Category: Environment

Lots to look forward to !

Winter is a quiet time in Brandwood End but the Friends have been working away in the background on a number of projects.

We are creating a number of ‘Trail sheets’ that will cover Heritage items, trees, interesting graves, fascinating memorials, quiet corners to rest and take in the wildlife and trees plus measured routes to stroll, with distances and surface types to encourage the less able to enjoy them as well.

The sheet below, kindly produced by committee member Lisa Fair, highlights some of the cemetery heritage- both historical and ecological.

They never let us down!

This week we had to make an appeal on Social Media site ‘facebook’ for volunteers to remove some of the many geraniums that the Friends planted in the Civilian Garden of Remembrance. No sooner said than done as two of our supporters stepped up to the plate and the job was done.(In freezing conditions)

We had hoped to try and keep the Geraniums over winter as the garden area is pretty sheltered- but we hadn’t banked on the -10 temperatures just before Christmas. All that was left of the glorious Geraniums was brown mush and not an attractive sight!

Thank you Vanessa and Tricia.

Civilian Garden Hedge Tamed.

Once again we are indebted to the BCC Grounds Maintenance team who have undertaken a major reduction in the height and bulk of our hedge surrounding the Civilian Garden of Remembrance. Not only do we not have the equipment or man power to carry out this task, we don’t have the ability to remove the resulting shrubbery. It was important that this cut back was completed well before birds started nesting, so thank you again Paul’s team !

Spring is on the way!

One day is beautiful and the next is really dismal ! This is a British Winter and we all long for signs of Spring. This week in the cemetery we have had a couple of hints that Spring is on the way.

The Woodpeckers in the cemetery have started hammering out ownership of certain areas ready for the mating season. In Brandwood End we are blessed with both Spotted and Green (ground loving) Woodpeckers.

If you keep your eyes peeled you will also spot some of the hardy Snowdrops the Friends planted !

Great turn out for final litter pick of 2022

We were heartened to be joined by 13 supporters of FBEC in our final litter pick of 2022, especially when it would have been inviting to have stayed in the warm and dry! December days seem to be bright and sunny or dull and dank- today was the latter.

The total collection of 18 bags, again mainly windblown flower paper, took some finding under hedges and behind gravestones. It was noticeable today that there were many artificial flowers blown around the cemetery or redeployed and nibbled/pecked by squirrels and crows. Please do check your family graves, as we try to pop the newer flowers back on graves but have no idea where they have blown from so it could be that we have placed them on other graves nearby. Apologies, but they really do need to be secured against wind, Squirrel and Muntjac attack !

Thanks again to our volunteers.

Last Litter Pick of 2022

        LAST LITTER PICK OF 2022

        SUNDAY 4TH DECEMBER

        10AM TILL 11.30PM

We have the litter pickers, we have the bags, all we need is the manpower. This is our last chance to get all the windblown litter that the spring shrub growth will cover.

Meet at the Lodge.(Under 16 must be accompanied by an adult) 

Stout shoes and gloves recommended.

‘Planters’ get ready for the Winter.

You may remember that the Friends were lucky enough to receive 3 community made planters complete with Wildflowers that we positioned near the Lodge and notice boards. We did get some wildflowers but were disappointed with the display.

A small team of volunteers have taken over the maintenance of these planters and today they were all emptied of the unsuitable soil and refilled with a better quality compost. (Not an easy job)

They are now ready for their Winter planting, so keep an eye out to see what appears. Our thanks again to Brightening Brandwood for providing the planters.