Since early in 2006,Lodge Niederrhein had contemplated a trip to the homeland of Masonry to visit the ancient collegiate church and chapel of Rosslyn.

Due to the efforts and energy of our Director of Ceremonies Glyn Edmonds, this came to fruition on the weekend of 15^th – 17^th of September when a party consisting of  Glyn,Cedric,Alex,Tasso (with partner Claudia),Jim (with Bina) and last but not least Brad (with Uschi and her Masonic collegue Helga) prepared to travel to Köln /Bonn airport.

The day dawned fine and sunny but all was not well at Köln /Bonn Airport --------The long term car park had a problem (it was closed!!!) resulting in long queues and most of those who travelled by car opted to use the short term car park and damm the cost!!Eventually every body had booked in and we were all gathered in the departure lounge ------except Jim & Bina, with approximately 5 mins to go before boarding began  a cool and immaculate Jim and a very harressed Bina joined the party, traffic on the Köln Ring plus the car park problem had delayed them.

Edinburgh airport was a hive of activity, particularly the cash point machines! after standing in the queue for 5 mins Glyn and  Jim were informed by the anonymous voice of the machine that it was out of funds, luckily Brad had found one which was solvent in the other terminal.Two PCV´s and 60 pounds Sterling later and we were in Rosslin Village which was really swinging There was a wedding being held at the Chapel in the afternoon and the reception after it was held in our hotel. If your taste is four poster beds,fantastic service, coupled with hospitality and excellent food then I heartily recommend “Ye Olde Rosslin Inne”

Ye Olde Original Rosslyn Inn

Good old English Scottish Pub Grub

The Chapel was 100 yards from the Hotel

Joe Lang our Guide who gave the boys a very special tour of the Chapel

We had through Glyn`s diligence arranged a tour of the Chapel with Joe Lang a 75 year old operative stone mason born just outside Rosslin,who had worked in the Chapel and many of the big houses of Scotland in his youth (incidently he is also a senior member of GL Scotland. and travels widely giving lectures on the Chapel )

I shall not go into details of the tour as pictures can be found elswhere on this web, but suffice to say it took almost 3 hours and we could have gone on for at least a further hour.

Saturday was reserved for Edinburgh via double decker bus, and rather than go as a large group we all split up to do our individual thing  once we arrived there.That included being tried as a witch !!! (Bina) whisky tasting, and buying!!! (Tasso) and the beautiful (Masonic) windows and architechture of the Cathedral and other churches (Brad) Alexander was so interested in the city that he just managed to catch the last bus back to Rosslin.We occasionally  bumped into each other throughout the day,but Cedric mysteriously dissapeared and was not seen until we all met up again in the evening !!!The evening was highlighted by our own private whisky tasting session ( brandy and rum in the case of Usch and Bina and red wine for Claudia) even Helga tried “that most Natural of Spirits” and agreed that it was  worth another visit to Scotland, the Álladin´s cave of alcohols.

The journey back was uneventful apart from Airport Security at Edinburgh, shoes off, belts off and all creams lipsticks etc into the bin!!! after that it was a pleasure to relax with a red wine on the plane.knowing that we were in the capable hands of German Wings, they even managed to avoid the inclement weather we had been told to expect

To sum up the weekend ---------  “ Simply Magic. “

An alternative view of the Aprentice Pillar

We also visited Edinburgh....

I think of all the degrees in Freemasonry, this has to be my favourite!