The Heritage Alliance says the government’s proposal to levy the full rate of VAT on alterations to listed buildings is a “new tax on community initiative”.
Responding to HM Revenue & Customs’ consultation on the plans, the Alliance which represents 92 heritage organisations said small building projects would struggle to raise the extra 20 per cent needed to pay the tax.
The National Trust believes the zero VAT rating should be retained for alterations to listed buildings owned by charities to help ensure their survival.
Facing widespread public criticism, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said that an extra £30m a year would be given to the listed places of worship grant scheme which makes grants to churches to cover VAT payable on repairs.
Osborne went on to say the money would be used to repay VAT charged on repairs and maintenance.
The Chancellor’s response which favours religious organisations has infuriated the heritage community.
Only places of worship will benefit from Osborne’s “generosity”. Other listed buildings continue to face an uncertain future.
Frederick Tobias Wade, the son of the Rev. Thomas Wade, was born in Ireland.
Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he graduated in 1833 and was ordained two years later. He started his ministry at Runcorn and came to Kidsgrove in 1837 when industrialist Thomas Kinnersley built St. Thomas’s Church in The Avenue.
Designed by Kinnersley’s wife Anna, the church was erected in six weeks. It had a tower which contained a clock and a peel of six bells. The building could accommodate 600 worshippers and the first service was held there on May 7th, 1837.
Frederick’s personality quickly made an impact on Kidsgrove – an industrial town with a high crime rate whose constables were unable to maintain law and order. Colliers spent their wages on drink, turning to theft and poaching to feed their families.
A miner’s life was hard and dangerous. Semi-naked men and women worked together at the coalface. Boys and girls, who could neither read nor write, were harnessed to wagons which they hauled through narrow, rat infested tunnels.
Abandoned by the churches, the miners lived in filth and squalor. They enjoyed prize fighting and gambling. Many were semi-illiterate and Frederick realised he would have an uphill struggle converting them to Christianity.
He persuaded Kinnersley, who owned Clough Hall Collieries and Iron Works, to build a school in The Avenue. Mission halls were opened at Mow Cop and Goldenhill and appeals were launched to build schools and churches in the two villages. North Staffordshire’s most generous philanthropist, Smith Child, endowed the living at Goldenhill and gave it to Frederick, who retained his position at St. Thomas’s.
Recession hit Kidsgrove bringing short time working and unemployment. To prevent the miners being forced to sell their homes and apply for poor relief, Frederick found them employment building a road from The Rookery to Mow Cop.
On February 17th, 1848, he married Emma Cassons. They had four children – Henrietta, Ferdinand, Helen and Evelyn.
Kidsgrove was made a parish in 1852 and Frederick became the vicar.
The school in The Avenue was now too small to accommodate all the children who wanted to attend. Frederick asked Kinnersley for help and he agreed to build new schools.
Designed by Hanley architect Henry Ward, whose other buildings include Bucknall Church and Stoke Town Hall, the new schools were erected in Liverpool Road. Opened in 1854, the single storey Gothic style red brick building with stone facings, which was demolished a few years ago, contained three schools, a boys’ school, a girls’ school and an infants’ school. Each school had accommodation for 80 pupils and there were covered playgrounds where the children could play when it rained.
Frederick remained Vicar of Kidsgrove until 1880 when he was appointed Rector of Tettenhall. He died there aged 75 on March 15th, 1884. His body was brought back to Kidsgrove and buried in the cemetery which overlooked the schools in Liverpool Road
Then put a layer of passata (I use shop bought) in the bottom of a dish. Place a small amount of ragu on an oatcake. Wrap the oatcake round the ragu and place on top of the passata. You can put as many oatcakes as you can eat in the dish. I can usually only manage a couple.
Make a cheese sauce and pour over the top. Grate cheese on top of the sauce and bake in the oven for about 30 mins on 200
Eat and enjoy. Yummy,
Helen
Many thanks for sharing your recipe with us, Helen.
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