The Friends were pleased to welcome members of the ‘Brighten up Brandwood” team for a morning of Geranium planting and the creation of wild flower meadow tubs. 
The highlight of the event was the installation of a crochet flower mesh to brighten the lodge railings. Our thanks to Valerie and her team. This art work is on loan to us till after the Queens Jubilee celebrations. Thank you everyone!
The Friends and cemetery staff are concerned that a number of apparent animals, possibly killed by traffic on Broad Lane, have been move to cemetery bins.
The Council have a dedicated site to report this issue and they will remove the animal and try and trace the owners if the animal is domesticated and wearing a collar.
This is a sad occurrence but the staff in the cemetery are not responsible for dealing with these animals, which are sometimes left in bins or under hedges. Please report them to the proper department, who actually record all such collections in detail.
The Friends are pleased to announce that we are working with ourscene.org – who are a social enterprise on a mission to offer a change of scenery for those who need one within our Brandwood neighbourhood.
As part of their Brightening Brandwood project they are making and distributing planters in the Brandwood area and we will be receiving three in Brandwood End Cemetery.
Regular visitors will have missed the usual lovely display of Geraniums lining the path to the Lodge on the main drive. Unfortunately BCC are no longer funding this display so the Friends have stepped up and with our funding and the assistance of Our Scene we hope to plant this area later next week. Our Chairman, Julia, has been busy preparing the area- not an easy task when the soil is so dry.
We do hope you have enjoyed reading the research we have posted and we remind you that there are 86000+ graves in Brandwood End, so lots more to do ! We welcome anyone who would like to join us doing long term research.
We also highlighted the gardening and general tidying work that the Friends do- and again we are always welcoming, as an extra pair of hands helps spread the load.
The Friends are always in need of supporters to help with weeding in the Civilian Garden of Remembrance as the two large round beds are now well established and ground cover plants are flourishing but weeds still are an issue. We had a very successful rota but I am afraid most of the volunteers have either moved away or feel physically unable to continue. Weeding there can be done when ever you want but we do need to know before you go for insurance purposes. A text to 07811393259 or an e mail to friendsofbec@gmail.com is equally acceptable. If you would rather work in a group then let us know and we will arrange w work party for a few of us. We hope one of our supporters can help.
A huge thankyou to those that already go above and beyond to assist.
Firefighters Memorial Day will have been marked by a minutes silence at midday today to honour Firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty. Over 2300 such deaths are recorded.
Brandwood End is the resting place of Sydney Charles Tropman who was one of the above number.
As part of National Cemeteries Week we would like to highlight some of his story.
We have over 200 Commonwealth War Graves in Brandwood End but only one of them is remembering a woman. CORPORAL MARY EMILY STEVENS DIED IN 1944 AGED JUST 25. Follow the link to discover more about Mary and also the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) 1939 – 1949.
FBEC – CORPORAL MARY EMILY STEVENS.pdf
Our thanks To David Harop for the photograph of Mary. During our research we are often able to contact relatives and other researchers who kindly share information with us. We also work closely with several local History Groups and individuals who have researched War Graves.
Mary’s grave will be one of the 350+ graves that will receive a Poppy Cross prior to Remembrance Sunday in a project undertaken annual by the Friends and their supporters.
All things political seem to be on the agenda at this time so we thought we would highlight a local politician buried in Brandwood End. His name is probably not known to many but if you read on you may remember ELDRED HARRIS in future.
Our thanks to our member and Historian, Pat Franklin for her input to this article.
FBEC are sharing this historical research as part of National Cemeteries week.
‘When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.’ Kohima Epitaph
24 APRIL 2022
This morning, in beautiful April sunshine and in partnership with the Gallipoli Association, FBEC supported a small gathering to remember all those lost as a result of the ill-fated WW1 Gallipoli Campaign.
This marks the second occasion when a Brandwood End Cemetery Gallipoli/ANZAC Commemoration has taken place and we were particularly delighted to be joined by Councillor Mike Leddy, representing Birmingham City Council.
Councillor Mike Leddy (Birmingham City Council), FBEC Chairman Julia Griffin and Vice Chairman Coral Howard joined John Bartlett (Royal Regiment of Fusiliers), Richard Millington (Warwickshire Yeomanry Association) and Ian Binnie (Gallipoli Association) to lay wreaths at the family grave of Private Horace Turner of 1st Warwickshire Yeomanry who died aged 22 on 30 August 1915 at Suvla Bay. Following the playing of the Last Post a 2 minute silence was observed.
As today was also Orthodox Easter day for both Ukraine and Russia we additionally remembered all those Ukrainians fighting for their freedom and the many thousands who have become casualties.
We will remember them.
The 25th April is Anzac Day. This is not a widely commemorated date in the UK but highly valued in many other countries. If you would like to know more about what Anzac day means to many people then please follow the link below to a short video.
Our thanks to The Gallipoli Association who have invited the Friends to join them at a short Commemorative event on Sunday the 24th April in Brandwood End.