Category: Community

Interesting addition to a tree!!

This may look as if someone has just wedged a rake into this tree and gone off for their cup of tea…..

The truth is a little stranger. This rake was undoubtedly propped here many years ago by a member of staff but for whatever reason it was never retrieved. It is in a not often visited area of the Cemetery and over many seasons the tree grew, absorbing the rake within its growth! The wooden stale has long ago rotted away. Recently Birmingham Trees for Life published a similar item but instead of a rake it was……a bike. Check it out on their site.

 

Recent storm damage could have been worse!

Locally in Kings Heath there was a fair amount of damage caused by the recent storm, so it was with some trepidation that Ground Staff in the cemetery made their Monday morning site inspection.

Lots of small branches littering the site were removed, but the larger tree shown above will take a little more time! Luckily it is in an area away from roads and pathways but until it is removed it is difficult to see if grave stones have been damaged.

Polish War Graves remembered

Just prior to Remembrance Sunday, the Friends placed Polish flags on 2 adjacent War Graves in Brandwood End. We were especially pleased to tell members that the flags had come all the way from Poland , brought back for us by a Polish National.

You can imagine how heartened we were when we visited those graves earlier this week and found that both now had ribbons encircling them.

We would love to get in touch with the Polish community and those involved in this act of Remembrance. If anyone knows who we can contact, please can you e mail us on friendsofbec@gmail.com

What a wet, wet, wet Tree Planting.

Year 6 pupils from St Albans R C Primary took part in a fantastic tree plant in the Cemetery today and despite the rain….a good time was enjoyed by all. Our thanks to Birmingham Trees for Life for organising this planting event, to replace some of the aged ‘Poplars’ felled recently.

Birmingham Trees for Life had lots of assistance today as they were joined by the Lord-Lieutenant of the West Midlands- John Crabtree and his wife, who came well prepared to plant alongside the pupils.

Our local Councillor, Mike Leddy, popped along and  a gaggle of Tree Officers also made an appearance!!

Our thanks to everyone at BTFL for continuing with this tree replacement project and the Tree Officers, local Ranger Dean and BCC Woodland Team for making this all possible. Following the event everyone enjoyed a ‘warm up’ in the Lodge with drinks and biscuits.

As they made their way back to school, Ranger Dean led a short Tree Walk for pupils with lots of interesting information. Despite the miserable weather we all had a lovely morning and the cemetery now has 10 more interesting standard trees along its boundary.

Our thanks to Bereavement Services staff and the ‘Friends’ who also supported this event.

 

Dry and sunny for 2019 Remembrance Event

Today’s Remembrance event was very well attended. Representatives of West Midlands Police, West Midlands Fire Service, Local Councillors, The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB), the Catholic Women’s League, FBEC and members of the local Beaver Pack all laid Wreaths at the Cross of Sacrifice.

Deacon David Fairbotham gave a short thought provoking Service of Remembrance and the Wreath Laying was preceded by a Bugler and 2 minutes silence.

 

Everyone then processed down the main Drive to the WW1 Memorial, where further wreaths were laid.

Our thanks to everyone that attended this event. We have collected a few photographs via this link should you wish to see more.

 

 

Welcome back British Army 202(Midlands Field Hospital) volunteers.

The Friends were pleased to welcome back on site 20 members of the Armed Forces 202 Field Hospital under the command of Major Harry Wallace.

They came on a mission to uncover 4 specific Commonwealth War Graves that had become totally enveloped by shrubbery and to clean and weed a large number of others.

Luckily for us they felt they had some more of their precious time to share so spent a further few hours clearing the metre high self set Holly area on one of the sections.(There are still at least 2 more similar areas in the cemetery)

Whilst in the cemetery ‘202’ also made time to visit, and place Poppy Crosses on, our small War Grave area and beneath our screen walls.

                                        

I am sure, if you visit, the improvement after the removal of the holly will be obvious- but here are some before and after photographs.

Ivy is notoriously hard to remove and these areas have now been cut back, revealing many graves that have been hidden for several years.

 

 

 

 

This is just a small portion of the area that they cleared !

 

 

Our thanks to them all for their enthusiasm and ‘can do’ attitude. Lets hope we can welcome them again to Brandwood End.

 

 

Enjoyable Tree Walk, despite the weather!

Despite the damp and drizzle over 16 folks turned up to The Lodge at 11am yesterday to join BCC Park Ranger Dean Paul’s excellent 2 hour plus ‘tree and cemetery walk’.

Combining his extensive knowledge of Brandwood Cemetery from his previous role as a member of the ground maintenance/grave team with his current role as a City Park Ranger for South Birmingham, Dean covered an wide range of fascinating and instructive topics.   I am sure that everyone who attended found the whole experience hugely instructive and worthwhile.

Spotted on the walk was this industrious Squirrel’s dinner table!

Our thanks to Dean for his time. He hopes to do a further ‘walk’ when we have some Autumn colour so watch this site for the date.

Civilian Garden Autumn Hedge Maintenance

Our thanks go out, yet again, to Birmingham Council Grounds Maintenance staff that carry out the horticultural maintenance at Brandwood End (Grass cutting etc).They have carried out a fantastic Autumn cut on the hedge surrounding the Civilian Garden area. This hedge was planted a number of years ago by pupils of St Albans school and has been so successful that we need their professional assistance to keep it in check! Thank you Paul and team.