Cynthia Moseley of Coleorton
St Mary's Christmas Tree festival, 2004
Cynthia Moseley passed away in September 2023.
Back in 2004 St Mary’s Church were busy with a 3-day Christmas Tree Festival with 36 trees bedecked by various local groups and businesses brightening up the Church, culminating in a carol service attended by 150 local people. Cynthia, leader of the social committee, was delighted with the efforts of her team and the participants; almost £500 was raised for the Rainbows Hospice.
Cynthia was a stalwart of church and social life at Coleorton. Elaine Oldham remembers:
During the 70s/80s our children were in the choir where the choir seats were occupied by men, women and children led by Cynthia as leader and organist. She was a "doer." The whole Moseley family played a part in Church life including the children, David and Heather. John, her husband, was a Church Warden. Cynthia and John were among the key parishioners and fundraisers for St Mary`s [see pages 35/38/39 in the book, Memories of Coleorton].and she fought to keep the access to St Mary`s within the Hall grounds open.
Garden parties were held at The Dairy on Moor Lane, known for its beautiful shrub, wisteria climbing over its walls. John was a keen gardener and their garden was open to the public in the National Garden Scheme for more than twenty years and in doing so Cynthia and John raised thousands of pounds for many charities including the Church.
I only got to know Cynthia in her last years living at The Dairy on Moor Lane. We got talking one day when I was out walking and she was gardening outside. This was not long after her husband died and I suggested she might like to come to the Beaumont Trust coffee mornings at The Angel Inn to meet some of her old friends.
We met for coffee from time to time and she showed me a lot of photos and programmes of Church events and documents about her house to copy for the Heritage Group. We talked a lot about her life, Coleorton and people that she knew. I had the impression that she wasn't fond of the more modern services that were being adopted by St Marys and she transferred to Thringstone church, where she still occasionally played the organ.
From 2005 to 2017 Cynthia was musical director of Coalville Male Voice Choir.
Cynthia had some long-term health issues that meant her visiting Leicester General a couple of times a week - but she still drove herself there. She was getting more frail, however, and moved to live with her daughter in Oxfordshire.
Sandra Dillon