The Friends are members of Birmingham Heritage Forum who provide a wonderful leaflet highlighting many of the Heritage sites that you can visit in Birmingham. We have included a link to their ‘flip book’ version below and a permanent link will appear in our ‘useful information’ page.
Author: Jane Edwards
Tree Planting event
On the 9th of February at 10am the Friends will be joined on site by the Forest School pupils from St Augustine’s RC Primary School to plant 15 new mature standard trees in the cemetery. We will be supported by Bereavement Services Ground Staff, Birmingham Tree People, Deutsche Bank and our regular Gardening Volunteers. Watch this site for a report on the day.
Grave Gardeners cancelled
Due to safety concerns with rain and wet shrubbery we have CANCELLED TODAY’S GRAVE GARDENING SESSION. Sunday 18th January.
Volunteer Gardeners
Gosh where does the time go? A month has passed and the Volunteer Grave Gardeners are back in the cemetery this Sunday the 18th January. Why not come along and join them? 11am till 12.30pm
Take Care in the cemetery
The weather may be improving but the pathways are still very slippery and dangerous in the cemetery so do take great care if you have to visit.
We would suggest that you wait till the snow and cold weather has gone but we know that there are many people who visit regularly irrelevant of the weather, so please take care.
There is an additional hazard because of the heavy weight of snow and ice on branches has which has meant that some trees have shed branches and the increased wind hasn’t helped. Also with the thaw large sections of snow are falling from high branches.
Join our Friendly Gardening Volunteers?
Come and join our Grave Gardeners as they help to clear years of shrubbery shrouding graves. WE ARE A small friendly group who chat whilst WE work ,where you can do as much or as little as you want.
Sunday January 18th ,Saturday February 21st .Saturday March 14th
Meet by the Lodge on the main drive at 11am. Generally we finish by 12.30pm.
We have the tools, gloves etc but you will need stout footwear and suitable clothing. A kneeler may be useful.
So many positive comments
Who would have thought that these wonderful ‘trees’ would attract such a wave of love. Well done to Valerie for creating something that has obviously touched peoples hearts!
Seasons Greetings to all our supporters
The Friends and the cemetery have had a wonderful year with many more volunteers than in previous years, mainly working on our special 20th Anniversary Grave Revealing and Recording Project. Nearly every month in 2025 our volunteers contributed in excess of 120 hours between them, which is the equivalent to 3 full time additional ground staff.
The photographs below show just a few of the volunteers (community and corporate groups) that have pitched in to clear shrubs, take photographs, create data bases, litter pick, marshall events, lead walks, plant trees, liaise with schools, apply for grants, research, honour the fallen and generally keep the community involved and informed.
We can’t forget Bereavements Service staff both on the ground and in Kings Norton office. Without their co operation we would not be able to achieve as much as we do.
Seasons Greetings to you all and let’s hope that 2026 is as productive as 2025 has been.
AVOVE volunteers battle wind and rain to clear a coppice area.
Despite the warning of bad weather we were joined by volunteers from AVOVE in an attempt to clear a large coppice area that was covering a number of graves.
You can see the coppice that lies behind the volunteers and the outline of a number of graves hidden within the shrubbery. When the team arrived there was none of the predicted wind but the drizzle soaked through your clothes! That drizzle later became torrential rain, but the team were determined to clear the whole coppice.
As you can see by the photograph below, they totally cleared the coppice and uncovered lots of graves that had been hidden for many years.
Carol Service a success!
What a wonderful afternoon we had in Brandwood End as we were joined, for another Christmas Carol Service, by the Choir of St Albans R C Primary School.
The rain stayed away and the temperature was just right to enable the choir to sing with gusto. We had some lovely traditional carols and some more modern ones- with innovative additions!
Our thanks to all the pupils and staff for starting off Christmas for everyone again this year. This is becoming an annual event!!