Author: Jane Edwards

Looking Back……2006

I just came across the photograph below, taken at the time of a ‘podcast’, and thought our longer serving members may like to be reminded of the stalwart support that the Friends received from two of our founder members, Anne Courbet and Barrie Simpson.

Sadly, Barrie is no longer with us but even though Anne has moved away, she is still very active in her support of the Friends.

Note the sad condition of the chapel roof above and how it looks now. This does show how far we have come to improve the condition of this building.

 

Tree re-cycled to help local charity.

Lovely to see this ‘wishes’ tree at Kings Norton cemetery in aid of  ‘Matt’s Mission’, a local registered charity founded in 2011 and dedicated to granting wishes to children with life threatening illnesses, recovering from a life threatening illness, have a severe disability, and also offering siblings support and counselling.

The tree is a ‘self setter’ removed from a grave in Brandwood End….so no waste!

If you are visiting Kings Norton, why not call into the office reception and support this worthy cause?

Thank you to all our collaborators.

This Web site and our Facebook page always receive so many interesting and positive stories and comments about Brandwood End Cemetery.

We are so excited to realise that many other people are as fascinated by the varied interesting aspects of the cemetery as we are.

A special thank you to Gary Staples and Andrew Thornton for sharing their photographs and research with the Friends. With contributions from  Balsall Heath Local History Society, Moseley History Society and members of Kings Heath Local History Society we are now amassing a great archive of information featuring those, less well known but none the less important people who are buried or remembered in Brandwood End. Thank you all for sharing.

Tree Information

For those of you who have an interest in trees, these are the latest editions to the cemetery…….

10 standards:

2 x Malus baccata ‘Street Parade’ (crab apple)

2 x Quercus palustris (Pin oak)

2 x Liquidambar styraciflua Worplesdon (Sweet gum)

2 x Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip tree)

2 x Prunus ‘Accolade’ (Flowering cherry)

Look them all up on the magnificent ‘google’- they are all really beautiful and interesting trees.

What a wet, wet, wet Tree Planting.

Year 6 pupils from St Albans R C Primary took part in a fantastic tree plant in the Cemetery today and despite the rain….a good time was enjoyed by all. Our thanks to Birmingham Trees for Life for organising this planting event, to replace some of the aged ‘Poplars’ felled recently.

Birmingham Trees for Life had lots of assistance today as they were joined by the Lord-Lieutenant of the West Midlands- John Crabtree and his wife, who came well prepared to plant alongside the pupils.

Our local Councillor, Mike Leddy, popped along and  a gaggle of Tree Officers also made an appearance!!

Our thanks to everyone at BTFL for continuing with this tree replacement project and the Tree Officers, local Ranger Dean and BCC Woodland Team for making this all possible. Following the event everyone enjoyed a ‘warm up’ in the Lodge with drinks and biscuits.

As they made their way back to school, Ranger Dean led a short Tree Walk for pupils with lots of interesting information. Despite the miserable weather we all had a lovely morning and the cemetery now has 10 more interesting standard trees along its boundary.

Our thanks to Bereavement Services staff and the ‘Friends’ who also supported this event.

 

Tree Planting with Birmingham Trees for Life

Lets hope the weather is dry for us this Wednesday 27th as we will be welcoming Birmingham Trees for Life and pupils from St Albans R C Primary School to plant yet another 10 trees in Brandwood End Cemetery.

Last year we sadly lost a number of large Poplar Trees from one of our boundary areas but with the help of Birmingham Trees for Life we are slowly replacing them with more suitable species.

 

 

Dry and sunny for 2019 Remembrance Event

Today’s Remembrance event was very well attended. Representatives of West Midlands Police, West Midlands Fire Service, Local Councillors, The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB), the Catholic Women’s League, FBEC and members of the local Beaver Pack all laid Wreaths at the Cross of Sacrifice.

Deacon David Fairbotham gave a short thought provoking Service of Remembrance and the Wreath Laying was preceded by a Bugler and 2 minutes silence.

 

Everyone then processed down the main Drive to the WW1 Memorial, where further wreaths were laid.

Our thanks to everyone that attended this event. We have collected a few photographs via this link should you wish to see more.

 

 

Wet, but colourful Tree Walk !

Ranger, Dean Paul, led a Tree Walk through the cemetery today despite the heavy rain.

Considering how cold and wet it was there was a good turn out of 11 hardy individuals, but the weather didn’t detract from the glorious colours displayed by the trees and the knowledge imparted by Dean.

We also spotted some amazing fairy rings of fungi.