A different kind of Freemasonry kicked off in Grantham for the first time when the Nomads Rugby Lodge were guests at the town’s Masonic Hall.

Members of the Nomads are united by their love of rugby, and are made up of Freemasons from Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire – three counties that have traditionally united to play the game at county level.

They’re called the Nomads because although they’re nominally based in Derbyshire, they have no fixed home. They travel to a different venue for each of their four meetings each year, attending a different rugby match each time. At Grantham they were able to watch Kesteven beat Derby’s second XV by 26 points to 14.

Chris Tandy is a member from Lincolnshire, and was at the Grantham meeting. He said: “Apart from attending a rugby match with every meeting, the most obvious difference about Nomads Freemasonry is our Harlequin waistcoats – A Nomads Freemason stands out in a crowd! We also raise a lot of money for good causes at our festive boards. At Grantham we collected £350 – all of it from ‘fines’ levied on members for all sorts of daft things. It’s even possible to be fined because you haven’t been fined. All of that is governed by the Fines Master, whose decision is as final as a referee’s on the rugby pitch.

“The Nomads Rugby Lodge is one of Freemasonry’s growing number of specialist interest Lodges, which are based on a range of shared interests as diverse as Formula 1, motorcycling, people with a Forces background, and classic cars. Two of Lincolnshire’s newest Lodges are special interest ones; the Free Wheelers is made up of keen motorcyclists, and only last year we created the Armed Forces Lodge of Lincolnshire for serving and former forces personnel.”

GOOD TRY: Nomads Rugby Lodge Master James Bentley, right, hands £350 to Kesteven Rugby Club Chairman Dimitri Arlando, who’ll see it’s used to support the club’s junior and ladies’ teams.