NORTHERN BRANCH

NORTHERN NOTES

ISSUE 4 MARCH 2009

Blencow Hall photo supplied by Mike Hein-Hartmann

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INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the first newsletter of even . Our special 2009 and thanks for the positive feature report in ‘CONFLAHB’( comments we received following the CONservation oF LocAl Historic last newsletter in November 2008. Buildings ) is concentrating on what As always we welcome any is happening in Hartlepool THI. We contributions from those interested in have tried to improve the form and the conservation of historic buildings content in this edition and have and we are delighted with the included an index this time to aid response we have received this time readers. Any suggestions for further round. We try to include items from improvements will be welcome. all parts of the region and hopefully we have succeeded this time with If you know of anyone who might be articles from Penrith, Bedlington, interested in reading the newsletter Hartlepool, Northumberland and please forward a copy.

This newsletter is prepared by the North Branch of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation however the views and opinions expressed within it are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the institute or the Branch Committee

CONTENTS page

What’s On 3 Business Plan 3 Committee Meeting Dates 3 New Members and Movers 3 Branch meeting in Penrith 4 Branch Connections Day in Birmingham November 2008 4 Tour of Birmingham’s Heritage Buildings 6 CONFLAHB – THI scheme Headland Hartlepool 8 Cleaning Gutters Day in Bedlington 11 Seaton Delaval Hall 13 Recharging Blyth Battery 14 Caption Corner 16 List of current THI schemes 18 Contact Details North Branch Committee Members 2009 19

2 What’s On:

Heritage Skills events will be held again throughout the year. Details of this years programme will be available soon. Contact Andie Harris, Heritage Skill Coordinator for details at [email protected]. Tel. 0191 2329279

Conservation Forums hosted by English Heritage Dates for your diary for 2009 include the following Fridays: 24th April, 19th June, 25th September and 20th November. Further details can be obtained from Claire Botham at English Heritage at [email protected] tel. 0191 2691234

IHBC Summer School to be held in Buxton, Derbyshire 11-13 June 2009

Enforcement Seminar to be held in the Autumn

Breaking News - IHBC Summer School to be hosted by Northern Branch in 2013.

If you want to keep up to date with all that is happening in the ‘Heritage World’ log on to the IHBC NEWS BLOG on the IHBC national website www.ihbc.org.uk Up to date information is given including links to other sites to get all the information in full. You can even read all the back issues of Northern Notes on the North Region part of the website. IHBC members can get regular updates as they are published by signing up to the BLOG at [email protected] .

Business Plan

At the last Branch Committee on 4th February 2009 discussion took place on preparing a new draft business plan to be put forward to the next Council meeting in March 2009. Details of the IHBC NORTH BRANCH DRAFT BUSINESS PLAN: SEPTEMBER 2008 – AUGUST 2009 can be found on the national website www.ihbc.org.uk in the North Branch section together with previous business plans.

Committee meeting dates 2009

1st April (Blackfriars, Newcastle)

Other dates to be confirmed.

All IHBC members are welcome to attend any meeting.

New Members and Movers

Welcome to Michael Hurlow at Durham City

3 Branch meeting in Penrith

The September Branch Committee affairs and meet members from other meeting was held on 12th September parts of the region. An excellent site 2008 in the Mansion House at visit was included and members had Penrith. The meeting was hosted by an opportunity to visit the impressive members from Cumbria who had an Blencow Hall near Greystoke in the opportunity to contribute to branch Eden Valley.

Blencow Hall photo supplied by Mike Hein-Hartmann

IHBC FIRST BRANCH CONNECTIONS DAY 19th NOVEMBER 2008 BIRMINGHAM by Ken Hutchinson

This meeting was arranged, as part of the Institute’s activities and in line with the corporate business plan, to kick starts a programme of support for branches from the national office.

The meeting was targeted at IHBC members who were not the branch representative who attends council. I volunteered to attend and like the majority of others it was the first time most of us had met the Institute’s senior officers and staff. Those present included Dave Chetwyn (chair), Shelia Stones (vice chair),

4 Sean O Reilly (Director), Fiona Newton (Projects Officer), Devon DeCelles (Membership Services Officer) and Lydia Porter (Administration Officer).

