Author: Jane Edwards

Brandwood End Cemetery Lodge for hire

Superintendent's Lodge at Brandwood End Cemetery
Superintendent’s Lodge at Brandwood End Cemetery about to undergo a facelift

Following its internal facelift Brandwood End Cemetery Lodge is now available for use by community groups. The lodge is situated just within the Cemetery grounds at Woodthorpe Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 6EQ.

The lodge building is available Monday – Friday between the hours of 9.00 – 4.00 in the summer opening 1 May – 30 Sept and Monday – Friday between the hours of 9.00 – 3.30pm in the winter opening 1 Oct – 30 April.

The cost to hire the ground floor which provides three meeting rooms is £17.00 per hour. There is no restrictions to the times booked, however if the usage is less than an hour the minimum fee of £17.00 will be charged.

Booking of the lodge is subject to suitable usage in keeping with the surroundings of the Cemetery all enquires to Kings Norton Cemetery, Longdales Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham B38 9BU. Tel: 0121 303 5583

If any interested parties would like to view the facilities then this can be arranged

 

Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress visit Jasmin Fields

Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery joined other members of New Vision at an ‘Explore Jasmin Fields’ event last Saturday.  A similar event last summer was completely drowned out so we were dismayed when we started to set up in rain and wind! The wind was so strong that one or our gazebos briefly became a kite……but the wind soon dropped and the rain cleared and by starting time we had very acceptable weather.

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We were very pleased that the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress came along to open the event and stayed most of the morning. The Ranger Service and the Friends of Jasmin Fields, supported by New Vision, had arranged a circular walk of the nature reserve, pond dipping, cake icing, badge making, bike repairs and advice on security by the Neighbourhood Policing Team. The event gave local groups, including FBEC, the opportunity to make residents more aware of their activities and to enlist members for future events. Everyone agreed to had been a real success and well worth the effort by the volunteers.

If you have an interest in any of the local groups, especially Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery, please contact us via this site and we will add you to our e mail list to be advised of anything happening in our local community group areas. We all need your support at our events and it is so good to see local people interested in any of our sites.

Hedge gets first serious cut!

Those of you that follow this blog will know that just over a year ago pupils from St Albans Catholic Primary School joined Friends and volunteers to replace an ailing hedge around the Civilian Garden of Remembrance with a new hawthorn hedge.This peaceful area had been abandoned for many years until The Friends, with lottery support, restored it to a restful place to sit and enjoy. Initially we had surrounded the area with a beech hedge but the soil, being clay and waterlogged much of the year, did not support this species, so a major plan was put in place to replace it with a more tolerant hawthorn hedge.

20130811_15403020130811_154043This hedge has thrived and grown and had begun to look unruly, despite occasional trimming, so this weekend it had its first serious ‘cut’ and we are pleased to say it looks fantastic. This will only be its second winter coming up and already it is starting to look like a well established hedge.  I think you will agree from the photo’s above that the area looks inviting and is well cared for volunteers from FBEC.

If you feel you could help us at all with this ongoing task of weeding etc please contact us via our web site. Many hands make light work and there is always something to do.

 

Safety measures completed.

Some time ago we reported the concern of members that the exit from the Broad Lane gate of the cemetery was potentially dangerous as there was no pavement and you stepped into fast moving traffic. FBEC  arranged with local Councillors to have the road marked outside both the public and the Jewish gates, to warn vehicles that there were  hidden exits within the hedge line.

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Following our request to the Cemetery Superintendent we are pleased to say that a warning sign has been placed close to the exit so all pedestrians are now aware of the danger. Our thanks go to those who drew this to our attention and also for the assistance of the local Councillor and Bereavements staff for addressing this issue

Local community activity event -17 August

The Friends of Jasmin Fields Nature Reserve, supported by New Vision, are holding a local event to encourage residents to become members of local Friends Groups and support their community.  The event will run from 11am till 1pm on Saturday the 17th August on the main field area of Jasmin Fields, which can be accessed from Jasmin Croft or Bayston Rd, Kings Heath.

Misc 013The Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery will be at the event to encourage people to support their cause, along with other local groups.

The Neighbourhood Policing Team will be security marking bikes and running repairs will be available from ‘Bike Fixers’

The Ranger service will be stream dipping and bug hunting and members of Jasmin Fields Friends will be leading a walk around the site and the canal area.  If you want to be sporty, Billesley Tennis Centre will be holding some activities and there will be various crafts for children to get involved in. There will also be a wood carver demonstrating her skills. Hopefully lots of local people will attend and all our groups will benefit from new members.

Local school children enjoy the cemetery trees!

Before the end of the summer term, pupils from Woodthorpe Junior and Infant school joined members of the Friends to investigate our ‘Tree Walk’ as part of their ECO week. The pupils, accompanied by members of staff, collected leaves and cones and did leaf and bark rubbings.20130722_111804 The school hopes to be working with us again in the Autumn term on a number of small projects. Woodthorpe has a newly instated Forest School area and a keen ECO group and the children were very enthusiastic and entered into the spirit of the activity despite occasional slight drizzle.

Brightening up the Lodge

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Parks staff were busily planting geraniums around the perimeter of the Lodge to brighten up the beds. Along with every gardener they are finding that all their bedding plants are late this year but hopefully they will create a splash of colour in the next few weeks.

Safety First at Broad Lane entrance

As those of you who use Brandwood End Cemetery regularly will know, making an exit via the Broad Lane gate often means taking your life in your hands. As you exit the cemetery you are obscured by hedge row and then immediately on the road with no pavement.This meant that speeding traffic approaching from the right had no way of knowing you were there!

After discussions with local Councillors and Bereavements department we are pleased to say that the ‘road’ side of the gate on Broad Lane has now been marked with white lines to highlight the exit from the main gate and also the Jewish gate to road users.

Bereavements department will also be fitting a sign within the cemetery as you approach the gate to warn pedestrians of the danger. Road Marking

Thank you to our members that drew this to our attention and the Councillors and Birmingham City Council Bereavements department for supporting our request.

Hobbits and crafts!

The New Vision Community Board made its first appearance off site at the Middle Earth Weekend at the Shire Country Park (Sarehole Mill). Many people stopped to ask questions about the Brandwood End Cemetery and we hope, as a result we will see some new members to our already growing group. Please do think about joining The Friends (There is information on how to do this on our site). There is always strength in numbers and more members lead to more ideas as to how we can work with BCC to retain and improve the quality of this magical cemetery site.