ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html><!-- InstanceBegin template="/Templates/royal_arch.dwt" codeOutsideHTMLIsLocked="false" --> <head> <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="doctitle" --> <title>Berkshire Royal Arch</title> <!-- InstanceEndEditable --> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="keywords" content="royal arch,masons,masonic,berkshire,provincial,lodge"> <meta name="description" content="Berkshire Royal Arch - Berkshire Provincial Grand Chapter"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/royal_arch.css" type="text/css"> <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="head" --><!-- InstanceEndEditable --> </head> <body> <div id="pagewidth" > <!-- header --> <div id="header"><a href="index.htm"><img src="images/spacer.gif" alt="Home" width="99" height="104" border="0" align="left"></a></div> <div id="twocols"> <!-- main column --> <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="content" --> <div id="maincol"> <h1>Lew Hughes  Pangbourne Chapter No 4381</h1> <table border="0" bordercolordark="red" bordercolorlight="red" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr> <td colspan="2">When asked to be the Companion of the Month for January, Lew said he was too modest to blow his own trumpet  but read on to follow his interesting career.</td> </tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">It was probably inevitable that he would be associated with street trading somewhere along the line having a father who ended up as a totter and who was recycling items that folks did not want before it became fashionable way back in the 1950's. He did not start that way however and he gained a lot of experience with many varied jobs over the formative years ranging from Civil Engineering, Pressure Piling, wireman, warehouseman, delivery driving, wholesale butcher but perhaps the most tiring job of all was bird scaring in cherry orchards!</td> </tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">He used to walk 8 miles to work before first light - set the guns up and with a network of ropes that he pulled from a central position to make the galvanised bucket full of bolts hit the corrugated fencing he had erected all over the orchard. He interspersed that with screaming and shaking a tin full of metal bolts. When all else failed it was shotgun time! Lew says how he kept his sanity he will never know but it sure filled him with ambition. He decided that there had to be a better way of earning a crust than this!</td> </tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr><td align="center"><img src="images/lew5.jpg" /><br /><em>Lew's most recent venture</em></td></tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">To cut a long story very short he ended up with a Butchers shop which was successful but he soon learned that he could sell much more on markets. He also learned early on, that personal service was not the way to shift lorry loads of meat so he learned the art of "pitching" and became proficient enough to be selling literally tons of meat every day. It was very hard on the voice box and he sounded like he had a permanent sore throat by Wednesday every week. Back in those days it was difficult to find good pitches on decent markets so later he decided to organise them himself. That was many years ago and in his heyday as many as 60 markets per week were being run under his banner. As a result of working with so many Town Centre Managements from Dublin to Birmingham and Essex to Wales he served on 20 Town Centre Partnerships and was an active member of as many Chambers of Trade Associations. Over the years he has provided Farmers Markets, French Markets, Italian Markets, Arts and Crafts, Antiques, Boot Fairs, Cheese and Wine Festivals, Carnivals and many general retail markets varying from small Town Centre events to huge events held at venues such as the NEC, Earls Court, Wembley, Kempton Park, Phoenix park and North Weald Airfield. For many years he organised the market at the centre of the course on Epsom Derby/ Oaks weekend and provided traders for the Ideal Home Exhibition and Powerboat Grand Prix. He became prolific fund raisers for local charities at the markets and over a few short years donated over £500,000 to many good causes in Essex, Surrey and Kent. Lew said he could go on about markets for a while but was space limited.</td> </tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr><td align="center"><img src="images/lew1.jpg" /><br /><em>Lew and the PGM greet the Guests at the Theatre Royal, Windsor.