All branches were represented and after a welcome by the Chairman and a background talk on the work of the institute by the Director we broke into three groups to discuss what the branches currently did and wanted to do for their members. Some provided a lot of regular CPD events, some combined these with committee meetings open to all, some struggled to provide any and some had received some administration assistance from HQ. As in the north, many branches has geographical problems with north south or east west splits with events concentrated in one area with the occasional get together in a central location. Many also had the problem of lone professionals working in isolation and everyone agreed that each branch relied upon a small number of committed volunteers who ran everything in the branch and that the same faces tended to turn up at all the events.

Shelia Stones chaired the feedback session and a number of other points were made: - need to celebrate success - share best practice with others - provide help to new volunteers on organising events or roles of officers e.g. treasurer - encourage employers to support staff e.g. time for CPD - better electronic contact between members to share information

After a welcome buffet lunch and more networking the afternoon session examined ways in which staff at the national office can help branches. The Director stressed that although they would like to help in a lot of ways the resource available amounted to only 3.5 staff and a realistic approach must be adopted and the majority of work must still fall on the trusted band of volunteers. As well as servicing the day to day needs of the IHBC and organising Committees and summer school and other events staff can provide some assistance with administration, give advice to branch officers and share information and best practice. The Director saw the role of central office as that of offering a franchise giving help and advice rather than telling the branches what to do, as all branches were different and each had different needs. The recent on-line blog is an example of trying to update members as quickly as possible and video conferencing is also being looked at. On the subject of recruitment some concerns were expressed that potential members were put off by the full membership form. The Director advised that a lot of work had been undertaken recently on recruitment and he urged as many people as possible to apply for associate membership in the first instance and take advantage of the many of the benefits before progressing to full membership at a later date. The form is currently being revised and there is a proposal to

5 introduce mentors to assist future applicants, hopefully this will be resolved early in the New Year.

To conclude all branches were offered the opportunity to raise any outstanding matters and most delegates confirmed that it had been a useful experience and that most branches had very similar experiences and problems.

The meeting closed at 3.10 pm to allow people to catch trains back home.

Following the Branch Connections Day national office and officers have prepared a consultation paper which includes descriptions of generic roles and duties of officers working in branches to address some of the points raised during the above meeting. The consultation period expires at the end of February 2009. Further details can be found on the IHBC website.

The recommendations include setting up a network of area representatives within each branch to ensure all parts of the region are represented. The Committee agree that this is a good idea and are looking for volunteers to act as area reps. If anyone is interested in acting as rep. in your local area (you do not have to be on the Committee) please put your name forward to any Committee member.

Tour of Birmingham’s Heritage Buildings – by Ken Hutchinson

Having had to catch the 6.19 am train from Newcastle and as I had not been to Birmingham for 34 years I decided to treat myself to an overnight stay rather than returning on the same day. After visiting the local Tourist Information office and German Christmas Market I watched beat Germany in my hotel room. The next day I planned my route to visit as many heritage buildings I could from the excellent Birmingham Civic Society guide (see image below).

I started at the Bullring markets (originally dating from1160) and Visited St Martin’s Church 1875 but dating from the 12th century (recently featured in Context July 2008). I passed through the impressive Selfridges Store and Bullring shopping centre to visit St Philip’s Cathedral (1715), opposite the Old Joint Stock (1864), the pub and theatre venue where we held the IHBC meeting.

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I walked along Corporation Street to see the impressive and not so impressive clients hanging about outside.

I ventured north through the impressive , amused to see that Greggs the Baker was present in such a location, on the way to the Conservation area. St Paul’s Church (1779 inspired by the designs for St Martin’s in the Fields) set within St Paul’s Square was the next building visited. From there I passed many impressive listed workshops still serving the jewellery industry on the way to the Jewellery Museum itself and to buy something for she who must be served!

Back south and called into the to visit the (built in 1863 for W Wiley a gold pen and pencil manufacturer) for a personal conducted tour to learn that Birmingham was the centre of the world pen trade for over 100years and at its height 75% of everything written down in the world was written with a Birmingham pen.

