February 26th saw two Light Blues Worshipful Brother Steve Byrne from Mariners Lodge No 168 and Brother Tony de Garis from Fidelis Lodge No 1809 went on their travels with lots of friends from the Province of Jersey.
The start off the trip saw a night in Gatwick so Steve and Tony arranged a visit to the
Bond of Friendship Lodge No 8457 in the Province of Surrey where they had a wonderful evening with great company which was at the Masonic Hall in Croydon.
The following morning Steve and Tony met up with 8 of the 9 Jersey Brethren off on a trip to Benidorm for the Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia XXXII Annual Assembly.
The weather was wonderful and the venue incredible and the first evening the Channel island Brethren enjoyed a wonderful drinks reception and got to meet Brethren from around the world.
The following day the meeting took place and with 250 in attendance a bilingual and interesting meeting took place with stalls selling all sorts of masonic goods before and after the meeting and this was followed by a fabulous festive board.
The Brethren enjoyed a wonderful weekend in Benidorm and Steve met a fellow Welsh man who is the Head of Masonry in the Balearic Islands RW Brother Bernard Smith and Tony and Steve enjoyed a great lunch with him the following day.
A few weeks later Steve got the chance also to visit Elkington Lodge No 1016 in the Province of Warwickshire.
At each of the meeting Steve had the wonderful opportunity at the festive boards to gift some gifts to the Worshipful Masters and the Provincial Grand Master of Valencia from Guernsey gin to Mariners Lodge banners and pin badges.
Future trips are already being planned including a trip to South Wales for the Welsh Rugby Clubs Lodge Installation on the 13th November and if interested please email stevejbyrne@hotmail.com
See lots of pictures below the Jersey Brethren posted this on their social media about the trip –
Jersey brethren take on Benidorm
Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia – XXXII Annual Assembly (28th February 2026) – report from W Bro Roger Iddon.
“Last weekend a group of 13 of us travelled to Benidorm to attend the Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia’s Annual Assembly — and I can safely say we all returned having had a fantastic time in Croydon with a wonderful ceremony, very tasty festive board and made lots of new friends.
The following day the two Guernsey Brethren met 8 of the 9 Jersey Brethren to fly out to Benidorm where the first night they had a drinks reception and the following day Tony and Steve atteneded
The party consisted of nine brothers from Jersey, two from the North West of England, and two from Guernsey, and the Jersey brethren were delighted to be accompanied by our DPGM, V.W. Bro. Ian C. Crosby.
The event itself is very similar to our own Provincial meeting held each October, though on a rather grander scale, as the Province of Valencia has 26 lodges under its wing.
How it all came about
I had just returned from a holiday in Villajoyosa back in September when the thought crossed my mind one day:
“I wonder if there’s any Masonic activity in this area?”
A quick Google search brought up the Province of Valencia website, which mentioned that they hold events at the Gran Bali Hotel in Benidorm — the biggest hotel in Europe.
Curiosity got the better of me, so I sent an email making enquiries. I soon received a very warm reply from Prov DGSec Richard C Davis, inviting us to attend either the Provincial Ladies’ Evening in November, the Mark Master Masons meeting in early February, or the Annual Provincial Assembly.
This one seemed ideal. It’s Craft, it fits neatly between our Burns Lunch and the March Installation, and with UGLE permissions kindly obtained by ProvGSec Jason Lane, the idea started to gather momentum.
A notice went out on the Provincial email system and I received a few replies — although I hadn’t yet mentioned Benidorm.
To help things along I produced my own promotional poster: a picture of the Gran Bali and the title:
‘If Carlsberg did Masonic venues… I’ve found it.’
That certainly got a bit more attention — although I suspect many still didn’t take it entirely seriously… especially coming from me.
From small idea to Magnus Opus
In truth, I expected perhaps three or four of us might go along, sit in on the meeting, enjoy the occasion, and then wander down into town for a few beers.
I never imagined it would turn into the Magnus Opus that unfolded last weekend. I’ll admit there were a few moments beforehand where I wondered what could possibly go wrong. On my head be it — or worse, off with it — with my Masonic career left in tatters!
Thankfully, none of that happened.
A very warm Spanish welcome
From the moment we arrived we received the warmest of welcomes from:
– PGM of Valencia Rodney Bagnal and his lady Jeanette
– Assistant Grand Master of Spain RW Barrie Roy Mansell
– Balearics PGM RW Bernard Smith
– Prov DGSec Richard Davis
…and many other brethren of all ranks.
The welcome gathering took place on Friday evening in the Terraza de Cristal at the Gran Bali.
The Assembly itself took place at 11am on Saturday in the Grand Auditorio, as seen in the photos, followed by a festive board superbly organised by ProvGDC W. Bro. Peter B Farrell.
A slightly unexpected moment…
At the festive board I found myself unexpectedly put on the spot.
DPGM Ian Crosby had kindly agreed to present our gift — a Masonic door knocker — and I was asked to stand while he spoke as the maker of the piece.
However, the DC rather sneakily handed me the microphone to say a few words and give thanks myself.
Naturally, I couldn’t resist slipping in a cheeky little sales pitch for temple door knockers, which seemed to raise a few smiles around the room.
And the rest of the weekend…
What’s not to love about a trip like this?
• Three nights all-inclusive at the biggest hotel in Europe for less than the price of one night at home
• Flights under £40 each
• Rounds of drinks at roughly a quarter of Jersey prices
• Excellent restaurants everywhere
• And apparently over 2,000 pubs to choose from — some very good ones too.
Saturday evening then followed and what must surely rank as one of the most memorable pub crawls ever.
The rest, as they say, is history…
If you want the full story, you’ll have to come and have a beer with us sometime.”
Jersey attendees
V.W. Bro. I. C. Crosby, P.G.Swd.B.
W. Bro. René R. Rabet, P.A.G.D.C.
W. Bro. André R. Rabet, P.Prov.J.G.W.
W. Bro. Paul D. Bolton, Prov.G.Ch.Stwd.
W. Bro. Clive R. Pearce, P.Prov.S.G.D.
W. Bro. Roger M. Iddon, Prov.G.Purs.
W. Bro. Piotr Lewandowski
Bro. Andrew M. Ruellan
Bro. Ian J. Carpenter
