We are so pleased to be welcoming St Albans pupils back again to the cemetery for a short burst of Christmas Carols. This will be their 3rd visit and we hope this tradition continues for years to come!
Please come and support the choir on December 10th at 2pm in the Civilian Garden area, near Broad Lane gate on the main drive.
Twelve Deutsche Bank staff and four FBEC volunteers worked all day to clear several large areas of established self set trees and shrubs on one of the sections in the cemetery. It’s a slow process but we are making headway in the cemetery. It is a little like the Forth Road Bridge as we are sure it grows back almost as fast as we remove it, however much of the shrubbery removed has been in place for many, many years and will only return as ”low level.
The photograph below gives you an idea of the size of coppice/shrubbery we were tackling. If you would like to see more, follow this link.
The larger trees are left as the aim is purely to make access to all graves possible. Often the lower branches may be removed if the tree is well established. Below you can see the area above after clearance.
Many hands make this process easier and so much faster. 2 areas like this and some smaller spots were cleared in todays work.
Deutsche Bank volunteers join FBEC members in a 2 minutes silence at the Cross of Sacrifice today before continuing with their grave clearance task.
The rain stayed away but the public came. Over 180 members of the public and representatives of the City Council, West Midlands Police, the Heritage Fire Service, West Midlands Ambulance Service, 202 (multirole) Regiment and many other organisations laid wreaths at the Cross of the Sacrifice on the main drive. Members of St Dunstans Scout, Cub and Beaver sections both made and laid their own wreaths and presented their colours. Our thanks to everyone who attended.
Our thanks again to Deacon David Fairbotham for his thoughtful words and Trumpeter Pete Haw for his magnificent rendition of the Last Post and Reveille.
Reminder to our lovely team of gardeners. the next Grave Gardening Session is this Saturday the 8th November .Meet at the lodge at 11am.
Why not join us for some chat and a workout?
A small team of Nat West staff made a huge impression on two areas where graves have been hidden for years.
Well done to them as they achieved a lot in their day with us. Lets look forward to their next visit.
This years REMEMBRANCE SERVICE will take place in Brandwood End Cemetery on
Sunday 9th November at 10.45am
Deacon David Fairbotham will lead a short service. This will be followed by the laying of Wreaths by local Councillors, WM Police, Fire Service and other organisations, at the Cross of Sacrifice on the main drive and also at the WW1 memorial.
CWGC have recently installed two headstones in Birmingham for previously non-commemorated First World War casualties. Sadly, there was no response to the appeal for relatives to come forward.
Signalman Scrivens at Birmingham (Lodge Hill) Cemetery, Private Bentley at Birmingham (Brandwood End) Cemetery.
Private Bentley will now be included in the Poppy Cross for every Grave project in Brandwood End Cemetery, which aims to place a poppy cross on those lost due to enemy action. This project includes Military personnel and Civilian bombing victims. Volunteers will be placing over 360 crosses during the next 2 week,
The Friends would like to give a shout out to our volunteers that have done the usual seasonal oiling of our benches in the Civilian Garden area on the main drive. Can we also highlight the grass in that area, which is box cut and keeps this burial area looking amazing- as you can see in the photograph below. Thanks also to Ray for trimming the top of the hedge. Many hands make light work…….or Civilian Gardens beautiful!
We also spotted the great design on the entrance lawn. Well done to whoever was on the ride on mower that day!
We understand that the cemetery has now had its final cut for the winter.
Good news this week as contractors have undertaken some resurfacing of the roadway adjacent to sections 32-38.
It is good to see that these repairs were not the usual patching but full replacement of the uneven surface.
