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Ripon, England newlyweds stop in Ripon
TANKHO1
Newlyweds Matthew Graham and Carol Mosedale of Ripon, England, made a stop at the Tank House gift shop on their honeymoon trip to Yosemite National Park from their home across The Pond. - photo by Photo courtesy Helen Caetano

RIPON — A honeymooning couple from Ripon, England, had to make a courtesy stop in Ripon on their way to Yosemite.  Two of their grandparents Jim and Doreen Spence have held the office of mayor in their native country.

Various branches of the Spense family have been involved in municipal life in Ripon, England, for centuries. 

Matthew Graham, 29, and Carol Mosedale, 30, walked into The Tank House Flower and Gift Shoppe in the 100 block of South Acacia Avenue bringing greetings from their hometown abroad.

Tank House owner Helen Caetano welcomed them with open arms in true Ripon character telling them about the traditional golf tournament held every two years between teams from California and their England community sharing the same name.

The couple was married in the Ripon Cathedral at 1 p.m. on Friday, July 8, by Dean Keith Jukes.  Carol is a practicing lawyer and Matt is in a retail clothing business, Caetano said.  They are making their first home in Yorkshire.

After landing in San Francisco, the couple headed east toward Yosemite making the Ripon detour off of Highway 120.  Walking down Ripon’s Main Street they also visited the library and had lunch at Jake’s Coffee and Sandwich Shop.

Cataeno said she enjoyed the “delightful couple” saying Graham said that the next time he comes to Ripon it just may be as part of the English golf team playing against members of the Spring Creek Country Club.

The shoppe owner said that after they left she chased them down to the library wanting to take their picture.  The couple suggested that they walk back to her gift shoppe and have their photograph taken with the business as a background.