I then discovered the restored canal side walk back into the town centre past the National Indoor Arena and ICC and Symphony Hall and continued to The Mailbox, a very impressive conversion of a former Royal Mail’s sorting office, now occupied by the BBC and Harvey Nichols.

On the way back I stopped for a snack on the coffee shop barge before heading through Centenary Square to call into the Hall of Memory (1924) built as a war memorial and full of recent wreaths commemorating 11th November.

I returned to the centre of Birmingham’s civic buildings passing the recently restored grade 1 listed Town Hall (1832 based on the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum) on the way to Council House (1879) and blagged my way into a short guided tour up the grand staircase and into the banqueting rooms by one of the security staff.

I just had time for a whistle stop look inside a few galleries of the massive Museum and Art Galley (1889) before heading back down New Street to catch the 3.30 pm train back to Newcastle. Overall I was very impressed with both the historic buildings and the new buildings in the City Centre and would encourage anyone to seriously consider Birmingham for a City Break and look at the many sights on a more leisurely basis.

7 CONFLAHB ( CONservation oF LocAl Historic Buildings )

HARTLEPOOL HEADLAND TOWNSCAPE HERITAGE INITIATIVE

By Project Officer Peter Graves

Railing reinstatement at Hartlepool Headland photo by Peter Graves

The contract with the Heritage Lottery Fund for the Townscape Heritage Initiative at the Headland Conservation Area commenced in September 2001 for a period of 5 years. The THI budget was a little over £7.3m made up of £1m from the HLF £5.8m from the Single Regeneration Budget managed by the North Hartlepool Partnership and £515k from Hartlepool Council.

The THI was aimed at 9 key building (mostly listed) in or just outside the Conservation Area, conservation grants aimed at over 275 private dwellings, a railing restoration scheme to 50 properties and street environmental works to mostly complement the railing and conservation grants schemes.

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During the course of the THI (which still continues with the helpful support of the HLF and the Project Monitor) there were difficulties, but the unanticipated outcome was how much increased investment in the heritage the THI stimulated. Due to the THI, other heritage projects emerged at the Heugh Gun Battery (a visitor attraction based on a Scheduled Ancient Monument site funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund), works to restore the Borough Buildings to create a community facility (a grade 2 listed building and the former administrative centre of the Headland – see image left) and the provision of a visitor centre within the 12th century grade 1 listed St Hilda’s Church. In addition the street environmental works expanded by around 25% above the original THI bid to achieve a greater overall impact. This resulted in an investment of £10m in heritage assets as opposed to the £7.3m as set out in the original THI bid. This investment in the heritage of the Headland is continuing to happen with other environmental and railing schemes being considered using alternative funding sources.

On the individual projects, the conservation grants to the private dwellings proved popular with a strong take up of grant to conserve individual houses. On the railing restoration scheme there was an initial assumption that not all of the owners would want or be able to take part, even with a generous grant provision to persuade them to do so, however only one resident declined to take part. The railing restoration scheme (complemented by traditional paving and lighting and conservation grants to individual houses) resulted in a transformation of this part of the Headland Conservation Area with properties being unified into an architectural whole, which the previous mixture of brick walls and timber fences did not provide.

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The more problematic side of the Headland THI has been the 9 key buildings. Work on this aspect of the Headland THI is continuing with a helpful time extensions to the THI being granted by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The difficulty with the key buildings on the Headland has been their dispersed nature where works on one building could have a reinforcing effect to encourage works on another. The other difficulty was the physical and economic isolation of the Headland which meant that finding viable end uses for buildings was difficult and low property values discouraged owners from undertaking a project even with the support of a THI grant. Key building projects have been completed at a former Carnegie Library to provide increased local authority accommodation and two commercial projects are under way to provide a tea room and retail showroom. Work is continuing on the Friarage Manor House in the precinct of a former Franciscan Friarage site, a grade 2 listed building dating from the 17th century. The building and site owned by two separate but related charitable Trusts, is being considered by the Trusts for residential conversion of the Manor House (supported by a THI grant) and residential development of the rest of the site.

