The BBC News Magazine carries and article entitled "Would you want to be a Freemason?"
You can find the original article here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17272611
Dogged by conspiracy theories, Freemasons insist theirs is a modern, open organisation. But can this male-dominated body cast off its secretive image and win over a sceptical public?
They designed the pyramids, plotted the French Revolution and are keeping the flame alive for the Knights Templar. These are just some of the wilder theories about the Freemasons. Today they are associated with secret handshakes and alleged corruption in the police and judiciary.
But dogged by this "secret society" image, the Freemasons have launched a rebranding exercise.
On Friday, the United Grand Lodge of England, the largest Masonic group in Britain, publishes its first independent report. The Future of Freemasonry, researched by the Social Issues Research Centre, aims to start an "open and transparent" discussion ahead of the group's tercentenary in 2017.
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Not only was St. John's the first masonic lodge to be warranted in Torquay, it was also the very first secular society to be formed in the town, even before the Post Office, the Council, and the Police.
