Kingston Seymour

Village Magazine

Issue 186 Feb-Mar 2020

~ Issue 186 February - March 2020 ~

I would first like to thank all our magazine deliverers who put this publication through your door come rain or shine. That is Sylvia Oliver, Claire Kinsella, Hazel Cole (and helpers), Chris Boardman, Di Edwards, Anita Simmons, Sue and Bryan Hutchinson and Sue Thomas. Without your help this whole project would not be possible. Can I just add a thank you to Tricia Keeble for her continued support and generous donation to the magazine.

Keep warm – Sylvia Stokes [email protected] -01934 834461

Magazine copy date Saturday 21st March 2020

Don’t Forget the Village Market on 1st February 10.00-12.00 in the Village Hall where you can get bread, veg, meat, cakes, preserves, crafts and so much more. Thank you to all those who come and support this important village venture as it seems to be getting busier again. .

Ladies who lunch

I hope you are all well and ready for some more lunches this year! In January, 6 of us went to the Old Inn and enjoyed a really big lunch and a good chat about our Christmas activities!

Thursday 13TH February we will revisit the Salthouse Inn on front by request.

Thursday 12TH March we will try the “Carriages” café at Tickenham again. Maybe have a look at their Spring plants!

Hopefully the weather will be kind to us on both occasions. Please meet as usual in the Village car park at 12.30pm. Please let me know ASAP if you will be able to join us on either or both of these two dates so that I can book for the appropriate number. Best wishes to all.

Margaret Laishley Tel 01934 838583 or [email protected]

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Mobile Library Timetable – February to July 2020 11.20 – 12.40 at the Village Hall

February 11th & 25th

March 10th & 24th

April 7th & 21st

May 5th & 19th

June 2nd & 16th

July 14th & 28th

The Library van is off the road for Maintenance on 30th June It would be very sad if we lost this facility so if you are around on Tuesday mornings please call in as footfall is what really counts. Even why not take a book out.

Flower Guild

A huge thank you to everyone who helped with the Christmas arrangements and also the taking down. The Church looked so festive and welcoming.

Our A G M is on Monday 10th February at 7.30 PM in The Village Hall. Please come along and share any views or suggestions you may have.

The Flower Rota for the coming year is in the Church Porch and we would be glad of anyone's help with keeping flowers in place throughout the year. These do not have to be flower arrangements but can be plants or vases of flowers.

Looking forward to seeing you at the A G M. Sue Hyde 3 ~ Parish Council~

Flanders and Swann sang about “Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud” and we’ve certainly had plenty of it around the village during what has been a very wet winter so far! Not sure it’s been particularly “glorious” with the necessary seasonal work being undertaken by our farmers and we’ve also had Truespeed digging up Lampley Road! On top of that, contractors have tried to do the white lining that we commissioned ……. but some of it has come up already!

The road markings that have been cut through by Truespeed are their responsibility to replace when they’ve finished. For the others that haven’t “stuck” we’ve been talking to NSC and will wait until it dries out a bit before getting them to send their contractor back to re-paint.

The far end of Ham Lane remains in a dire condition and there are potholes appearing elsewhere. We’ll be making concerted efforts to get these repaired by NSC but in the meantime, please drive slowly and carefully, particularly as any potholes may be obscured by rainwater.

Truespeed - You will increasingly see Truespeed contractors around the village over the next few months as they use existing underground ducting and existing power carrying poles to install the fibre optic cables to allow the superfast broadband offer. The work that has taken place at the village end of Lampley should be the worst we suffer and should be fully repaired by the end of January.

Expect to see localised traffic management as contractors open up manhole covers or climb poles to install the trunk cables. I understand that in due course, Truespeed’s “Home Connect” teams will contact all of those who have said they’d like the service to agree how it physically gets into the individual properties.

Tutshill Sluice and Cycle Route You may have seen an article in North Times just before Christmas saying that the route “could be built in 2020” but that that was dependent upon the funding required from Highways . This funding has been delayed again at Government and I believe that work on the route is now very unlikely to start in 2020.

4 Coastal Footpath. - Specific objections are now being dealt with through the planning inspector and those who were entitled to object will be being contacted direct by the inspector. Those of us who made representations (including the Parish Council) are assured that these are being considered and will be forwarded to the Secretary of State. Overall, and because of the objections process, the whole thing is likely to experience more delays.