</em></td></tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">Music has always been an important part of his life and for a few years he promoted many concerts mainly in Southern Britain. At one stage he managed a 10 piece Soul Band and was one of the first to have a Disco Show with three very good professional female dancers and an American DJ. It was a busy time because whilst all this was going on at the same time both he and Barbara, his wife, became involved in the local Schools. Barbara assisted children with reading and with coaching netball and Lew became a School Governor. This led to serving on the local Council for many years and he served on the local Youth Club Committee and was successful in providing good recreational facilities for organised sport in the area. With a small group of parents and interested parties he provided youth football for teams ranging from under 9 to under 17 in his local village. They sourced football pitches, sponsorship for kit and he even coached for a few years. When his son Lee developed into a very fine athlete he competed for Reading AC and Lew also helped out there. After taking his Coaching qualifications, he ran a squad of athletes and also became Coaching Secretary. One of the very popular schemes he introduced was a course called "Introduction to Athletics" which gave youngsters a grounding in all disciplines and some very qualified coaches assisted in that scheme including Kris Akabussi and Roger Hackney amongst others. Lew also served as a Counsellor at Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools in Manchester. For a time he also set up with Dennis, the Dennis Allen soccer coaching schools locally, part of which was organising trips to London clubs training sessions. As a separate issue, outings to England football team training, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest were organised for coach loads of youngsters when they were riding high.</td> </tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr><td align="center"><img src="images/lew2.jpg" /><br /><em>Lew and Father Christmas greet the children</em></td></tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">Later Lew was asked to promote a local Koi club and organise their annual show which he did for a couple of years during which time he wrote articles on a regular basis for Nishikigoi International magazine and Koi Carp magazine and twice for the Japanese magazine Nichirin International. Obviously they kept Koi at the time but because it became almost a full time job for Barbara looking after them they later filled in the pond and kept Acers instead, far less work!</td> </tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">When Lew was asked a question recently at a National Trade Seminar, at which he was a guest speaker, how many events he had organised, he was amazed to recount that it is in excess of 70,000! Hard to imagine, but true. No wonder he says he is worn out! Lew has been organising events for over 40 years now and he says he is scaling back rapidly as his birthdays seem to arrive so much quicker these days!!</td> </tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">Lew began his Masonic journey in East Kent at Adams Lodge No 158 in Sheerness. Lee followed him shortly afterwards. He went through the Chair in Kent the same year he became Master of Stratfield Mortimer No 8239 in Berkshire - so once again very hectic. He has served his Berkshire Lodge as Charity Steward and Treasurer for many years. He also had the great pleasure of installing Lee into the Chair. Lew was later also Secretary of his Kent Lodge. He joined the Royal Arch in Sheerness. Lew later left his East Kent Masonry, due mainly to the punishing travel commitments on top of his already fairly full diary. He became a Mark Master Mason at Pangbourne with Lee Installing him as Master. Lee also Installed Lew as 3rd, 2nd and 1st Principal of Pangbourne Chapter No 4381, so they have kept it in the family! Lew is also very active in a number of other Orders and served for many years as Assistant Secretary for Special events on The Association of Atholl Lodges at Great Queen Street until 2009. Lew served for three year on the "Friends of Lord Harris Court" and a similar period as a Board member of Sindlesham Court. He became a member of The Berkshire Country Sports Association and later a founder of the Lodge of the same name. He became Master in 2010 and installed Lee in 2011. He is currently Master once again of Stratfield Mortimer for a third time which he says will probably be his swan song, certainly from a ritual perspective. Lew became acting Secretary of The Berkshire "Lodge" of Visiting Masons really only because he said, no one else wanted the job and it is still going strong today with a membership of 30 plus. Lew filled in time, when there was any, by starting up the Panto Project with great assistance from Barbara and it has now completed its seventh year already. Each year they fundraise to pay a local theatre for a complete matinee performance of the Christmas Pantomime.</td> </tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr><td align="center"><img src="images/lew6.jpg" /><br /><em>The PGM chats with Tony Christie and Anita Harris</em></td></tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">They then allocate all the tickets to many Children's Hospices over Southern England and to special needs schools with the assistance of CLIC Sargent and Variety at Work. Their dedicated team of helpers, including Santa, hand each child a goody bag when they arrive containing toys and sweets. It is a great day out for the children and their families.