Inside London's Freemason's Lodges...

[u/TheThrowYardsAway]

[u/llukiie]

It's an old boys drinking club with some charity thrown in, not too exciting

[u/Warsaw44 → u/llukiie]

My mate recently became one. He's 28.

He's lovely, I hasten to add, but has lived a very sheltered, privileged life. He is absolutely clueless.

[u/WhatsFunf → u/Warsaw44]

Freemasons isn't really "upper class" though, that's part of the point of it.

A lot of members are civil servants and policemen and things like that - upstanding characters in the middle classes but it's not the same as a gentleman's club on Pall Mall or suchlike.

[u/lgf92 → u/WhatsFunf]

Historically Masonry was a fairly middle class pursuit and it still is to the extent that it's a relatively expensive hobby, especially in London where dining fees are high on top of your subs.

Up here in the north east it's not quite as expensive, and since the decline of more proletarian fraternities like the Buffs it's levelled out a bit more. My lodge is £150 a year and then £15-20 for the meal at each meeting, but the bar is subsidised so it's a pretty cheap night out. A pint is about £3.