Every lodge has a banner. Ours shows Ashley Hill as it looked in the 1950s, framed in the Norman arch of Hurley Church. This is how it came to be designed, from the account of the artist, Reuben Heavens.
A private commission
In the mid-1950s Reuben Heavens worked in a drawing office where Eric Blay, a senior member of staff and a well-known Freemason in the Maidenhead area, also worked. Eric asked him, in some confidence, whether he would take on a design job in his own time: an emblem for a new lodge to be called Ashley Hill. The brief was to include both Hurley Church and Ashley Hill.
Two landmarks, no shared view
Reuben set off on his bicycle to make sketches on site. After a few circuits of Hurley and Ashley Hill it was obvious that the two could never be seen in the same view. A compromise was needed.
At the time, the hill had been cleared of almost all its trees. Only one or two conifers were left on top, standing out against the skyline like sentinels. That was how everyone knew it, so that was how he drew it. He produced six designs, all stylised and symbolic.
The design that was chosen
Eric submitted the designs for consideration. The one chosen shows a straightforward view of Ashley Hill, just as it looked then, framed in a Norman arch copied from the main doorway of Hurley Church. The banner was presented by W Bro Bertram Wheeler and dedicated on 2 June 1965.
Older members will remember Eric Blay for his zeal in Masonic circles. He was a fine runner in his younger days, and one of the chiefs of the Maidenhead Fire Brigade when it was still largely voluntary.
The arch and the hill are still the lodge’s emblem, and the reason this website looks the way it does. Read the lodge history →