This is the latest news from the Board of the Twickenham and District Masonic Centre which has been sent to all Lodges and Chapters which meet at Cole Court. It is reproduced here for the general information of all Middlesex Masons.
“A very warm welcome back to everyone after the summer break. Whilst you have been away, there are a number of things we want to make you (and your units) aware of.
NEW BOILERS
The boilers (which were at least 30 years old) and all associated equipment have been replaced entirely, so we are confident we will be much warmer when the colder weather returns. The control system ensures the boilers work in parallel, depending on requirement for heat, and, as well as generating much lower emissions, they will be appreciably more efficient than those they replaced. Hence, we hope to see lower gas consumption.
The work was put out to sealed bid tender to 4 contractors, with Twickenham Services Ltd being the successful bidder. The Board were presented with all bids and approved the selection of contractor. The radiator system throughout the building has also been flushed and the radiators have been “re-balanced”, although some minor works to add an additional pump within the circuit remains to be installed.
NEW FRONT DOOR (LONDON ROAD ENTRANCE)
The front door facing London Road has been replaced, and the now superfluous noticeboard next to it has been removed. The door is made from Accoya wood, which is a very hard-wearing material.
NAMING OF TEMPLES
Following the note in our May newsletter (to which no adverse comments were received), the Temples have now been renamed and the new signage is in place.
The Norman Moore Temple will, of course, remain the same, and the other Temples are now renamed as follows:
Number 2 Temple is The Roger Croome Temple.
Number 3 Temple is The Staines Temple (as the first Masonic Hall in Middlesex was located in Staines)
Number 4 Temple is The Queen Elizabeth II Temple.
The Shakespeare Suite to become The Sir Winston Churchill Room.
TREES
All of the tree works mentioned in our May newsletter has been completed and, where required, replacement trees will be planted next year.
UPGRADED INCOMING POWER SUPPLY
The trenching work and the base for the new transformer in the car park was completed several months ago, since when little else obvious has happened. The delay in further work has been caused by legal negotiations between TDMC and UK Power Networks (UKPN) for a “wayleave” which is a lease giving them unrestricted access to their cable where it passes through our land. The wayleave has just been agreed, so the lease can be signed, and we can then put pressure on UKPN to complete the works.
FUNDING OF PROJECTS
As can be imagined, the above works (funded entirely from our own financial resources – without any third party support i.e. loans or donations) has cost a lot of money. The total we have paid out since last year is £266,000, with a further £35,000 allocated by the Board to be spent on completing the power upgrade and on grass reinforcement of the lawn.
You will know from our May newsletter that the Board are in discussion with Staines Masonic Hall Trust (SMHT) who manage the funds raised by the sale of Staines Masonic Hall in 2019, following which virtually all Staines-based units moved to Cole Court. TDMC will be making a formal application to SMHT for financial support for ongoing redevelopment and refurbishment of Cole Court and 3 meetings have already been held with them to discuss this. The Board has written its formal application and is now waiting to receive a date (or dates) from SMHT when we can make our presentation to them and their stakeholders.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Formal notice has been given separately by the Company Secretary but, the 2023 AGM will be held 7.00PM on the evening of 14th December. This is a revised date for the meeting, which is open to all unit representatives. Applications from unit representatives wishing to stand for Board membership should be sent to Chris Albrow (Company Secretary) at chris.albrow@tdmcl.co.uk as soon as possible”.
