, including a treasure hunt, a line-dancing evening and darts matches. Following the 2004 Festival, it was decided to hold an event to commemorate the Lodge’s Silver Jubilee. A social evening was held in the Lodge to celebrate this special occasion and the PGM and his lady attended. Approval for a token to be struck was obtained. A limited edition of the token, made of sterling silver, hallmarked and individually numbered were purchased at a price of £15 per token and every token came with a certificate of authenticity.
The following years saw a decline in membership partly due to some of the older members passing to the Grand Lodge Above. Over the last few years the membership has slowly increased and it is forecast that during the year 2018 there will be at least 30 members.
With acknowledgements to WBro Denis W Cotter, PGSD.