Author: Jane Edwards

Final Hedgehog Film showing

If you have been supporting our ‘Help for Hedgehogs’ campaign in Brandwood End Cemetery you may know that pupils from St Albans RC Primary and Woodthorpe Primary have been learning how to record this project on film! On Monday the 5th June from 7-8pm we will be showing the results of their efforts at Park House, in Kings Heath Park. The film showing will be accompanied by some hedgehog related activities suitable for all ages and also a few snacks and drinks.If you are coming along can you register via this link to help us with numbers.

 

Hedges and nesting birds!

Those of you that visit the cemetery on a regular basis will know that several years ago the Friends, along with local school pupils, replaced a failing Beech hedge around the Civilian Garden of Remembrance with a biodiversity friendly Hawthorn hedge.

This hedge has matured beautifully and is now home to a diverse selection of insects and birds. A decision has been made by the Friends, following horticultural advice, that this hedge should now not be cut during the nesting season as that could represent a contravention of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, protecting nesting birds.

We will undertake a ‘heavier’ cut later in the year to reduce height and width etc.

New Tree Trail

Tomorrow represents the start of research work, by the Committee of FBEC,  to design and produce a new ‘Tree Walk’ leaflet for Brandwood End.

It is several years since our original tree walk, which has been extensively used- but some of the included trees have fallen foul of the wind or disease and we felt it was time to feature trees across a wider area of the cemetery.

Once we have decided on the trees to be included and the format we will then have to bid for funding to produce a leaflet, so watch this space! (Or of course you could sponsor this project!)

 

Update-From Brownhills to Brandwood: Thomas William James and the Pity of War

Some of you may remember that our committee member, Barrie Simpson, and others were making efforts to get official recognition for Thomas William James.

We have included a link to the Official site which details, at length, the history behind these efforts. It is a long but extremely interesting  story……but everyone’s efforts have been rewarded!

Memorial Safety Testing.

We have been informed by Bereavement Services Department that the safety testing of Memorials is due to be restarted and will focus on Sections 35,36,37 and 38

Notification signs have been erected in all the above areas. They have asked us to remind Grave Owners/next of kin, that they should advise the office in Kings Norton Cemetery, by written letter (As signatures will be checked with original deeds) if they have changed address.

Unfortunately many people omit to update addresses when they move, so advising them of any safety work required to their relative’s grave is impossible. This often results in upset as when they do visit the grave they find that  safety issues have resulted in the ‘staking’ or  ‘laying down’ of the Headstone.

PLEASE CONTACT KINGS NORTON CEMETERY IF YOU HAVE CHANGED ADDRESS and are responsible for a grave in Brandwood End, especially in the Sections mentioned above.

Members attend AGM……and eat loads of beautiful home made cake!

On behalf of FBEC can we thank the members that gave up their time to attend our Annual AGM. Yet again we had a good supply of home made cake, which was consumed following the formal meeting- when members had the opportunity to chat to the committee.

Following the election of committee members, the elected committee is as follows:

Officers Chairman- Jane Edwards (Also acting as Secretary). Vice Chairman- Coral Howard, Treasurer and Membership Secretary- Julian Pritchard.

Committee Members- Barrie Simpson, Philip Brown, Carola Klein, Adrian Harris , Julia Griffin, Sarah Courbet, Brian Rai, Nicola Clarke (Idverde).

FBEC Annual AGM

The Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery will be holding their annual AGM on Thursday 13th April in the Conference Room at St Dunstans Church, Kings Heath. 10.30 start. Tea and coffee plus cake will be available! Everyone welcome. At the AGM a report on the Friends activities during the past year will be available and the Treasurer will submit a copy of the accounts.

Great turn out for Jasmin Fields Nature Reserve Litter Pick.

Jasmin Fields Nature Reserve lies just across Broad Lane from the Cemetery site and as a Friends Group we always try and work together. Today was no exception as they held a litter pick and 16 people worked all morning to clear everyday litter and also larger items resulting from recent dredging of the Cole brook which runs through the site.

Several  FBEC members are also members of the Friends of Jasmin Fields, which is a much smaller group than we are, so we were very pleased to see such a good turn out and such a lot of rubbish removed.

 

The Great British Spring Clean

Ten volunteers joined together today to carry out the usual quarterly ‘Litter Pick’ in Brandwood End Cemetery. This Spring we are yet again taking part in the Keep Britain Tidy campaign and their theme is ‘The Great British Spring Clean’

Between everyone- 22 bags of litter were collected ! The bag numbers were higher than usual as storm Dorris had managed to whip lots of flower paper across the site! We started at 10am and drew to a close at 11.30am when a Birmingham City Council bin lorry arrived (bang on time) to take all our collected rubbish away!

Our thanks to all our volunteers (even our tiny new member) for coming along to support this event. The sun shone throughout, so it was a lovely morning and enjoyed by everyone.