October 11, 2026
There was a special visitor to Cheltenham Masonic Hall during the Open Day on the 12th September, when Anita Lafford returned to see the Lodge Room and Banqueting Hall she helped to restore more than 40 years ago.
Anita, an artist and sculptress, was responsible for guiding the restoration of the Hall’s magnificent decorative work during the early 1980s. In 1981, the Banqueting Hall murals had deteriorated badly through years of smoke, damp and general wear. Working with Brethren from Royal Union Lodge and other Lodges, Anita painstakingly cleaned, repaired and, where necessary, re-created the historic murals.
The connection between Anita and the hall was also a family one, with both her father, WBro Ernest John Lafford, and her brother, WBro Keith Harrison Lafford, being members of Royal Union Lodge.
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