The draft minutes of the latest Parish Council meeting in January are available to view (as are all meetings) on the website but the other key items discussed were:

- PCSO Rebecca Budd reported that there was currently a spate of thefts from cars going on in and she urged all owners not to leave valuables visible in cars and, of course, to make sure the vehicle is locked. A number of “beat surgeries” and bike marking sessions have been organised for the first half of the year and all of the dates applicable to us have been put in the website calendar.

- Litter is becoming an issue around the village and we ask residents to pick up what they can when they’re out and about.

-The Parish Council has identified a range of bigger tasks that need to be done around the village and we will be building specifications for work packages for which we will then invite tenders. When they’re ready, we will put the specification on the website and put a link across to it from Village News Facebook. Hopefully, individuals from within the village will want to undertake these tasks at a price that will be acceptable to both sides!

- The Council’s Financial position remained sound with £9.8k in the current account and £7.1k in the reserve account. An invoice from NSC for some £3.3k (for the road works) is expected before the end of the financial year. Councillors decided that there would be no increase shown for the parish precept in your NSC Council Tax bills this year.

- A new Equality and Diversity Policy was discussed and agreed and will be posted on the website alongside all of the Council’s policies.

Please do contact me if you have any comments or questions about any of the above. Don’t forget there is always new village news and events 5 on the Kingston Seymour website and please let me know if there’s something you’d like to share on there.

Steve Dixon, Parish Clerk

Email: [email protected] Website: www.kingstonseymour.org.uk Phone: 07902 798 162

~Christine Lufflum !946 – 2019~

All Saints was packed on Saturday 11th January for the funeral of Christine Lufflum and this was testament to the large number of friends and family who wanted to pay their respects to a friendly, kind and, as one fellow member of the YCCTART (the local archaeology society) said, a great character.

During the service we learnt that Christine was born in Edinburgh and lived there until she was eight when the family moved to Grimsby. She did Teacher Training in Leeds, teaching there and then moving to Wimbledon to teach in Brixton. It was while living in that she met Derek and they married in 1973. From 1974 they lived near Manchester and 1979 they came to Rose Lea Cottage at Kingston Bridge.

Christine will be remembered here in Kingston Seymour for so many things. The first thing that comes to my mind was her work in the Historical Society where with Janet Stuckey she produced a very elaborate scrap book on the history of the village which ran into two volumes. Since this was mostly done in the very early days of computers it must have been a great deal of work and could still be used as a valuable reference today. I do remember her Lasagne, always requested for the Historical Society Christmas party, was legendary and fought over by the members. Christine went on to increase her historical knowledge by taking first, a GCSE in Archaeology, then an A level and finally a degree which as a working mother is just so impressive. Then there was the Herbs and Spices stall at the village market where everything always seemed very fresh and I still miss her there although it is long ago that she stopped trading. Of course, many will remember her as a supply teacher in Yatton, always from my son’s experience, trying to get the best out of her pupils.

6 I do remember how excited and pleased we all were in the village for Derek and Christine when Sarah arrived. How proud she was of Sarah’s sporting achievements along with her degree and later of her grandson’s Ryan and Brandon at football.

Christine was indeed a determined strong lady who, as we witnessed at her funeral had friendships spreading far and wide so will be missed by so many. Our condolences go to Derek, Sarah, Ryan and Brandon.

Kingston Seymour Historical Society Programme

Membership £10, Visitors £3 Junior Visitors £1.50 All meetings start at 7.30 for 7.45 pm. Visitors very Welcome. Details - Jane Bell 01934 877322 or Anne Perrot 01934 833888

Tuesday 25th February Speaker: Clive Burlton At Hawthorn Cottage, Middle Lane “The Life and Times of Harry Dolman”

Harry Dolman rose from humble rural roots in Wiltshire to become a multi- millionaire thanks to his fantastic inventions, draughtsmanship and engineering skills. He loved football and his business success (Brecknell, Dolman and Rogers) led him to City FC where during 38 years he became director chairman and president.

