Back in November 2019 pupils from nearby St Albans RC Primary planted lots of new trees, alongside staff from Birmingham Trees for Life. If you visit you will see how they are thriving. This magnificent specimen is a Sweet Gum.
Category: Community
Startling Cemetery Photographs.
Gary Staples takes some amazing photographs in Brandwood End and has kindly agreed that we can feature them on our site. He uses many enhancement techniques, often producing 3D photographs! Take a look at our facebook site to see lots of these!
Remembrance Service arrangements 2020
Please pass this information to anyone who would normally attend our annual Remembrance event.
The Friends deeply regret that in these strange times we are not able to hold our usual Remembrance event as we often have in excess of 100 attendees, which under Covid restrictions would not be allowed.
An alternative arrangement has been agreed, details of which are listed below.
All Brandwood End cemetery gates will remain closed to the public till 11.30am, to allow for a service and the private laying of wreaths at the Cross of Sacrifice. All the usual organisations will be invited. The cemetery gates will then be open to the public from 11.30am (after the service) till-5pm, for anyone wishing to visit family graves or pay their respects at the Cross of Sacrifice.
These arrangements follow discussions with Bereavement Service staff and we agreed on a compromise. We need to protect the public but also acknowledge the importance of the day.
Can we thank you for your understanding and trust that you will all return in 2021, when we hope things will have returned to some normality.
Rosh Hashanah
Spare a thought for all our friends and supporters in the Jewish Community as this weekend will be a very unusual Rosh Hashanah for them all ! Literally meaning “head of the year” Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and the two-day celebration will take place from sundown on Friday September 18 to nightfall on Sunday September 20.
This festival marks the start of the High Holy Days also known as the ‘Days of Awe’- a time for family, friends and personal reflection. Usual celebrations will see families and friends spend time together, pray, listen to the sound of the Shofar (the ram’s horn) and eat special food such as eating apples dipped in honey to mark a sweet and fruitful new year. Pomegranates, honey cake and round challah bread are also eaten.
We recognise that this year Covid 19 restrictions will have a considerable impact on household celebrations and how families will be able to mark this important occasion. However we would like to take this opportunity to wish all our Jewish friends, colleagues and neighbours a ‘shanah tovah u’metukah’ – “a good and sweet new year”.
Covid precautions!
Litter picks take on a whole new regime in these Covid aware times. Pre litter pick we need to make sure we have all the relevant notifications for attendees to read, and test and trace paperwork ready for everyone to complete.(As well as emailing and social media sharing!)
Following a socially distanced ‘pick’ everything needs to be washed or thoroughly cleaned! All adding time and effort- but all essential in these weird times. Thanking you all for taking care during our event.
Autumn approaches.
Our first Fairy Ring ! Last year we had some huge rings around the cemetery so keep your eyes peeled and please post photos on our facebook site, or e mail them to us to display on our web page.
Sunflowers bloom in Brandwood End.
Today, in the cemetery, we stumbled across two people quietly tending a grave that was overshadowed by a group of fantastically tall Sunflowers. It appears these seeds were left over from some planted, and tended with loving care, in the ladies garden yet the grave side ones had far outgrown the others!!
Bank Holiday Opening Times
Brandwood End will be open from 10am till 5pm- Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday.
This information has been taken from the BCC site below.
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/directory_record/452/brandwood_end_cemetery
How about a Civilian Garden ‘blast from the past’?
It’s nice, now and then, to look back at previous events. In our early days the Friends had a photo album with flickr.com. This is a link to our 2007 opening of the Civilian Garden. Sadly, many of the people featured are no longer with us. Thankfully, allowing for several renovations and re modelling, the Garden itself is still very vibrant, as you can see above.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/podnosh/albums/72157601918606847/with/1346369524/
Remembering VJ Day
The 75th anniversary of VJ Day (Victory over Japan) will be recognised on 15 August 2020 commemorating the final end of the Second World War.
This anniversary is rarely ‘celebrated’ publicly as widely as VE Day but it was, never the less, just as important for many reasons.
https://ve-vjday75.gov.uk/vjday/
On August 6th, at 8.15 a.m. Japanese time, the United States dropped the atomic bomb ‘little boy’ on Hiroshima and on August 9th at 11.02 a.m., dropped the bomb ‘fat man’ on Nagasaki. This resulted in the Japanese formally surrendering to the Allies on August 15th.
This was made official on September 2nd 1945 with the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.