In September, as part of our Heritage Event Week, we would like to offer a small number of our members the chance to gain a few tips on photographic composition and subject from a professional photographer. This will not be a technical session but a hands on chance to learn a few ways to improve the photographs you take in the cemetery or elsewhere.  We want to keep this  group small, so if you would be interested to reserve a place please e mail us on   friendsofbec@gmail.com     

We know that many members take photographs in the cemetery and post them on our facebook site or send them to us- so if you would like to improve your photographic composition skills (using SLR,  smart phone or anything in between) contact us now. The session will be on the afternoon of Thursday 16th September in the cemetery.

Members of Brum Bats will be monitoring the Bat activity in Brandwood End Cemetery over the next week, as part of the Batlas Project (Bat atlas) -to create a bat activity map of Birmingham and the Black Country.

Good evening,

The Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery are pleased to confirm that we will holding a number of events in the cemetery during the Heritage Open event period in mid September.

They will include

• A Bat Walk on the 1st September,
• A Historic Tree Walk on the afternoon of the 15th September,
• A chance to be involved in a ‘monument recording session’ with ‘Caring for God’s Acre’ on the morning of the 16th
• A photographic session on the afternoon of the 16th.

…….and finally ,on Sunday the 19th September between 11am and 2pm, The Friends will be around the Lodge with lots of historical information about Brandwood End and those buried there as well as self led trails and activities for younger attendees.

As we get nearer to the event we will post more information and links.

Events | Heritage Open Days

 

Our thanks to David Lewis for his kind donation. David had travelled from Yorkshire to visit his fathers grave on what would have been his 100th Birthday.  He has kindly given us some interesting background that we will shortly share with you all.

Due to financial constraints it would appear that the area adjacent to the Lodge Ramp would remain bare this year instead of full of its usual complement of Geraniums. The friends felt that this was not acceptable as this is a welcome flash of colour as you enter the cemetery, so we decided that we would have to do something about it- at very short notice!

Our first port of call was the Cofton plant nursery where they grow all the plants for the City to use on islands, in parks….and at Chelsea ! What a marvellous place, and our thanks to them for striking a really good deal for the Friends. As you can see above, we came away with a car full.

Our next priority was to plant them as soon as we could, and my thanks go to my husband and grandson who helped me with the task. They are now all in, and well watered (Not easy, as the nearest tap is some distance away ) But looking good now!!  Not sure we can undertake this task twice a year, financially and manpower wise- so lets hope enough people complain to make the city change its mind and see the importance of these plants to everyone’s mental health when they visit cemeteries and parks. Our thanks to Cllr Leddy for popping in to offer support.

Those of you that visit our Civilian Garden of Remembrance, and enjoy its peace and calm can’t fail to have noticed that the Hedge has had a major spurt following our recent downpours. We are not able to cut the hedge at this time as DEFRA and RSPB instructions say that hedges should not be cut during the nesting season (March to September). We know that there are a number of small nests in our mature hedge so we will not be cutting it till the end of the summer. This hedge was planted by local school pupils essentially as way of increasing habitat and biodiversity, and also  to create privacy in the Civilian Garden area. It may look untidy at this time but it is supporting lots of local wildlife.

Our benches  in the garden are in frequent use and showing their age so we have made a decision to have them properly refurbished. At some time this year they will be removed, refurbished and returned but this is a costly experience so we need to make sure that we find the right company to undertake the work.  We welcome quotes via our e mail friendsofbec@gmail.com   There is a photograph of one bench  below. There are a total of 2 benches, both in similar condition. We want the existing finish stripping down and then oiled, not varnished. (To make future maintenance easier.)

Our thanks to Gary Staples, who posts some amazing photographs of Brandwood End. Follow this link for his latest offering or view it on our facebook site.

I guess technically this is a self seeding nuisance, but it does give a beautiful splash of colour!

Quite a few people questioning why we haven’t seen the usual array of geraniums/polyanthus on maintained graves over the last couple of years.  We don’t have an answer !

Such a shame that very little information seemed to have been circulated about Armed Forces Day.

The usual larger events had obviously been cancelled due to Covid restrictions, but it appears that much of the press also failed to highlight the day- which fell yesterday the 26th June. Lets hope that 2022 will see it  more widely in the spot light.

If you follow this link to the Royal British Legion site you will find some interesting and entertaining information.