Members of FBEC Committee manned a stall at the recent monthly Kings Norton Farmers Market to promote much needed membership of The Friends.
Surrounded by scrumptious food of all descriptions it was great to meet people who were interested in Brandwood Cemetery and those that weren’t even aware of this incredibly beautiful open space.
The weather was kind and the event really helped the Friends raise awareness of this beautiful Cemetery.
Brandwood End Cemetery made the news this week as the grand daughter of P J Evans searched the country for his grave…..and guess where she found it? Brandwood End Cemetery!
The P J Evans name was well known to Brummies and associated with the motor trade but did you know that Percy J Evans won the Isle of Man TT Race? In 1911 two races were held on the Mountain course. The Junior was won by P J Evans on a Humber at 41.45 mph and the Senior by Oliver Godfrey on an Indian at 47.63 mph. Evans set the fastest lap in his race at 42.00 mph and Frank Phillips (Scott) the fastest Senior at 50.11 mph.
A replica of the TT trophy originally adorned his memorial stone but over the years this has gone missing. Does anyone out there have any idea where it went?
Carvings on an old tree at Jasmin Fields Nature Reserve taken from designs by children from St Albans School.
On April 14th we held our annual AGM which was attended by a number of our local members. After the formal meeting Jim Thomson,Director of Teleshore (UK Ltd), gave a short talk about memorial safety and he was accompanied by Richard Smith of Memsafe.
The Elected Officers for the coming year are:
Chairman: Anne Courbet
Vice Chairman: Barrie Simpson
Treasurer: Julian Pritchard
Secretary: Jane Edwards
A copy of our annual report will follow soon. Why not subscribe to this page to get automatic updates?
Want to learn more about the cemetery’s environment? Two of FBEC Committee members have created a ‘Tree Walk’ around the cemetery for your enjoyment.
When the late Victorians created this urban cemetery for the spreading suburbs of Birmingham, it was to be a place not only for burials but for people to visit and appreciate the environment. It was not unusual for Victorian and then the Edwardian families to dress up in their Sunday finest, and following a visit to a loved one’s resting place to then enjoy a walk along the tree lined drives. You will be amazed at the variety of trees which were planted over a hundred years ago to create this extremely restful environment.
Now the tree walk is available in leaflet form from the holder, beneath our notice board, opposite the Lodge.
Early in 2009 we reported that one of our latest projects was to produce a new feature to the Cemetery by the planting of spring flowers along the main drive.
We planted some 14,000 spring bulbs, in various locations along both sides of the main drive, from the Superintendent’s Lodge down to the bottom of the drive at the Broad Lane gate.
The local squirrels certainly enjoyed the project as we found out to our cost – following us around as we planted bulbs they dug them up!
However, the majority survived and we do hope that you enjoyed the first showing of these spring flowers in 2009, which will now hopefully be a permanent feature to the cemetery for the years to come.
Now we have to see if the project has stood the test of time, and of course the squirrels, and we look forward to another lovely display in the Spring of 2010 – not too far away now!!