</td> </tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">Lew said that Festival 2000 and Festival 2011 were great experiences, with some memorable moments enjoyed as Lodge Coordinator and Committee member respectively. He says he will be definitely too old when the next one comes around, but that Berkshire seems to have a conveyor belt of good guys who will effect a seamless transition.</td> </tr> <tr height="10"><td></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">Somehow I can't see Lew sitting in his slippers by the fire doing nothing  can you?</td> </tr> <tr height="25"><td></td></tr> </table> </div> <!-- InstanceEndEditable --> <!-- right column --> <div id="rightcol"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr><td><h1>Latest News</h1></td></tr> <tr><td><b>Berkshire Visiting Companions</b></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="future_events.htm#visit">Click here to read about new Visiting Companions Scheme</a></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="images/right_menu_divider.jpg" alt="" width="104" height="30"></td></tr> <tr><td><b><a href="charity.htm">See latest news on Charity Page</a></b></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="images/right_menu_divider.jpg" alt="" width="104" height="30"></td></tr> <tr><td><b>Companion of the Month<br>January 2012</b></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="cotm_2012_01.htm">Lew Hughes</a></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="images/right_menu_divider.jpg" alt="" width="104" height="30"></td></tr> <tr><td><b><a href="picture_gallery.htm">Picture Gallery</a></b></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="images/right_menu_divider.jpg" alt="" width="104" height="30"></td></tr> <tr><td><b>Monday, 30<sup>th</sup> January 2012</b></td></tr> <tr><td><b>at Sindlesham at 7.30pm.</b></td></tr> <tr><td><b>Directors of Ceremonies</b></td></tr> <tr><td><b>Launch of new DC's Guide.</b></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="future_events.htm">Click here for full details</a></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="images/right_menu_divider.jpg" alt="" width="104" height="30"></td></tr> <tr><td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#df002c">&nbsp;</td> <td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr height="5"><td bgcolor="#df002c"></td></tr> <tr><td bgcolor="white"><b>Tuesday, 21<sup>st</sup> February 2012</b></td></tr> <tr><td bgcolor="white"><b>Chapter of Friendship and Care</td></tr> <tr><td bgcolor="white"><b>No 8802</td></tr> <tr><td bgcolor="white"><b>at Sindlesham<br /></td></tr> <tr><td bgcolor="white"><b>The Most Excellent Third Grand Principal</td></tr> <tr><td bgcolor="white"><b>David Kenneth Williamson</td></tr> <tr><td bgcolor="white"><b>will attend and participate in the Ceremony.</td></tr> <tr><td bgcolor="white"><b>For more details of this important event</td></tr> <tr><td bgcolor="white"><a href="future_events.htm#8802">Click here for details</a></b></td></tr> <tr height="5"><td bgcolor="#df002c"></td></tr> </table> </td> <td bgcolor="#df002c">&nbsp;</td> </tr> </table> </td></tr> <tr><td><img src="images/right_menu_divider.jpg" alt="" width="104" height="30"></td></tr> <tr><td><b>Friday, 24<sup>th</sup> February 2012</b></td></tr> <tr><td><b>at Sindlesham</b></td></tr> <tr><td><b>Berkshire Chapters</b></td></tr> <tr><td><b>Ladies' Supper 2012</b></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="social_events.htm">Booking details</a></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="images/right_menu_divider.jpg" alt="" width="104" height="30"></td></tr> <tr><td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#df002c">&nbsp;</td> <td> <table border="0" bgcolor="white" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr height="5"><td bgcolor="#df002c" colspan="2"></td></tr> <tr><td width="1%"><img src="images/kitchener.jpg" /></td><td><b>Sunday<br />15<sup>th</sup> April 2012</b></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"><b>CHARITY BIKE RIDE</b></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr height="2"><td></td></tr> <tr height="1"><td></td><td bgcolor="gray" width="35%"></td><td></td></tr> <tr height="2"><td></td></tr> </table> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"><b>THE PROVINCE<br />NEEDS YOU!</b></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr height="2"><td></td></tr> <tr height="1"><td></td><td bgcolor="gray" width="35%"></td><td></td></tr> <tr height="2"><td></td></tr> </table> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"><a href="charity.htm">Click here for details</a></b></td></tr> <tr height="5"><td></td></tr> <tr height="5"><td bgcolor="#df002c" colspan="2"></td></tr> </table> </td> <td bgcolor="#df002c">&nbsp;</td> </tr> </table> </td></tr> <tr><td><img src="images/right_menu_divider.jpg" alt="" width="104" height="30"></td></tr> <tr><td><b>The Grand Superintendent's</b></td></tr> <tr><td><b>Message in the</td></tr> <tr><td><b>Berkshire Masonic Year Book 2011 - 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