The railing restoration scheme illustrates some of the skills needed by a building conservation professional. The basics of working out the original design of railings was made easy with surviving fragments (and historic photographs) allowing patterns to be made and an accurate re-instatement of the originals achieved. The decisive skills needed were ones of negotiation, persuasion and psychology. There was the intention to have as many owners as possible signed up to the scheme to achieve the overall impact of complete terraces with railings restored. The 50 residents involved were a disparate group and there was scepticism amongst some at first about what was intended. Skills of persuasion and negotiation became more important to the success of the scheme than the technical skills required.

Railing reinstatement at Hartlepool Headland photo by Peter Graves

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What other problems came up? To keep costs down stone for the project came from outside the U.K. Although low in cost, this introduced communication difficulties, with delivery times not met and poor colour matches and incorrect sizes delivered. At one point Customs and Excise insisted on unloading a delivery at the port to search for drugs. A difficulty arose from the lack of integration of sub-contractors into one company, with separate contractors responsible for preparing the site, manufacturing the railings, erecting railings and gates on site and manufacturing the gates, i.e. a separate blacksmith. The skill required here by the conservation professional was to step in and provide the co-ordination and integration which must have existed when railings were erected in the 18th and 19th centuries. Skills shortages (an increasing obstacle in undertaking projects) particularly of blacksmiths and masons delayed the project. From a contract point of view there was a need to organise works in an efficient financial and operational manner, so complete groups of terraces could be restored together. Persuasion skills to achieve this have already been mentioned, but unexpectedly a high proportion of houses went up for sale (about 20%), with consultation starting again with each new owner.

Despite all the difficulties the end result is stunning and has added to the character of the Headland Conservation Area.

For Peter’s contact details and contacts for other THI projects in Northern Branch area please see the pages at the end of the newsletter.

GUTTERED! Cleaning Gutters Day in Bedlington By Steph Celino, North of England Civic Trust

Bedlington Front Street- photo courtesy of NECT

11 Friday 28th November saw North of England Civic Trust, Wansbeck District Council and Alert Property Services Ltd descend upon Bedlington Front Street in aid of National Gutters Day 2008.

National Gutters Day is part of National Maintenance Week, the brain child of The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). The campaign aims to encourage homeowners and others to be aware of the simple economic and achievable maintenance steps they can take to maintain their buildings.

The purpose of the event was to inform the local public that the simple task of removing leaves, twigs and debris from their gutters will not only help keep their property sound for winter but could potentially save them thousands of pounds in the future. Blocked and leaky gutters cause a whole host of costly problems, the most common being damp. Damp eradication costs can run into thousands of pounds – and how many people are in a position to absorb a hit like that in today’s financial climate?

It is also a fact that a well-maintained property holds its value better which could also pay dividends when people come to sell their property in the future.

Alert Property Services demonstration – photo courtesy of NECT

12 To mark the event, Alert Property Services Ltd carried out a gutter cleaning demonstration on a number of commercial properties on Bedlington Front Street West. Debris collected was shown to interested passing public and included mud, twigs, leaves, lumps of cement and a filthy tennis ball.

At 1pm renowned SPAB Lethaby Scholar, Alan Gardner, gave an informal talk at the local Salvation Army Hall to property owners and local professionals alike. The talk contained information on how to maintain your property correctly and what not to spend money on. Attendees left armed with invaluable information to take away and use.

Listeners to BBC Radio Newcastle may also have heard NECT’s very own Jules Brown being interviewed and carrying out a gutter cleaning demonstration live on the Breakfast Show.

Following the positive feedback received it is hoped that the event will be repeated in 2009 with a new gutter-related twist.

