Author: Jane Edwards

Civilian Garden Hedge Tamed.

Once again we are indebted to the BCC Grounds Maintenance team who have undertaken a major reduction in the height and bulk of our hedge surrounding the Civilian Garden of Remembrance. Not only do we not have the equipment or man power to carry out this task, we don’t have the ability to remove the resulting shrubbery. It was important that this cut back was completed well before birds started nesting, so thank you again Paul’s team !

Spring is on the way!

One day is beautiful and the next is really dismal ! This is a British Winter and we all long for signs of Spring. This week in the cemetery we have had a couple of hints that Spring is on the way.

The Woodpeckers in the cemetery have started hammering out ownership of certain areas ready for the mating season. In Brandwood End we are blessed with both Spotted and Green (ground loving) Woodpeckers.

If you keep your eyes peeled you will also spot some of the hardy Snowdrops the Friends planted !

Seasons Greetings and thank you all.

Our sincere thanks for all the help we have received from members and supporters over the last year. We would not have been able to undertake many of the projects without your support, financially and physically.

This year has been wonderful with projects being supported by so many different sections of the community from Corporate groups to individuals.  We have welcomed Josie Wall on board as a member of BCC, tasked with supporting Cemetery Friends Groups and much more ! Members of the public and staff from AVOVE have worked hard to remove large areas of Holly on graves and shrubbery in one section of the Cemetery, we have led walks , Josie has offered on line talks via Caring for Gods Acre and we have taken part in Heritage Open events.

  Supporters have gardened, litter picked, provided planters and seeds, crocheted fantastic themed displays by the Lodge, spent hours recording memorial inscriptions, arranged to refurbish benches, searched for graves, supported our Remembrance Service, provided historical information and generally worked along side us to make 2022 a fantastically busy year. No let up yet as lots planned for 2023! Thank you all again but a special thank you to my Poppy Project team and the other organisations that have shared their research with us. Apologies if I have missed you out but I thought this list was worth recording.

Caring for God’s Acre, Balsall Heath History Society, Kings Heath History Group, Mat Felkin (BARRA), AVOVE, Severn Trent, Our Scene CIC (Brightening Brandwood), Ian Binni (Gallipoli Assn),  Lukas (Natural History Museum) Josie Wall and Birmingham Bereavement Services Department…..and especially Tony and the Ground Staff Team and our Patrons.

Looking forward to 2023 and the exciting things we will be planning.

 

 

 

Great turn out for final litter pick of 2022

We were heartened to be joined by 13 supporters of FBEC in our final litter pick of 2022, especially when it would have been inviting to have stayed in the warm and dry! December days seem to be bright and sunny or dull and dank- today was the latter.

The total collection of 18 bags, again mainly windblown flower paper, took some finding under hedges and behind gravestones. It was noticeable today that there were many artificial flowers blown around the cemetery or redeployed and nibbled/pecked by squirrels and crows. Please do check your family graves, as we try to pop the newer flowers back on graves but have no idea where they have blown from so it could be that we have placed them on other graves nearby. Apologies, but they really do need to be secured against wind, Squirrel and Muntjac attack !

Thanks again to our volunteers.

Last Litter Pick of 2022

        LAST LITTER PICK OF 2022

        SUNDAY 4TH DECEMBER

        10AM TILL 11.30PM

We have the litter pickers, we have the bags, all we need is the manpower. This is our last chance to get all the windblown litter that the spring shrub growth will cover.

Meet at the Lodge.(Under 16 must be accompanied by an adult) 

Stout shoes and gloves recommended.

Remembrance Service 2022

What an amazing turn out we had today for this annual Remembrance Service. Our new Bugler did us proud and so did the Flag Bearers from all three sections of 148th St Dunstans Scout Group. We were privileged to have an increased number of organisations laying wreaths this year.

  • Local area City Councillor
  • BCC Cemetery Staff
  • West Midlands Police Local Neighbourhood Team
  • West Midlands Fire Service Heritage Group
  • A representative of the local Freemasons Lodge
  • The Gallipoli Association
  • Representatives of the local Mercian Regiment
  • Representative of the Catholic Womens League
  • FBEC
  • Representatives of 148th St Dunstans Scouts, Cubs and Beavers.

This link will take you to our photo album, where I have tried to incorporate all the photographs shared to our ‘facebook’ page by those who attended, as I know many of you won’t have access to these.  I have also included a few below.

Despite this being a solemn occasion, there was great interest after the service in the helmet of one of our wreath layers!

Our thanks to everyone that attended, especially to those that travelled a distance.