Tuesday 31st March Speaker: Jane Bell At Mendip View Farm, Yeo Bank Lane “Kingston Seymour to Berrycreek – Berrycreek to Kingston Seymour”

Louise Kingcott, nee Wallis, born 1895, wrote of her growing up days in Kingston Seymour, her exodus to the Alberta Prairie, Canada, in 1922, marriage to Arthur Kingcott, their farming in such a different terrain to the farming that they had been born into in their native Somerset, and eventually their return to Ham Farm, Kingston Seymour where they raised their family. Jane will follow the plot through by means of a power point presentation.

Tuesday 28th April – AGM and SOCIAL at: Bulbeck, Bullocks Lane

7 ~Church Notes ~

Christmas started with the Carol Service and ended at Epiphany, although, to be fair, for many it started much earlier with all the preparations to be made for the Christmas celebrations. The church looked gorgeous and the candle stands never lose their wow factor, however many times we see them. For one first time at Christmas visitor, there was a completely spontaneous comment of, "This is the prettiest church I have ever seen decorated for Christmas." Thank you everyone, all your work really is appreciated.

It was a full house for the Carol Service and an absolute delight to have the singing led by a combined choir from across the Team's churches. The Crib Service was full to bursting, as always, with the lamb attempting to be the star of the event, an impossible challenge when we have our fabulous children and young people to tell us the Christmas story. Thank you all of you and thank you Cheryl and Sylvia for putting it all together.

The peace of the Midnight Service contrasts completely with the excited bustle of the afternoon and as we welcomed Christmas morning, we pondered once again on the miracle of God coming to earth as a baby.

On Epiphany Sunday, Nigel and Nickie came to us from Cleeve, armed with projector and screen, to tell the story of the 4th Wise Man, the one that got left behind. Setting out later with his 3 precious jewels to give to the baby, he kept searching, on the way exchanging his jewels to help people in their need until he had nothing left to give to the Christ-child, only to discover that he had in fact given everything. It's a story with a real message and was a lovely way to finish Christmas time.

We are only too aware that there are several in our village who have had a difficult Christmas, either through hospitalisation, treatment, changing situations for loved ones or the loss of someone dear. Emmanuel - God with us - our prayer is that through these times of darkness, there will be some sense of the presence of God with you.

Christine Lufflum has been an amazing example of stoicism and dogged determination, never letting her disability get in the way of her aspirations and desires. And all made possible by the love and dedication to her needs by Derek. It was with huge sadness that we learned of her passing before Christmas, but no great surprise that the church was full for her 8 funeral service. To Derek, Sarah and all the family we send our sympathy, our love and our prayers.

Our new hymn books have arrived and cover a much wider range of music - yeah! The funding has come from various donations, including Olive's 90th birthday celebration last June. They were dedicated recently, but a little later we'll arrange a Songs of Praise service and put them to good use.

Burns Night is coming up, details are on the back page of the magazine. It's a great night out - a lot of fun and plenty of laughter. Book as a group or on your own, it doesn't matter, we'll allocate table spaces to accommodate everyone.

~Christmas Post 2019~

Another successful year for Kingston Seymour Christmas Post!

Both Robin and I would like to thank everyone in the village for your generosity on ‘Christmas Post day’, in aid of Dementia UK and the village magazine. This year we all raised£300! Being split £230/£70 respectively.

As always there are many “thank yous” for all the help everyone gave to make the morning such a success. To our ‘co’ team, John Harris and Graham Daniel; a splendid job, making the sorting so much easier. To Olive and Jackie Harris for collecting the donations, to Sue Smith for the mince pies and dishing out of mulled wine. To the Post Office staff for putting up with all the hubbub and allowing the morning to happen!! To Sylvia for the advertising and all she does regarding our village magazine. To all the wonderful volunteers who so kindly helped in the distribution of all the cards and without whom this would have been a mammoth job!!

A final thanks to you all who contributed either before or on the morning! Here’s to Christmas 2020 - a decision will be made shortly as to which charity we choose to support next time.

Thank you all again Judy and Robin Seward

Thank you, Judy and Robin, for all the work and organisation this takes. Thank you all from the Village Magazine for taking part. The donation is very useful as it means this publication can continue free to all villagers. 9 Open Letter to Residents of Kingston Seymour and Users of the Village Hall

As Chair of the Kingston Seymour Village Hall Trust I thought the beginning of the year is a good time to update you all.

