A link to our Grimsby & Cleethorpes Fishing Heritage

Gloria takes pride-of-place on the top table at our Festive Boards at each Lodge meeting.

In a poignant moment of reflection, around 10pm, the Worshipful Master rings the bell and calls on those present to toast 'Absent and Seafaring Brethren', and we sing 'Eternal Father' in honour of the toast.

History

When the Vigilantes Lodge was founded in 1953, WBro Crampin decided the Lodge needed a bell in order to partake in the local tradition of the 10 o'clock toast.
As a number of our Founder Members were Seafarers and Trawler owners, they decided to buy a new bell and swap it with the bell on a local Trawler 'Gloria'; much to the annoyance of the Sailors!

By coincidence, just one week after the Gloria Bell was swapped, that Trawler was lost at sea.

When Gloria rings at 10pm on the night of each Vigilantes meeting, it's a poignant reminder of those that were lost in Grimsby & Cleethorpes' maritime heritage,

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