The Provincial Grand Master, RW Bro Mark Iveson, was delighted to lead a small YNER delegation to the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland & Westmorland on Saturday 17 October.

He was accompanied by the Deputy Provincial Grand Master, W Bro John Wilkinson, and the Provincial Grand Secretary, W Bro Gary Collins. The visitors were warmly received by their host, RW Bro Nick Wilson, Provincial Grand Master of Cumberland & Westmorland, and by the Brethren of a Province that has long been one of our good neighbours.

Provincial meetings are a chance for each Province to celebrate its year, recognise its members and welcome friends from further afield. Being present at our neighbours' great day is a simple courtesy, but it matters. It returns the friendship shown to us when guests from neighbouring Provinces travelled to York Racecourse for our own Provincial Grand Lodge on Yorkshire Day, 1 August, which the Provincial Grand Master described at the time as a mark of the friendship that exists between our Provinces.

For Mark, the visit is also part of the outlook he set out when he was invested as Provincial Grand Master in May: a Province that is open, supportive and forward looking. Many of the challenges facing Freemasonry are shared from one county to the next, and so are many of the answers. Visits like this one keep those conversations going and remind us that we belong to something larger than our own Lodge or Province.

Between the formal proceedings there was, of course, plenty of time for fellowship, and the photograph below, taken in the garden in full dress regalia, captures a happy moment from the day.

Our thanks go to RW Bro Nick Wilson and the Brethren of Cumberland & Westmorland for their generous hospitality. We look forward to welcoming them to Yorkshire again soon.

Photo caption: Left to right: W Bro John Wilkinson, Deputy Provincial Grand Master; RW Bro Mark Iveson, Provincial Grand Master; and W Bro Gary Collins, Provincial Grand Secretary, at the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland & Westmorland.