As you know, in April 2017 the existing management construct for the hall was split into two groups. The first was registered as a charity (Kingston Seymour Village Hall Charity, Charity No: 268912) and tasked with the upkeep of the hall building infrastructure. The second is the Kingston Seymour Village Hall Trust (the Management Committee) which is responsible for the day to day management of the hall and associated activities.

Since that time your Village Hall Management Committee has been focusing on improving the administration and procedures by which the hall operates to ensure that, where possible, existing hirers still get the service they have grown to know but also looking at attracting new bookings to the Hall. This has been progressing well, with repeat bookings from villagers, new and regular users of the hall, more private parties including weddings, and the creation of the Friday Night night (which happens every fortnight). Regular income is welcome so do please mention us to your friends and as a venue for clubs and societies.

This additional income is vital and helps to ensure that we are able to maintain the hall at a level that hirers and visitors would expect and that makes it an attractive prospect for new enquiries. Already we have been able to make key improvements to areas which were in urgent need. We have decorated the skittle alley, refurbished the bar, provided new seating solutions throughout the hall, foyer and alley, had solar panels installed to reduce our electric costs and upgraded some of the technology in use like wi-fi enabled speakers and a new till (with card machine!). The hall, along with the support of the Parish Council, has implemented a publicly accessible Wi-Fi and Broadband solution which

10 is freely available for all users. Externally a small garden area has been created and the walls repainted.

We have added additional ways to contact us. We have a new website (www.ksvillagehall.co.uk) and you can find/follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ksvillagehall) or you can sign up to our proactive communications offering via a WhatsApp group to ensure you are up to date with all the latest on events and activities. If you would like to sign up to the WhatsApp group then you can raise an enquiry via the website or talk to one of the team (a list of team members will be posted in the hall). If you wish to book the hall or check an upcoming event the calendar is always up to date so please check slots and use the Contact Us details to make an enquiry, New Booking Forms are online or available in the Hall and these too will be dealt with very promptly. We are very happy to receive enquiries and do our best to remain flexible to your needs.

Even though we are doing well we still have our challenges. Your Management Committee is a volunteer group and give of their time freely but some jobs need more than just a willing pair of hands. Additional bookings require a regular cleaning schedule and the bar needs knowledgeable trained staff to run it. The hall too is showing signs of age and there are some very urgent pieces of work that are required:

Electrics: the electrical cabinet is aged and is nowhere near the current regulations. This wouldn’t normally matter, it’s safe and checked regularly, but we have other ideas and projects that cannot be done without the electrics being current. This is not an insignificant piece of work and we are currently going through the tender process to find the right electrical installation company to deal with this for us. (ROM cost £12,000 to £15,000)

Windows and doors: The external doors need to changed as they’ve aged and no longer fit properly, allowing slugs and worms into the hall, as well as considerable draughts! We have some quotes for this work already but will be looking for others so that we can ensure we get the best product for the best price. (ROM Cost £9,000 to £12,000)

Toilets: A refurb is required on the Gents, Ladies and Disabled Toilets. Things are looking a little frayed and a full on refresh is required to ensure 11 that we can provide suitable facilities for our users. We have recently put a fresh coat of paint in both the ladies and gents but this is a stop gap measure whilst we raise funds for further work. (ROM Cost £5,000 to £8,000)

Flooring: The foyer, corridor and skittle alley could do with a new carpet/flooring. The current carpet has been in place for 20 years since the foyer was built after a millennium lottery grant. New flooring would make it easier to keep the floor cleaner for longer. We can also look for alternative solutions based on modern technology that will provide the right solution for use. The hall parquet flooring could do with a refresh to ensure that it is suitable for years to come. (ROM Cost £6,000 to £10,000)

All these together (with regular maintenance and decorating) would come to around about £50,000. Much more than we currently have in the bank so we are looking at alternative funding avenues and grants. We will keep you up to date with these activities.

Unfortunately I have to be bearer of bad news as well. We are having to put up bar prices from 1st Feb 2020. This is mainly due to rising costs incurred in purchasing stock for the bar. Since the last price rise over 2 years ago we have managed to consume subsequent increases but we have recently been informed that Butcombe (and other suppliers) will be increasing their prices by at least 3% which means that we can no longer accept these increases and have to pass these onto the hall users. We are deeply sorry for this but this is just the way of the world at this moment in time.

