What freemasons do behind closed doors - and for charity

"DON'T ASK too many questions, you might get murdered," was the advice from a friend when I said I had arranged to interview a deputy provincial grand master in an attempt to find out what freemasons actually do behind closed doors.
I had been keen to set up this meeting ever since I discovered that Beaconsfield is a hotbed of freemasonry, with secret ceremonies taking place in the town as often as once a week.
It is hard not to be intrigued by a society which dates back to 1646 and whose members still perform rituals in which they agree to have their throats cut, their tongues torn out by the root, and to be buried in sand at the low water mark if they fail to abide by the rules.
Google freemasonry and you'll also find a book for or sale in the US claiming to reveal the "darker side" and to "expose the closely guarded secrets of the world's oldest secret society that men have been murdered for revealing."
So I wasn't sure how things were going to go when I arrived at the sprawling, dark Victorian former school house in Windsor End which is the meeting place for 450 of the 3,800 or so freemasons in Buckinghamshire. Parking outside, the place appeared empty. When Clifford Drake opened the door, I quite literally jumped.
However, he had a nice face, a friendly smile. He didn't look in the least bit sinister; in fact I immediately warmed to him. We chatted in the corridor for a bit, before entering the temple.
The room was about 40 feet long by 20 feet wide, surrounded on all sides by two rows of red velvet chairs. At the centre point of each row were one or two large throne like seats. On the floor, a striking black and white squared carpet, resembled a chess board. The walls of this imposing wood-panelled, vault-ceilinged room were adorned with banners and gold lettering.
It was strange, to say the least, to imagine up to 100 men gathering in this room wearing morning suits, masonic aprons and, in some cases, gauntlets to either act out or watch rituals in which trouser legs are rolled up, shirts are opened, and words written in the early 1700s recited. Those who transgress against a brother mason agree to having their hearts "torn from their breasts and fed to ravenous birds" or being severed in two and having their bodies turned to ashes and those ashes "scattered over the face of the earth and wafted by the four winds of heaven." In initiation ceremonies new recruits are blindfolded with silk scarves, and rituals can include holding sharp instruments across bare chests.
This, I had read on the internet. To my surprise, Clifford confirmed that it happens, for up to 90 minutes each week, adding that the words are purely symbolic.
He said: "These rituals are saying if you betray my secret you will be killed. Through these ancient words we retain our link to the past. But of course if somebody breaks my trust I'm not going to cut out their tongue or bury them at low water mark. I live 50 miles from the coast in any case. " He laughed.
"It's all about fellowship, a shared experience. The rituals are mini plays. Everybody has to learn their lines, you rehearse and there's a performance." A bit like playing in an orchestra, I suggest. "Exactly like that," he said. Through ceremonies good men are taught to become better men, using lessons of social and moral virtues.
Members no longer hide the fact that they are freemasons, as they had to in earlier times including during WWII when they feared they would be persecuted by Hitler should he win the war. In the last eight years the freemasons have even hired a PR agency to improve their image. However, there are certain secrets they will never reveal, and no non-mason is ever allowed to witness a ceremony.
I asked about the temple. "The black and white floor represents light and shadow; the joys and sorrow of man's chequered existence," he said. We went over to the largest of the throne-like seats. "This is the master 's chair. The cushion on the desk is for the Volume of the Sacred Law which symbolises the values we hold to. The hammer is used to commence the meeting."
He answered my questions about two stones, a rough piece of ashlar, and a smooth, cube-shaped piece of marble. The former symbolises a new recruit to the freemasons; rough around the edges. The latter symbolises a freemason who has progressed through the ranks and learned the craft; how to follow the masonic rules of friendship, decency and charity.
Stonemasons' tools, which were displayed on a table in front of the deputy warden's chair, symbolise the character traits required to join the fraternity, he said. "The square is for square conduct, the level for level steps, and the plumbrule for upright intentions." He adds that freemasons don't let just anybody in.
Clifford, 64, is a retired independent financial advisor from Camberley who, after selling his business, chose to spend the last five years of his working life delivering post for the Royal Mail, a job he loved because it kept him physically fit and mentally stimulated (he had to sort up to 3,000 letters a day between 4am and 6am).
He became a freemason at the age of 27, when he was invited to join by a friend who was already a member, and who admired his community work organising football coaching for 120 teenagers each week.
Through the freemasons, he said, he has made hundreds of friends. His wife Linda is , as a woman, not allowed to attend the men-only he attends, but the couple's social life is built around people they have both met through the society. Last weekend they went camping with ten other freemasons.
Critics of the freemasons, among them Martin Short, author of The Brotherhood, claim that they join the organisation in order to feather their own nests; to make contacts that will help them materially in business, the police and the law.
It's an allegation that Clifford denied. "It's something that's often levelled against us. But the truth is the complete opposite.
"Of course, if I need a plumber, and I know a plumber in the freemasons, I'll talk to him about the job. I'll know he's of good character and he'll probably give me a good price. But the same would be true of anybody. If you need somebody, you look to who you know, it's human nature."

In fact, he said, the freemasons as an organisation are the third largest donors to charity in the UK, following the National Lottery and Children in Need; contributing around £25 million per year, most of it to non-masonic causes.
"Freemasonry is a force for good in society. We don't go around rattling tins, we give our own money," Clifford said, adding that his "lodge" - the group of 26 masons of which he is a member - has raised £44,000 over 20 years. In Buckinghamshire, freemasons donated more than £100,000 per year to community projects and individuals in need, including this year £7,250 towards a new kitchen for a scout group in Iver Heath. They are co-sponsoring a new blog for teenagers in Chesham called Get Out Get There, and this coming weekend (June 19/20) will be presenting cash prizes of up to £1000 to the regional winners of i-help, a project which encourages young people to help others in the community. In Buckinghamshire
Clifford would never use the freemason's secret handshake or any of the secret passwords outside of the temple. And no he wouldn't demonstrate the handshake on me, saying, very politely: "Some things are sacrosanct."
Before I did this interview, I wondered if I might be touching on a world a little bit like the secret cult in the Sherlock Holmes movie, which is clearly based on freemasonry, except that in the movie the leader is a murderer who uses optical illusions to make his crimes appear like magic. Holmes (Robert Downey Jnr) and Watson (Jude Law) eventually work out how they were done and discover that the home secretary is in on the act. Clifford hadn't seen the movie, when I told him about it, he laughed. Visit
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Pictures: Clifford Drake talks to Polly Manser in the temple at Beaconsfield, Clifford Drake with the banner of his 'lodge', a secret ceremony taking place in the 18th century, and a ceremony of the United Grand Lodge in London.