AFTER 70 years behind closed doors, Durham Freemasons made their first stylish public appearance at the weekend.

Hundreds of masons dressed in their finest regalia gathered at Beamish Museum to take part in a special meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge and lay the foundation stone for the building of an historic Masonic Hall.

More than 350 members walked through the award-winning town in a open display, the likes of which has not been seen since the Thirties.

Provincial Grand Master, Dr Alan Davison, led the memorable parade while dozens of masons and their families also witnessed the ceremony.

The lodge is to be constructed next to Beamish's Barclay's Bank. Using the faade of the former Masonic Hall, which once graced Park Terrace in Sunderland, the museum's new addition will be carefully reconstructed over the coming weeks.

Dr Davison said: "The foundation stone laying ceremony was a fitting and very colourful start to our Beamish 2000 Millennium project. The stones of the faade have been stored at Beamish for almost two years since the original building was demolished."

The Sunderland hall had, however, not been used for Masonic purposes since 1932.

The interior of the Park Terrace building, with its fine plasterwork will, so far as is possible, be re-constructed from photographic records.

The Provincial Grand Lodge of Durham is responsible for 206 lodges and some 11,500 Freemasons