Category: Community

Heritage Open Events

The Friends will be taking part in Heritage Open Week and here are a few dates for your diary.

Saturday September 10th– Join us in the Civilian Garden of Remembrance to find out more about this area and why it was built by BCC 70 years ago and refurbished by the Friends. Learn more about who is buried there and why.

We will also have self guided grave tour maps and a trail of painted stones for the younger visitors.

Wednesday 14th September-join volunteers  to help record the inscriptions on memorials for posterity, as well as giving you an insight to those buried beneath and the etiquette at that time. This event will be led by Caring for God’s Acre and booking will be available via Eventbrite nearer the time or by e mail to   friendsofbec@gmail.com 

Friday 16th September– Take a stroll with our Chairman, Julia Griffin and Val Hart from the Balsall Heath Society to visit a number of graves with a connection to Balsall Heath. You dont have to have lived in that area to find the lives of those buried within are of real interest. Please e mail us direct to book a place as we have limited space.  friendsofbec@gmail.com

Avoid the risk of Fires in Brandwood End.

Just a timely reminder that, as was recently seen in a cemetery down south, cemeteries are not immune to raging fires in this heat.  Brandwood End is tinder dry.  Broken glass and shiny objects can concentrate the sun and start fires in this heat.  Please take care what you leave near/on your family grave. An empty/broken glass object can be enough to start a fire .

We have noticed the occasional candle in a jar- please dont do this! Animals knock them over. Normally just a broken jar ensues, but at the moment this could cause a serious fire threatening not just the beautiful cemetery but nearby properties.

Please think before you leave any reflective item at this time.  Take care and Thankyou.

Tantalising information.

Those of you that follow a series on Chanel 5 called ‘Planes that won the War’ will have seen, in the episode screened on the 1st of July, the story of 8 Air man who lost their lives when their Lancaster  crashed into ‘Ben Eighe’, a mountain in Scotland. The crash site was very remote, and still is.

One of those lost, their Navigator, lived very locally and is  buried in Brandwood End. We hope to feature his story in the near future, so watch this space.

Should any of his relatives read this, please contact us at friendsofbec@gmail.com as we would love to know more.

 

Shout out for help at Jasmin Fields.

Jasmin Fields Nature reserve lies just across Broad Lane from the Cemetery and we try and support each other when we can. The Chinnbrook runs through their site and along with wetland comes Himalayan Balsam- a pretty but invasive plant.

This Sunday the 19th June at 2pm there will be a work party to help remove as much as we can. Thankfully it is easy to remove and the only kit required is stout footwear….and gloves.

Meet at the Farm gate in Bayston Avenue facing Kinsey Grove

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Commonwealth War Grave area progresses.

Those of you that follow our posts will know that several months ago the Commonwealth War Graves Commission  re laid new turf in a small War Grave area adjacent to the main drive. This area is home to 8 of our 352 War Graves. Why these 8 are here together no one seems to know. Bereavements are mystified and so are the CWGC. The refreshing of this area has continued with the grass now lush and  the addition of new perennial flowers at the foot of each stone. Looking good.

Stirchley baths..

Well not exactly. We had a great welcome at Stirchley History Group as we gave a talk in the former ‘baths’ building…. Now a community hub. We look forward to seeing everyone again, maybe at one of our events.

 

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!00 years of the Poppy

5 June 1922 – 5 June 2022

Over 100 years the Poppy has evolved but remains an enduring symbol of Remembrance and hope for a peaceful future.

Red poppies have been worn as a show of support for the Armed Forces community since the formation of The Poppy Factory in 1922.  The Charity was founded by Major George Howson MC, a British Army officer who was awarded the Military Cross in 1917. George Howson’s vision was to provide employment for veterans injured during the First World War.:

The Royal British Legion wanted to buy Remembrance poppies made in Britain and George Howson proposed that the poppies should be made by disabled war veterans in the United Kingdom.   The Legion agreed and in May 1922 it gave Howson £2,000 to establish a poppy making factory.

The first poppy factory opened on 5th June 1922 in two rooms at Mitchell’s collar factory near Old Kent Road, South London.

In a normal year, 40,000 collectors with tins sell more than 35million poppies and raise around £50million for the British Legion charity.

 

100 years of history – The Poppy Factory it