Freemasons and Icecream

Two further heritage visits today:

Inside the Freemasons Lodge

Published Date: 16 September 2008

PEOPLE visiting Scarborough's ST NICHOLAS LODGE OF FREEMASONS may have felt somewhat disappointed.

Because secret handshakes and passwords there were not – instead the Freemasons warmly welcomed the many curious visitors at their door.

Freemason Karl Ward said: "Some say we are a charitable organisation, a gentlemen's club and a dining club. We are all of these, but none of these.

"The Freemasons is actually based around the old stonemason industry from building temples. It was about learning the trade, and that was what the handshakes originated from."

The handshakes, which the Freemasons still use today, are actually a form of "certificate" a stonemason would only know should he have reached a certain level in the profession.

It is believed there was some kind of Freemasons lodge in Scarborough in 1605, although there is still controversy surrounding this belief. Scarborough Freemasons support a number of local charities including St Catherine's Hospice, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the hospital.

Mr Ward said: "As a national organisation we are second only to the National Lottery in donating money to charity."

The Scarborough Freemason lodge is open for viewing to the public at any time. The Freemasons ask that requests be sent by letter to the lodge in St Nicholas Cliff and they would only be happy to accommodate individuals, groups or parties.

Harbour Bar, Scarborough

Posted by MoragR 1 April 2007

The Alonzi family’s Harbour Bar (opened 1945) is a gleaming, glamorous time capsule from post-war America mislaid among the Victorian boarding houses of North Yorkshire.

Mirrored walls feature neon ice-cream cones and signs with the dubious advice: “Keep fit by eating ice cream every day.”

Patrons sit on red leather banquettes or on high stools at the half-moon, chrome-edged counter. Ice creams are mainly traditional – vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, banana, and lemon and blackcurrant sorbets – made from natural ingredients including Scottish seaweed instead of gelatine.

The café is a meeting place for everyone from local fishermen to playwright Alan Ayckbourne and Michael Winner, a big fan since filming scenes for A Chorus of Disapproval there.

1-2 Sandside, Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Tel: 01723 373662. Open: 7.30am - 6pm, daily.