Finally, in additional to the work to make it a comfortable experience to use the hall we are keen to ensure that hirers and the hall team are fully protected when making use of the hall. New Terms and Conditions are soon to be provided to hirers at time of booking making sure that everyone fully understands their obligations toward our neighbours and other users of the Hall, correct use of the equipment and facilities and, finally, the charges involved. If we are to maintain the hall going forward then we have to ensure that the hall does not run at a loss, that we are competitive with other local facilities and that we offer a good experience to our users.

12 I thank you for persevering in your reading of this note. I hope that it has provided you an update to what is going on in your village hall. I am pleased to say that we have got a great team of volunteers involved with the day to day running and I hope you will join me in thanking them for their undertakings to date and their continued involvement. Without them we would not have been able to make the changes carried out in the hall or those that we have planned.

And now, absolutely finally, I would like to pass on my thanks to you. Your continued support will ensure that the hall continues to function for years to come and I thank you for that. If you managed to catch the Countryfile program on BBC1 the other week you will see how village halls are playing a key role in rural life and we are keen to ensure that ours remains central to our village. If there is anything that I have talked about here that you would like more information on then please do get in touch with me. I am never too far from the hall! Our Annual Village Hall Meeting is on 20th May 2020 and we’d love to see as many of you there as possible.

Andy

Andy Gillam - Chair Kingston Seymour Village Hall Trust

Middle Lane Farm & The Travis Family 1920 – 2020

William Samuel Travis was born in 1876 at Mushroom Farm in Worle married Caroline Tiley born 1873 from Almondsbury, at St James Church Bristol in March 1903. I am not sure where they lived for the first few years after their marriage but Samuel possibly helped his two brothers to continue running the farm in Worle, his father had died in 1890. He bought Hope farm in Kingston with 17 acres of land in July 1907 where their two children Grace and William John, better known as “Jack” were born. He farmed Hope Farm with help of local labour, Charlie Parsons, and Tom Waygood who joined the Royal Engineers in the First World War and while away asked if Samuel would carry his invalid mother up the stairs to bed each night which he did but not always at the same time of night.

Samuel and Caroline sold Hope farm in 1919 with around 40 acres after buying Middle Lane Farm with approx. 132 acres which included Prospect Farm and moved into Middle lane in January 1920. He farmed 13 there with Charlie who worked at Middle Lane and retired soon after Jack left school, Tom survived the war and continued to work for Samuel and Jack at Middle Lane until the mid-1950s. As well as the livestock cider was made with the apples from the four orchards on the farm and apples bought from another three in the village he sold the cider to locals, and clubs in the Yatton and Clevedon area. There was a home help for the children and before Grace married she helped her Mother make Butter and Cheese, from some of the milk produced on the farm which was also sold.

Jack married Gladys Richards in 1936 and made their home at Prospect where Jack kept a few cows and pigs but spent most of his time helping at Middle Lane leaving Gladys looking after John born in 1938 Joan in 1940 and William 1944. During the war a sea mine that was intended for the blew in on its parachute and landed a field away from the farm blowing out the three top windows in the house, the two outer ones blew in and the centre one blew out which was fortunate as John was in his pram underneath that window.

The first tractor arrived at Middle Lane in 1947 and horses were still being used until after Tom retired in the late 1950s, Samuel & Caroline retired in 1949 and moved to Prospect and Jack Gladys and the three children moved into Middle Lane, where Susan was born in 1952, that same year Caroline died, Samuel died two years later in 1954.

There was no mains electric and insufficient power in the village to have it brought to the farm so a Start-O-Matic Lister plant was installed in the 1950s, there was also no mains water so water was pumped by hand from a well in the garden to a tank in the attic, the Mains water was piped across five fields from Prospect on Back Lane in the early 1960s.

Jack stopped making cider for sale at the end of the 1950s and one of the orchards was grubbed out and seeded into grass land, a lot of the trees in the other orchards were past their prime and the apples left were sold. John, Joan and Steve Hitchcock worked on the farm, William worked on the farm when he left school in 1960. Baled hay was first made at the farm in 1957 baled by the Griffin family who I think were one of the first to have a baler in the village; Middle Lane bought its first baler in 1960.

