Despite being cut back hard a few months ago, the hedge surrounding the small Commonwealth War Grave area had developed a some what wild look.
We have given it a very quick top cut to make it look tidy in readiness for our Heritage Open Event next Saturday the 8th, but it will have to wait till much later in the year for another good cut back . Its great to see this young hedge thriving!
Five of the Friends today enjoyed the sunshine whilst collecting seven….and a half bags of litter from within the cemetery. Most of it came from 2 spots on the boundary and generally we found that there was very little litter and what there was consisted mainly of flower paper and various items that had been blown off graves. Our thanks again to the same few who turn up time and time again to help keep the cemetery looking tidy.
Can we ask you again, that if you place silk flowers on a grave can you please make sure they are well secured- and can you remove paper from fresh flowers, as when they die the paper just blows about in the wind.
As summer potentially draws to a close, why not join the Friends for possibly their last Litter Pick in the sunshine!
Saturday 1st September 10- 11.30am. Meet at the Lodge.
Litter Pickers and bags provided, but we do advise stout shoes/boots and gloves. Under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult.
On the morning of Saturday 8th September between 10am and 1pm the Friends will be taking part in Heritage Open Week.
Please come along and join us. We will have plenty of interesting items and displays and you can join one of our Grave Walks (numbers limited) highlighting the plight of ‘Labour Corps’ members who are buried and remembered in Brandwood End.
If you have any interesting memorabilia concerning the activities of local Suffragettes we would really love to see it !
The top two photos show cross sections of a couple of the Poplars removed along the Broad Lane boundary. The log pile represents the trees that have been removed and cut into sections. All of these logs will be chipped and used as Biomass to fuel power stations- nothing will be wasted.
Nesting is now over for this year- so we have been able to restore/cut the hedges in the Civilian Garden of Remembrance back to their neat and tidy state.
Our thanks to the staff from Idverde who have undertaken this task on our behalf. As the hedge is now mature cutting and shaping it represents a major piece of work. It is now beyond the Friends so we rely on assistance to keep everything ship shape.
The Friends still cut and maintain the hedge in the adjacent small War Graves area.
Hi all, as you hopefully all know- the Friends will be working with Bereavement Services to host a morning Heritage Event in the Cemetery on September 8th commencing at 10am. The link below takes you to the official site where you can check out everything in your area and plan your week visiting Open Events. We are listed !!
Following our adventures with the shears…..we moved on to a bit of weeding and pruning in the Civilian Garden of Remembrance. No shears in use on this hedge as it is now mature and used by nesting birds! Hopefully they will all have fledged soon, as the hawthorn hedge is desperately in need of smartening up but we must remember that the prime reason for this hedge was to increase biodiversity in the cemetery.
There has recently been some social media comment highlighting some areas of the cemetery that appear to be unmown. This has been reported to Bereavements Services but when FBEC committee members went to look they were also concerned….. but, it was a far from a simple issue.
You will see from the photo above that the growth is not in fact grass (you can see the narrow path has been mown) but it is actually weed growth on individual graves.
Our understanding is that these areas are are normally treated with weed inhibitor but this year it has been ineffective- possibly because of the rain deluge that followed spraying and then this long hot spell? Not sure what they can do at this stage, as spraying now may kill whats grown, but not remove it ! When they offer a solution we will let you know.
Meanwhile, rest assured that the rest of the cemetery is spick and span…..as you can see below.
Our local BCC Tree Officer has been considering the plight of the exceptionally large Poplar Trees that lie directly behind some of the houses at the lower end of Sunderton Road. He has made the decision that these trees, although still beautiful, are nearing the end of their life and will unfortunately have to be removed for safety reasons. This removal will be happening soon- as health and safety issues take priority- but it is his intention to replace the trees with smaller more suitable species within the next year or so.
This work will compliment the tree husbandry being carried out in the cemetery to remove lower branches and dead limbs. It will also give an opportunity to plant new young trees to take over from the existing stock, some of which were planted over 100 years ago.