We can always rely on the staff from Deutsche Bank to go above and beyond. They powered through the brambles and weeds to uncover more than 15 graves and complete the larger shrub clearance on this area. Well done Deutsche Bank!!
Category: Events
Damp Tree Walk- but enjoyed by all.
Despite the damp and miserable weather we were joined by 23 people who all spent close to an hour and a half learning a little bit more about the trees of Brandwood End in Winter. Our thanks to Malcolm who had spent time planning and leading a great Tree Walk. Lots of interesting facts and questions and so many different trees still remaining to cover at another time.
Hopefully the next Tree Walk will be a ‘Summer’ one with better weather. Thanks again to Malcolm for all his time and effort, and to those that attended and make it all worth while.
If you enjoyed todays walk and want to help us replant some new trees for those you saw that were lost recently then watch this space for details on how you can donate/sponsor new trees.
Grave Gardening session
Fancy some free outdoor exercise? Why not join us at a gardening session clearing graves and shrubbery ?
The next Grave Gardeners Session will be on Sunday February 2nd. Meet at 11am by the Lodge on the Main Drive. Some people stay about 2 hours but others Remember to stay just an hour.
Wear suitable footwear and bring your own tools and heavy duty gardening gloves, if you prefer.(We will have tools and some spare gloves available.)
Please arrive by 11am as we will then be moving to another area of this 53 acre site.
Winter Tree Walk
Join the Friends of Brandwood End as we take a look at our trees in their Winter clothes. Committee member Malcolm Jacques will tell you a few different facts and help you spot which tree is which when they are not in leaf !!
Sunday 9th February 11am – 12.15pm Meet at the Lodge in Brandwood End Cemetery
Winter Tree Walk.
JOIN US FOR A WINTER TREE WALK
Trees look so different during the Winter months. Bark, twigs and buds help to identify them. Join Malcolm Jacques as he revisits some of our Summer tree walk and adds a few more trees to this wonderful Winter Tree Walk.
SUNDAY 9TH FEBRUARY. 11AM-12.15PM MEET AT THE LODGE.
Can we remind you that surfaces are uneven so please wear suitable footwear and warm clothing.
Unmarked Grave
Back in November we featured John Charles Shaw, Buried in an unmarked grave in Brandwood End.. We were heartened by the interest this short article sparked. Little did we know that it was a gift that would keep giving. The resulting detail is the next phase but we have an idea it wont stop there……..
John Charles Shaw – Penistone footballing pioneer – NUMBER THREE
OK, what to say about John Charles Shaw? Let’s just start with a few of his contributions to our beautiful game:
· Founder of the worlds 2nd oldest association football club, Hallam FC
· First captain of the world’s oldest football club, Sheffield FC
· First ever player to lift a football trophy as captain of the winning team. Youdan Cup 1867
· Captain of Hallam FC for the world’s first ever club football match, Hallam FC vs Sheffield FC, 1860
· Established the world’s first ever county FA, Sheffield FA, 1867
· Played in the first ever intercity match, Sheffield vs Nottinghamshire 1865
· Played in the first ever inter association match, Bramall Lane, 1871
· Probably most importantly, President of Sheffield FA when the rules of football were finally unified in 1877.
Shaw was born in Penistone in 1830, the son of a bootmaker. Again, like our other 2 Penistone footballing pioneers (John Ness Dransfield & John Marsh), he was inspired to play football, baptised & educated by the Reverend Samuel Sunderland. Baptised at St John’s Church in Penistone & educated at Penistone Grammer School.
John worked as a clerk at Dransfield’s solicitors in Penistone before moving to Sheffield in the early 1850’s. He married Mary Ann Garnett in 1853, and the couple moved into premises at 19 Norfolk Row. (now Imperial Chambers). John operated a Legal Stationers business from the same address. It was during this period that Shaw developed relationships with like-minded footballing enthusiasts and able to take his Penistone footballing influences to Sheffield FC as their first official captain in 1859 (possibly earlier).
Shaw retained his membership of the Sheffield Club despite forming the world’s second oldest club Hallam in late 1860.
Shaw’s involvement with the development of the game in Sheffield and beyond is hugely impressive.
