Alan Shelley

Plumpton Alumni of 1957 once again at Tirley, Gloucestershire. It must have been one of those miraculous moments of fate, when us three chums were put in a dormitory room together all those years ago. Youngsters full of enthusiasm, the three of us had been trained in basic farming by a YMCA scheme (BBBF) and the course we then attended at Plumpton College was in general agriculture and estate management. Tony, with his special interest in animals progressed through the…

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AGM 2024 held at the ‘New Club’ ‘Heritage Days’ Launch held at the Bowling Club

To Freemen and Commoners All: WARNING All freemen with heritage lands. The ‘Grey and the Green Belt’ town lands are under speculation by Government for new housing development. I am not scaremongering when I say that there is a serious danger that threatens your lands. All such land will be under review. Be especially cautious and do not get caught napping. Make sure that all deeds and documentary sureties are readily available, and your legal advisers are aware. It is…

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22-24 May 2024 The three “Invincibles” Together again Montacute Curious Tony Tony and Alan Table at Cadbury Court An Honorary Freedom Conveyed by Waltham Abbey The Legend of the Montacute ‘Holy Cross’ The 11th century church and manor of Waltham, Essex (on the foundations of a 7th century wooden church) was held by ‘Tovi the Proud’. The ‘Waltham Chronicle’ relates that at another estate belonging to Tovi, at Montacute near Glastonbury, a blacksmith, following a dream found a large crucifix…

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Reminiscing those special memories of past holidays on the Jurassic Coast in early spring. The view from Eype’s Mouth Hotel Walking up towards the Golden Cap Walking around St Gabriel’s {National Trust) Estate. Symondsbury – A brief History At Domesday the lands were owned by the Abbot of Cerne. The Tithe Barn, built around1440, was the third largest and second oldest Barn in Dorset. Following the Dissolution by Henry VIII, the estate came into the ownership of the Duke of…

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F.E.W Spring Court Meeting at Gloucester 2024

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024 From Robert Tunks, Prime Warden Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths

Photographs by kind permission of Mr Andy Kerry

Alan, Paul and Tony at Well House farmyard, Tirley, Gloucestershire drinking Plumpton Wine. This puts me in mind to addressing ourselves as Tupman, Snodgrass and Winkle of the ‘Plumpton Club’. (after Dickens ‘Pickwick Club’) ‘These Passing Years’ From a beer on a sawdust floor in the Half Moon Pub A trip to Lewes could be great fun, Tony and I, we knew when to run! Or a frothy coffee in a Brighton bar, We now drink fine wines in Tirley,…

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