Richard Paul Stainton Sandbach

Dickon Sandbach 

Dickon Sandbach was born in 1956.  In 1978 he graduated from Durham University, where he had met Barbara, and they were married in that year.  They have two children and an infant grandson, all of whom live close by.  He had a successful career as a practicing Chartered Accountant, retiring in 2018, when the family relocated to Inverness-shire.  They have a substantial and productive garden which they are developing.  He is a volunteer director of GlenWyvis Distillery Ltd, a community benefit society, and a trustee of the Strathspey Railway Association.

He was initiated into Vale of Welland Lodge no 8845 (EC) in 1978, becoming Worshipful Master in 1992  He is also a Past Master of Lodge of Antiquity no 2, of The Richard Sandbach Lodge of Research no 9600 and Cornucopia Lodge of Mark Master Masons.  He holds the rank of Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies.  He is a PZ of Chapter of St James no 2 (EC).  He affiliated to Lodge St Columba no 1295 in Inverness.  He is also the Provincial Grand Secretary of Inverness-shire.

He has written papers and given talks on a variety of masonic topics, especially on the interpretation of our masonic rites.

White Paper - The Centre-Within

An inquisitive brother stands at the entrance to a maze.  His goal is to find the centre.  

This paper begins by reminding us that Freemasonry may be understood at many levels.  To benefit from the deeper insights which it offers, the inquisitive Freemason needs to learn to interpret the allegories, behind which lies much of the wisdom of Freemasonry.   By reference to the office-bearers and furnishings of a lodge, the author considers the nature of man and the faculties which he possesses.  He also explains how the office-bearers may collectively be considered to represent an individual.  His interpretation lays particular emphasis on the meaning of the centre, and a parallel is drawn with the allegory of King Solomon’s Temple.  The author considers what it was that was lost, according to the drama of the third degree, and what the significance of this is to our masonic experience.  

The paper therefore illustrates how Freemasonry can assist us, through self-knowledge, to find the centre.  It discusses the consequences of that discovery for the inquisitive brother.