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

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

Led by Provincial Grand Master, Dr Alan Davison, more than 350 members walked shoulder-to-shoulder through the museum town in an open display, last seen in the 1930s.

The lodge is to be built next to Beamish's Barclay's Bank, and will incorporate the faade of the Masonic Hall that once graced Park Terrace, Sunderland.

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 building was demolished."

The Sunderland hall has not been used by the Masons since 1932. Its interior, with its fine plasterwork, will be reconstructed, as far as is possible.