Thurrock Masonic Fellowship

6:40pm Friday 8th June 2007

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AT the meeting held on Monday June 4 the chairman welcomed members to the first meeting in June and said members had enjoyed a meal and a visit to a show in May at Wood Green, with Joan Regan as the star attraction.

At the moment, members can enjoy lunch at the hall before coming into the meeting, while there is sufficient interest in this facility.

The speaker Keith Lovell, a vicar from Tollesbury, born and bred in Essex, gave an illustrated talk about the history of Essex town and village signs.

He began by testing members on general knowledge and had them thinking about whose picture was on the back of a £l0 note. His search for knowledge was the main theme of his talk, as he said we should learn from every piece of information we receive and impart it to people along the way throughout the course of our lives.

In his hunt for information, he said someone has written a book about everything under the sun Members travelled home looking at town and village signs in a different light as he told them about the history of how each sign had been formed, going as far back as Roman and Anglo Saxon Times.

It was interesting to learn that the three emblems on the Orsett village sign depict the Women's Institute Tree of Life, a Mill and Orsett agricultural show.

He spoke about many other signs including Chadwell, Wickford, Billericay, Bulphan and Fobbing revealing the fascinating history involved in each one.