Seaton Delaval Hall by Mark Robinson

Seaton Delaval Hall – photo by Mike Smith, Northumberland Flying School

In July 2008 the National Trust £6.9m from its own funds and has launched a £13.2 million campaign sought to raise the remaining £6.3m to acquire Seaton Delaval Hall - one from a national appeal. of the North East's greatest houses, and considered by many to be Sir After a fantastic response from the John Vanbrugh’s Baroque general public - raising £2.5m in masterpiece. The Trust pledged just six months – the Trust is now

13 awaiting the outcome of several after this the Trust are hopeful that large public sector funding the National Heritage Memorial Fund applications and processes. The (NHMF) will step in as public funder charity is optimistic that these of last resort. contributions will help close the gap on its £6.3m target by early summer Alongside the fundraising campaign 2009. Until then, community the Trust has undertaken its largest fundraising efforts will continue. ever community consultation exercise, over 100,000 have helped Liz Fisher, area manager for the save and shape the future of Seaton National Trust, explains: “Thousands Delaval Hall, through public of people across the country, and meetings, guided tours, events, especially in the North East, have fundraising and website hits. The done their bit to support this response has been extremely campaign – whether through positive with huge support for the volunteering, organising an event, or acquisition. making a donation. It has all made a difference, but the final piece of the After asking people to offer their ideas to jigsaw now rests with public sector help shape the future of the Seaton bodies – we need their support to Delaval Hall, a clear vision is emerging meet the acquisition and set-up of a must-see destination for tourists in costs and secure the hall forever.” the North East and a place where the local community is welcome all year The outcome of the Acceptance in round. Its spectacular architecture, rich social and industrial history, links to the Lieu (AIL) process is among the arts and its proximity to the coast, have public sector contributions the Trust all proved popular, alongside is now waiting for. Seaton Delaval opportunities for volunteering, education Hall’s current owner has applied to and training. the government to settle an inheritance tax liability by offering the For up to date information or to make Vanbrugh house, its contents and a donation, visit: the immediately surrounding lands www.nationaltrust.org.uk/seatondela on condition that they pass to the valhall Trust. If a funding shortfall remains

Recharging Blyth Battery by Mark Robinson

Blyth Battery, designed and built to protect the North East coast during World War I and again in World War II, is in the process of being restored and transformed into a visitor centre and education facility, thanks to major grants totaling £525,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), Blyth Valley Borough Council and English Heritage.

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Blyth Battery photo by BRIC Photography

Grants of £250,000 from the HLF, £150,000 from the Borough Council and £125,000 from English Heritage will kick-start a three year project which will see the construction of a new visitor centre and the restoration of the wartime buildings. The project will involve volunteers and deliver an events and activities programme for the entire Blyth community.

Located on Blyth Links, a key regeneration area which has benefited from over £4m investment in recent years, Blyth Battery was dug out after the First World War and upgraded for re-use during WW2. The site is made up of twin gun emplacements, searchlight emplacements, rangefinder towers from both wars, and their associated buildings. It is one of the most complete examples of a coastal defence battery on the east coast of Britain, with some surviving features which are considered to be internationally significant.

Almost twenty years have passed since Blyth Battery was saved from demolition by a combination of local people and heritage organisations. The notion to develop Blyth Battery as a visitor attraction began to surface – but nothing materialised – so the Battery remained underused and continued to deteriorate. In 2004 Blyth Valley Borough Council commissioned the North of England Civic Trust to produce a Conservation Plan for the site. This provided a framework to follow that has helped turn the notion of Blyth Battery as a visitor attraction into an impending reality.

Over the last two years Mark Robinson of Blyth Valley Borough Council and Chris Burgess of Northumberland County Council have worked closely with the local community to develop a ‘Friends of Blyth Battery’ group. The volunteers of the ‘Friends of Blyth Battery’ have helped develop the vision for Blyth Battery and will play a crucial role in its future as a visitor centre. They will participate in a Community Heritage Project that will shape how the story of Blyth Battery is told and will benefit from a training programme to help them develop their skills and knowledge.

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The ‘Friends’ have worked together to organise hugely popular Heritage Open Days at the Battery, including one exhausting Sunday afternoon that lured in almost 800 visitors alone. In 2007 Blyth Battery entered the world of contemporary art as part of the Northumberland Lights winter festival. Light artist Jack Thompson’s installation reminded local people of Blyth’s hugely significant role during WW1 and WW2; and inspired new volunteers to join the project.