14 Joan married Nigel Ridley in 1967 and gave up working on the farm but did help during hay making, there was also evening help from two workers from Wyke and Dean in Yatton. John died in 1972 after suffering from epilepsy since he was 13 years old, he had been keen on his skittles and played for the Kingston team and also belonged to the village youth club that met in the village hall. Steve Hitchcock left the farm and Steve Rideout, and then Harold Wilson (No not the one that was Prime Minister) but who had worked for Frank Griffin at Rookery Farm, came to work at Middle lane. Susan had gone to college and became a teacher but did help on the farm at hay making time; she married Steve Thomas in 1977. And is now one of the Church Wardens at Kingston.

When milk churn collection ended and bulk tank collection started in 1976, the farm changed from a milking herd to a single suckler herd as the milk collection would have been in the afternoon instead of 8.0clock in the morning which is when the churn collection had been, this would have meant keeping the start-o-matic engine running all day to cool the milk.

A beef bull was purchased to run with the shorthorn milking herd and Hereford x Frisian heifers were bought and the herd was split into two one to calve in the spring and the other to calve in the autumn. Some corn was grown and Silage was made instead of hay and after the first year was made in partnership with Geoff Bush. Harold left, and Jack and William worked together until Jack died in 1982.

William continued with the suckler herd and sheep with the help of Tim Ford, he married Angela in 1988. Angela had two sons Edward 11 and James 7 who William adopted. With the arrival of BSE beef prices were affected which became a problem and although cases of BSE on beef farms were only 1%, the farm diversified and most of the beef herd was sold in 1995, first trying a farm shop selling its own beef, and Plantations lakes followed by a café were developed. Gladys died in 1999, and Joan who a lot of you will remember died in 2005.

Middle Lane Farm & the Travis Family continue into the 2020s.

William Travis

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Village Pub Nights.

31st January 14th February 28th February 13th March 27thth March

I expect many of you did not realise that occasionally on Tuesdays the Village Hall lobby becomes a pop-up Police Station when we get a visit from our community Police. It is lovely to chat to them.

If you have nothing to do on a Tuesday why not pop in for a cup of coffee and a chat. Use the post office and every other Tuesday we have a visit from the mobile library. 17 Coffee, Cake and Prayer The next dates for your diary:- 12th and 26th February, 11th and 25th March 2020. 10am–11am. (2nd & 4th Wednesday of the month)

All welcome at the Old School, Ham Lane, Kingston Seymour Looking forward to your company, Yvonne Nelson Enquiries 01934 838404.

What joy I have a nearly unfilled page and a joke to go in it!

Making Assumptions

An old man lay sprawled across three entire seats in the theatre. When the usher came by and noticed this, he whispered

“Sorry sir you’re only allowed to occupy one seat”.

The old man didn’t budge so the usher became more impatient.

“Sir “he said, “If you don’t get up, I’m going to call the manager”

Once again, the man just muttered and did nothing.

The usher marched briskly back up the aisle and in a moment he returned with the manager in tow. Together the two men tried repeatedly to move the dishevelled man, but without success. Finally, they summoned the police.

The officer surveyed the situation briefly and then asked,

“Alright sir what’s your name?”

“Fred” the old man moaned.

“Where are you from Fred?” asked the police officer.

With a terrible strain in his voice and without moving Fred replied

“The Balcony”

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Charity No 1056781

Friends of All Saints Church

Quiz Night

Saturday 14th March 2020 Kingston Village Hall

Teams up to 6 People £ 12.00 per person to include hot supper 7:00 for 7:30 Start

Tickets in advance from: Susie Humphries, Sue Thomas, Trudy Harris

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Saturday 8th February

7.15pm for 7.30pm

at Kingston Castle (sometimes known as the Village Hall)

3 Course Supper Piper Ceilidh Dress Code: 'fairly formal with a touch of tartan'

Tickets : £20 From: Sue Thomas (833593) Judy Seward (832612) Sue Lang (835939)

Tables of 8, 10 or 12 can be arranged if requested but no need to make up a table

In aid of church general fund Parish of Yatton Moor registered charity no 1132177

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