The celebration
On Monday, 8th December, Permanent Way Lodge will meet in the Grecian Temple at the former Great Eastern Hotel to mark this, the 200th Anniversary of the dawn of the modern railway. The meeting starts promptly at 1500
hrs following which Masonic historian W.Bro. Dr Rob Hammond (a member of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No.2706, the Masonic Research Lodge) will explore the relationship between railways and Freemasonry, including the Great Eastern Hotel. Following meeting, there will be a ‘White Table’ dinner in the Ballroom, for all.
During the evening, there will be a draw for a wide range of valuable prizes and a short auction of railway-related items and, arranged by Crewe Railwayana Auctions.
Details and cost
The meeting takes place in the Grecian Temple at the Andaz Hotel (formerly Great Eastern Hotel) starting promptly at 3pm.
During the meeting, non-masons will be entertained by a presentation from renowned professional photographer Jack Boskett, called From Railways to Royalty. Jack started his photographic career taking pictures of trains and, indeed, he still does. But his railway photography directly led to him being chosen for the Royal Rota, taking images of the Royal Family and his images have been used by news media throughout the world, and he amusingly tells the story of how this all came about.
At the end of the Masonic meeting, the presentation by W. Bro Dr. Rob Hammond will take place for all to enjoy when he explores the compelling links between railways and Freemasonry.
There will be an opportunity for guests to visit the Grecian Masonic Temple during the evening, and dinner will take place at 18.00 hours.
The cost is £100 for non-masonic guests including dinner, wine and a commemorative gift while for Freemasons, the cost is £150 to cover the additional cost of hiring the room. For Masons attending the meeting only, the cost is £50.
We expect the occasion to be concluded by 21.00 hours, thus allowing those living more distantly to catch their trains home.
Planned timetable:
14.00 Photo call outside hotel with GER locomotive 229 (if Tornado is in the station, an arrangement to visit the engine will be made at the time)
15.00 Lodge meeting in the Grecian Temple. Robing in room adjacent to the Temple.
For non-Masonic guests, the presentation by Jack Boskett takes place in an adjoining room, Tea, coffee and cake served
16.30 Presentation by Rob Hammond ‘Railways and Freemasonry’, for everyone, in the same room
17.15 Guests will be able to visit the Grecian Room and/or go to the bar, pre-dinner drinks
18.00 Dinner in the Ballroom
Christmas dinner menu – please see the adjoining menu and make your selections on attached form and return with payment please, by 14 November 2025
The history of railways is intrinsically linked to Freemasonry.
Many of the pioneers in railway design were Freemasons,
including George and Robert Stephenson, who created the
world’s first commercially successful public railway: the Stockton & Darlington, 200 years ago. Their railway started the growth of railways to the national and international networks we know today.
Permanent Way Lodge No. 9951 felt this was an unique opportunity to celebrate this historic relationship by meeting in a Masonic room, built by the Great Eastern Railway. Most of the directors of the GER were Freemasons, including chairman Sir Claude Hamilton, so their Great Eastern Hotel at Liverpool Street, completed in 1884, incorporated two elaborate and finely-furnished Lodge meeting rooms – one of Egyptian style, the other Grecian.
The Egyptian basement room is used today as a gym, while the Grecian remains exactly as built, but sensitively restored, on the first floor. Today, the hotel is operated by Andaz, which is part of the Hyatt group.
The celebration
On Monday, 8th December, Permanent Way Lodge will meet in the Grecian Temple at the former Great Eastern Hotel to mark this, the 200th Anniversary of the dawn of the modern railway. The meeting starts promptly at 1500
hrs following which Masonic historian W.Bro. Dr Rob Hammond (a member of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No.2706, the Masonic Research Lodge) will explore the relationship between railways and Freemasonry, including the Great Eastern Hotel. Following meeting, there will be a ‘White Table’ dinner in the Ballroom, for all.
During the evening, there will be a draw for a wide range of valuable prizes and a short auction of railway-related items and, arranged by Crewe Railwayana Auctions.
Support for charity
One of Freemasonry’s fundamental aims is charity, and, indeed, Freemasonry raises more money for good causes than any other organisation, bar the National Lottery, amounting to some £50 million annually—around £1m per week.
The aim of this event is to raise money for three children’s charities chosen by the Master of Permanent Way Lodge, Worshipful Brother Andrew Goodman, of Railway Support Services Ltd:
- Great Ormond Street Hospital for children
- Lifelites, a charity founded by Freemason W Bro. Rick Wakeman, to provide assistive and sensory technology for life-limited children as well as specialist palliative care
- Railway Children, which supports vulnerable children alone and at risk on the streets and at transport hubs such as railway stations, worldwide
Great Eastern steam locomotive at Liverpool Street!
To help this aim, a steam locomotive, possibly in steam, will be ‘parked’ for two days outside the Andaz Hotel at Liverpool Street!
The engine is, in all truth, small: it is a shunting locomotive, no. 229, built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1876. But it is huge in its purpose: to raise awareness of the charitable aims of Freemasonry and raise money for these charities and is bound to attract a lot of attention. No. 229 is here by courtesy of Bill Parker of The Flour Mill locomotive work- shops in the Forest of Dean and transported here by W. Bro Andrew Goodman’s Railway Support Services Ltd.
What’s more, it is hoped that the famous new-build steam locomotive no. 60163 Tornado will be present, berthed in one of the platforms of Liverpool Street Station.
What a way to celebrate Railway200, this important bi-centenary of the birth of modern railways! And what a way to raise money for three vital charities that support disadvantaged youngsters!
