E. Comp. Peter Phazey, PProvGSN: Celebrating Fifty Years of Service
Companions, three years ago, as Deputy Provincial Grand Master, I was delighted to be invited to Good Samaritan Lodge to present Brother Peter with a certificate marking fifty years’ service to Masonry. On that occasion, I was indebted to Worshipful Brother Les Ashworth, the Lodge Secretary, who composed the most detailed summary of Peter’s masonic work and family life. This made my task so much easier than it sometimes is. I have never believed in re-inventing the wheel, so I am unashamedly using the very same biography that Les prepared for me, as it truly cannot be bettered. I’m sure those George Stephenson members who were unable to hear the presentation then will enjoy hearing it now, and those who might have heard it before will find it such an excellent tribute that they can well do with hearing it again!
Kevin P. Stannard – Provincial Grand Master & Provincial Grand Superintendent
Early Life and Masonic Initiation
Excellent Companion Peter was born on March 2nd, 1944, in Greenside, Ryton. He was initiated into Freemasonry on February 22nd, 1972, into Bywell Castle Lodge No. 7739 at the Masonic Hall in Mickley Square.
Peter’s initiation was rather unusual in that he was initiated at the same meeting as his father, both having been proposed by Peter’s cousin. Although Peter’s dad decided not to progress beyond Master Mason, Peter went on to take office in the Lodges at Mickley. Two years after his initiation, he became a steward and then moved steadily through the offices before being installed in the Chair of King Solomon in 1982.
A Distinguished Masonic Career
Since then, Peter has never been out of office in his Lodge. For many years, he was Director of Ceremonies at Bywell Castle and took the Chair on seven different occasions up to 2014. In 1992, he received Provincial Honours as PProvJGD and subsequently received two promotions: to PProvGReg in 1999 and to PProvJGW in 2007.
Unfortunately, Bywell Castle Lodge closed in 2015, but Peter had by then already joined the two other Lodges at Mickley: Prudhoe Castle Lodge No 7065 and Good Samaritan Lodge No 7654. He served three years as WM in each of these. In total, he has occupied the Chair of King Solomon on thirteen occasions during his Masonic career.
Peter was also an active member of Prudhoe Castle Chapter, where he took the Chair of First Principal on four occasions (in 1990, 2001, 2005, and 2008) and also acted as DC on four occasions. Following the closure of Prudhoe Castle Chapter in 2021, Peter joined this, the George Stephenson Chapter. I am sure he is already proving himself a dedicated and engaged new member, having taken on the role of Assistant Director of Ceremonies. It is a privilege to be here this evening to pay tribute to Peter as he celebrates 50 years as a Royal Arch Mason.
Peter is, as you know, an excellent ritualist and performs his duties in a most commendable fashion, whether from the Chair, as a Warden or DC, or at the Festive Board. He is also a very good visitor.
Professional Life and Contributions
Being a builder by profession, Peter has contributed greatly over the years to the upkeep of the Masonic Hall in Mickley. Most notably, he carried out major restructuring to enable the current bar facilities to be installed and also installed wall panels in the dining hall as part of a refurbishment scheme.
Peter has lived all his life in the cottage at Greenside where he was born, a cottage which has been in his family for some 200 years and which, in his great-grandfather’s time, was a shoemaker’s shop. Peter attended school at Ryton and started his working life as an apprentice joiner in Whickham. At the age of 23, he went to work as a trainee site manager at Bellway. From there, he moved to Williamson Construction and worked as a site manager at Durham Cheshire Homes.
When the project was complete, a dinner was held to which Peter was invited as site manager. There he met several notable persons, including the actor Bill Travers (of Born Free), who opened the building; Lord Lambton, who resigned as a government minister following the Profumo scandal; and not least, the disc jockey Alan Freeman.
Peter later worked as a section site manager on the construction of the Byker Wall. This was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh, but on that occasion, Peter regretfully was not invited to the opening celebrations.
After this, Peter worked for himself as a private builder, but in later years worked as a site manager during the construction of Durham University Hospital. At that time, there was a problem in the building industry due to a lack of experienced managers, and Peter was highlighted in the Evening Chronicle and The Journal as an exemplar of the kind of older experienced manager much needed in the industry.