The Sheffield and Hallam clubs were involved in the first inter-club match in December 1860 with Creswick and Shaw the opposing captains.
John Charles Shaw was a member of the Sheffield team that played against a London representative side at Battersea Park in 1866.
The Hallam club, with John Charles Shaw as captain, were victorious in winning the world’s first adult knock-out football competition, the Youdan Trophy in 1867.
John Charles Shaw was a member of the Youdan organising committee which led to the establishing of the Sheffield Football Association in 1867. In 1868 he was Vice-President and in 1869 he became President of the Association. A position he retained for 14 years.
Shaw was voted to be 12th man in the first inter-association game held at Bramall Lane in 1871 between London and Sheffield. Charles William Alcock had selected a team to represent London but were a man short. John Charles Shaw played in goal for the visiting side.
In 1876, the Sheffield Association Challenge Cup was initiated. John Charles Shaw captained the Thursday Wanderers aged 46, in the first round of the cup, losing 5-4 to the Heeley club.
In 1877, with John Charles Shaw as President, the Sheffield Association, reached an agreement with the London Association regarding the rules of the game. This established a universal code for the playing of association football throughout England.
John Charles Shaw eventually moved to Birmingham due to work commitments, where he remained until his death in 1918.
The two decades between 1857 to 1877 are the most crucial in the making of the modern game of association football, prior to the onset of professionalism and leagues. John Charles Shaw straddled these two decades being at the forefront of this making and was a continuous presence helping to influence and shape the evolvement of the game. The world of football and Sheffield in particular, owe him a huge debt of gratitude.
John Charles Shaw’s grave at Brandwood End Cemetery, Kings Heath, Birmingham. It is the sad empty bit between the other two graves in the photo below.
Thanks to Kevin Neill for source information and photos.
Last Grave Gardeners Session of 2024
SATURDAY 14TH DECEMBER. MEET OPPPOSITE THE LODGE AT 11AM.
As you can imagine we will have to confirm this literally on Friday (So watch this feed in case we have to cancel) as things in the Cemetery are not as they usually are BUT there are many areas of the cemetery unaffected by the current fallen tree issues so we should be OK to go ahead.
We welcome anyone who fancies some outdoor exercise whilst helping to clear graves. Feel free to bring your own gloves and tools such as secateurs and loppers but please make sure you have stout footwear.
WE WILL NOT BE WORKING NEAR ANY OF THE FELLED TREES. THESE WILL BE LEFT TO THE PROFESSIONALS !
Carols in the Cemetery
How lucky are we ? The sun shone and the rain stayed away for the visit of the choir from St Albans R C Primary School who walked up to the cemetery to sing a mix of traditional and modern carols interspersed with interludes of Wham and Shakin’ Stevens songs!
The pupils have recently been singing in Touchwood shopping centre in Solihull so we were so pleased to welcome them. Parents joined FBEC members and Bereavement Officers to enjoy a lovely start to Christmas festivities. It was followed by a moment of quiet when pupils selected an interesting grave nearby and said a short prayer for those buried within.
Our thanks to all the pupils and their Teachers who made time in their busy school day to come into Brandwood End. We all really enjoyed it !!
Carols with St Albans Catholic Primary Pupils
Graves uncovered by FBEC and Deutsche Bank
We were pleased to welcome yet another Team of volunteers from Deutsche Bank to Brandwood End this week to help with our ongoing project to make every grave in the cemetery accessible. Many of the older graves have been lost for some years under Ivy, Holly or in some cases self set trees. The Friends, assisted by various Corporate groups, have been working all over the cemetery to try and make sure visitors can get to family graves.
The coppice area they were working on and how it looked afterwards, graves revealed
Sometimes this involves removing Ivy or small Holly bushes and other shrubs that have grown out of control. There are lots of self set trees, mainly conifers, growing on or between graves. Many of these have now reached significant height and width and can obscure maybe 6 or 8 graves! If possible we remove lower branches (crown lift) to allow access to graves but occasionally the tree will be removed.
Deutsche Bank have been on site on several occasions this year and we hope to welcome them again in the New Year. Follow this link to see further photos.
