Many congratulations to W.Bro John Cummings of Severus Lodge No.7864, which meets at Throckley Masonic Building, from everyone at Northumberland Freemasons on completing fifty years of uninterrupted service to the Craft.
John was initiated into Freemasonry in February 1972, when he joined Lord Collingwood Lodge No.3246, which meets at Byker Masonic Building. He resigned from the Lodge in 2010 but not before occupying the chair of Master in 1981. He joined Severus Lodge in 2008 and has served as Master of the lodge on two occasions in 2009, for two years, and 2012 and spent a long spell as the Treasurer of the Lodge. He was acknowledged in Provincial Grand Lodge in 1990, when he was appointed to the acting rank of Provincial Senior Grand Deacon, being subsequently promoted to Past Provincial Grand Registrar in 1996 and finally to Past Provincial Junior Grand Warden in 2012.
John was exalted into the Royal Arch Chapter in September 1973 when he joined Seymour Bell Royal Arch Chapter No.3635., subsequently resigning 1991 and re-joining again in 1994, remaining a member until its final erasure in 2009. He was a founding member of Blackfriars Royal Arch Chapter No.7556 in 1983 and remained a member until he resigned in 1999. He finally joined Severus Royal Arch Chapter No.7864 in 2012 of which he remains a member. He occupied the chair of Most Excellent, of Seymour Bell Royal Arch Chapter on two occasions in 1997 and 200 and was rewarded for his dedication, Provincial Grand Chapter, when he was appointed to the acting rank of Provincial Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies in 1996, being subsequently promoted, in 2003, to Past Provincial Grand Scribe Nehmiah.
John was born in 1937 in Scotswood and was educated at Todds Nook School and then Heaton Grammar. On leaving school in 1953 he went to work in the Finance Department of Henry Moat and Sons Builders Merchant for over 20 years. After being made redundant he was appointed as Credit Manager for Thomas Ayres and Denny Mott, which is now known as Wickes Ltd.
During this time John met, and married, his wife Joyce in 1960 and they had two children, Deborah and Mark. After sixty years of marriage, in September 2020, they received a card and telegram from the Queen to celebrate their Diamond Wedding Anniversary.
John has a love of all sport but primarily football, having attended his first match in 1946 when Newcastle United played Swansea. The next game he attended was when Newcastle scored their greatest victory, against Newport, having scored 13 goals. He never missed a game until he completed his National Service with the RAF, during which time he was involved with a Top Secret radar site and assisted in the trials of the original P1 fighter jet. John can boast that he witnessed Newcastle United win the FA Cup against Blackpool, at Wembley, in 1951.
John became involved in the North East Sunday League, in 1964, taking the position of Club Secretary. He was subsequently appointed League Secretary and Treasurer in 1984 and then, in 1987, was elected onto the Northumberland Football Association, attending every FA Cup Final since. During these visits he was received the honour of twice being invited into the Royal Box. He has since been elected to the position of Vice President pf the Football League and, in September 2021, received his Fifty Year Long Service Football Award.
Many thanks to W.Bro Angus Hudspith for the submission of this article.
Congratulations, once again, from everyone at Northumberland Freemasons on reaching this magnificent milestone.
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