Mark Robinson, Project Manager, explained:

“The last few years have been an incredibly exciting time for Blyth Battery and the grant awards are a fitting reward for the tireless work put in by the ‘Friends of Blyth Battery’ during the development of this project, not to mention the invaluable support provided by Northumberland County Council’s archaeology team. We are continuing to work together and we aim to create a fantastic cultural resource for local people and visitors alike.”

Award winning architects Simpson and Brown have been appointed to the project; alongside the North of England Civic Trust who will manage the community heritage project and host a Heritage Officer post who will develop and deliver an education programme aimed at bringing the Battery alive for younger generations.

The ‘Friends’ are actively looking to recruit new members so if you are interested in becoming involved with the project please contact Mark Robinson on 01670 542231 or [email protected].

Caption Corner

Following on from the captions in the last edition, inspired by the photograph of Devon DeCelles visiting the Wylam Brewery stand, Devon entered in to the ‘spirit’ and supplied some additional suggestions:

A wry smile escaped Devon's lips, as armed with the tools of her trade, beer and a cudgel, she went off to press gang new IHBC members.

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Unimpressed with the size of drinking receptacle available - Devon decided the only way forward was the old 'three at once' trick. or

After three nights camping in the rain Devon decided the only thing to do was to get her insides as wet as her outside.

Have a go at thinking of suggestions for captions for the below photo taken at the Heritage Skills Fair held at Gibside in July 2008.

e.g.

‘Did you notice we had a high tide last night?’

‘There’s something fishy going on around here!’

‘What’s my favorite song? – When the Boat Comes In’

‘They come in useful when inspecting buildings in Morpeth or Carlisle’

17 LIST OF CURRENT THI PROJECTS

Supplied by Alex Smith (North of England Civic Trust)

Bedlington

Contact:

Richard Schofield (Regeneration Officer) Wansbeck District Council Council Offices Front Street Bedlington Northumberland NE22 5TU Tel: 01670 843453 e-mail: [email protected]

Gateshead Bridges

Contact:

Jean Sauvary THI Officer Civic Centre Regent Street Gateshead NE8 1HH Tel: 0191 433 3000

Hartlepool Headland

Contact:

Peter Graves THI Officer Hartlepool Borough Council Department of Environment and Development Bryan Hanson House Hanson Square Hartlepool TS24 7BT Tel: 01429 288043 e-mail: [email protected]

18 North Shields Fish Quay

Contact:

Ian McCaffrey Planning Officer (Conservation) Planning (1st Floor Left) Development Directorate North Tyneside Council Quadrant, The Silverlink North Cobalt Business Park, North Tyneside NE27 0BY Tel: 0191 643 6334 e-mail: [email protected] www.northtyneside.gov.uk

Old Sunderland

Contact:

Mike Lowe Principal Conservation Officer Sunderland City Council Civic Centre Sunderland SR2 7DN Tel: 0191 553 1515 e-mail: [email protected] Completed THI schemes are: Bishop Auckland, Middlesbrough Historic Quarter and Sunniside, Sunderland.

NORTH BRANCH COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2009 – CONTACT DETAILS

Stewart Ramsdale (Chair) Tel. 01287 612349 (office) Tel. 01642 475198 (home) E-mail: [email protected]

Elaine Hogg (Secretary) Design and Conservation Durham County Council County Hall Durham DH1 5UQ Tel. 0191 383 3163 E-mail: [email protected]

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Mike Hein-Hartmann (Treasurer) Tel: 0191 383 3237 E-mail: [email protected]

Geoff Underwood (Branch Council Representative ) Tel: 0191 433 3435 (office) E-mail: [email protected]

John Pendlebury Tel: 0191 222 6810 E-mail: [email protected]

David Lovie Tel: 01665 603 033 Tel: 01665 578 102 E-mail: [email protected]

Ian Goodman Tel. 01670 519391

Graham Darlington Tel: 01539 733333 ext. 346 E-mail: [email protected]

Clare Lacy Tel: 0191 433 3510 E-mail: [email protected]

Ken Hutchinson ( Newsletter Editor with Ian McCaffrey ) Tel. 0191 2528545 E mail : [email protected]

(Ian McCaffrey tel. 0191 6436334 [email protected] )

David Carruthers ( Web site manager ) Tel. 01642 728194 [email protected]

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