Beyond Masonry: Hobbies and Interests
Apart from his Freemasonry and his family, Peter’s other great interest in his life has been Ballroom Dancing. This started at quite a young age when the local Methodist Chapel Peter attended used to organise social evenings which included dancing. Later on, Peter graduated to the Oxford Galleries Dance Hall in Newcastle, the Mayfair Ballroom, and the Rink Dance Hall in Sunderland. It became quite a hobby, and just about every night was taken up by dancing at one venue or another. At the age of 23, Peter went to dancing classes at the Newbegin School of Dancing with a view to entering competitions, but this dream was cut short when his then dancing partner became engaged (to someone else) and ended the dancing partnership. It’s interesting to speculate on how far Peter might have progressed in the world of dancing, but apart from winning a Twist competition at the Oxford Galleries, Peter’s dancing ambitions were now mostly curtailed.
Fortunately, Peter’s wife, Janet, is also a keen dancer. In Peter’s early days in the Craft, there was a strong social element in Freemasonry which included monthly dances, as well as children’s Christmas parties, Ladies Nights, golf tournaments, and other social events, even annual church attendances. It’s unfortunate that in many Lodges, the number of active Brethren has declined to the point where the social side of Freemasonry can’t be sustained. Peter and Janet kept up with their dancing, though, and when Peter was WM and DC at Bywell Castle Lodge, it was a rule that there couldn’t be a coach on a Thursday night because that was Dance Night.
No doubt Peter’s dancing skills were enhanced by the fact that he was very athletic in his younger days. He was a keen runner, joining Elswick Harriers, a legendary running club based at Newburn and the oldest running club in the North East, while he was at school. Most days, he went for a run during lunch breaks, plus he went for evening coaching once a week at Hookergate Grammar School. In his second year at school, he was Junior Boys Champion and broke the school record for the ¼ mile. Peter was also a keen Rugby Player and played for Ryton Rugby Club from age 14 to 20, variously as a Wing ¾, Wing Forward, and Scrum Half, all requiring a good turn of speed and good tactical awareness.
In addition to all this, Peter was a member of the Boys Brigade at Greenside which continued through to his early 20’s, by which time he had attained the rank of Lieutenant having completed formal training in youth leadership.
All this speaks of an athletic young man determined to succeed in whatever he did and showing strong commitment and leadership skills which ultimately led to his excellent record in Freemasonry.
Humorous Anecdotes and Masonic Connections
On a more humorous note, one of the things about Freemasonry is that those in the Craft have a way of recognising each other, sometimes it’s almost a sixth sense, which completely passes by the uninitiated. On one occasion, Peter set off to attend a friend’s initiation in Leeds without making sure he knew exactly where the Lodge was – and this was in the days before sat navs were available. At Wetherby, and by now realising he should have taken a lot more care with his directions, Peter was overtaken by a car where the driver was in a dinner suit. Being somewhat desperate, Peter decided to follow the car, for 20 miles in fact, and of course, it turned out that this was indeed a Mason and heading for the very Lodge Peter was aiming for.
Masons can be found everywhere, of course, and the uninitiated can put their foot in it at times. At Peter’s local church, a new curate gave a sermon which, for some reason, was highly critical of Freemasonry. What he couldn’t know was that out of the six men in the church congregation that day, five were Masons. To avoid embarrassment, nothing was said, of course, but it later turned out that the curate had applied for membership of a Lodge elsewhere and sadly had been unsuccessful, which may have coloured his views somewhat, but who knows?
And returning to dancing and the Oxford Galleries which Peter used to go to, it turned out that the Bouncer there was not only a Mason but was DC at Agricola Lodge No 6343, from which followed many years of fraternal visits with Bywell Castle Lodge before it unfortunately closed.
Family Life and A Life Well Lived
Peter has always been strongly supported in his Freemasonry by his wife Janet, who he met when she moved to Newcastle from Leeds when working for Shell-Mex and BP. They have four children (girls) and five grandchildren, and like many grandparents, are much involved in school runs and providing care for the grandchildren.
Companions, this is a wonderful record of a life spent dedicated to family, to work, to his community and the social aspects of life and, of course, to the Freemasonry that we all love and that binds us together.
It is a huge privilege, after being able to present Peter with a Certificate celebrating fifty years in the Craft two years ago, to be able to return to present Peter with another Certificate that marks fifty years of dedicated and selfless service to the Royal Arch.
