Category: Events

Seasons Greetings to all our supporters.

Christmas is almost upon us and the committee of Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery would like to wish all our supporters ‘Seasons Greetings’. Although we seem to have made no progress with the Chapels in 2014, due to the financial constraints being experienced by Birmingham City Council, we have never the less been busy on other projects in the cemetery. Can we thank Bereavement Services staff for their co operation, our project sponsors and all of the volunteers who have worked alongside us. Thank you all again and we look forward, hopefully, to more progress in 2015.

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Choking Ivy removed from historic graves.

Our thanks to the committee members and volunteers who turned out to help remove the Ivy from some 0f the historic graves near the Chapels last weekend. We are only able to do this at certain prescribed times each year as the Ivy provides nesting areas for some of our beautiful birds from the spring onwards. A special thank you to the volunteers from Alvechurch who gave up their time to help committee members.

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Transformed……from the overgrown view on the left to the cleared area on the right!!

The sad news is that this needs to be done often and it only seems like yesterday that it was cleared before!  Our thanks again for everyone’s efforts.

Last litter pick of 2014!

This will be the last weekend in 2014 that the Friends will be holding a Litter Pick and clean up in the Cemetery. The details are as follows:-

Meet by the Lodge on the main drive. 10am (Usually finished by 11.30am)

Sunday 7th December. Litter pickers and sacks provided but suitable shoes and gloves advisable.

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If Litter Picking is not up your street, we always have plenty of weeding to do under the hedges in the Civilian Garden of Remembrance. You will have to bring your own tools for this task.

 

 

Christmas shopping on Amazon? Please think of us….

Dear Friends….If you will be Christmas shopping on Amazon this year please consider using the Icon for their site at the top of this web page. It costs you no more and takes just a second longer but for every purchase you make, FBEC receive a small donation.

It’s possibly a bit early- but Seasons Greetings to all our members and followers on the web from the Committee of FBEC.

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Poppy Cross Cemetery in place.

Every year Barrie Simpson goes beyond the call of duty and as well as organising the placing of a poppy cross on every war grave within Brandwood End  he also creates a ‘poppy cross cemetery’. Every War Grave is represented by a cross in a grid pattern laid out on the grass of the Public Grave area adjacent to the Cross of Sacrifice.

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Every year we encourage pupils from the two schools that lie on either side of the cemetery to come and read the information that is posted nearby and it hopefully becomes a discussion point- especially in this significant year.

Our thanks go to the staff of Wates Construction for helping with the placing of crosses on graves and S. Gascoigne and Sons for their kind donation to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal on our behalf.

 

Jasmin Fields Work Day

Sunday the 19th of October will see lots of activity at our local Nature Reserve of Jasmin Fields. Following the fire and destruction of the bridge walkway to the canal, the Friends and local Ranger will be relaying a pathway across this area. There will be litter picking, ‘Balsam Bashing’ , bulb planting and general tidying so they need as much help as possible.

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Please meet at the Farm gate entrance in Jasmin Croft at 10am.  There will be people on site from 10am-4pm so if you can drop in any time, they will welcome your help.

Please wear suitable clothing and footwear. Children under 16 must be supervised by an adult.

Heritage Open Event – A Great Success!

The sun shone through the trees during our Heritage Open Event held on Sunday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the first world war and to remember all those involved.

This was the first time that Brandwood End Cemetery had featured in an Heritage Open Day event and we all agreed it had been a worthwhile experience.  Dawn and her team from Birmingham Bereavement Services worked with the Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery to provide lots of interesting displays of memorabilia – and perhaps more importantly, tea and cakes!

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Doug Smith, ably assisted by his team, read short monologues of soldiers experiences and members of ‘Troop Aid’ raised over £100 for their very worthwhile cause.

The Friends  lead three successful  walks covering  a small number of graves significant in ww1, as well as chatting to members of the public who took the opportunity to come along and ‘show and tell’ their family items of ww1 memorabilia.

Our thanks to everyone who worked hard to make this a success IMG_7502 (800x590)and especially the members of the public who fitted our event in with so many others in the area today.

We met many new friends in the cemetery today and hope they will keep in touch with us via this web site.

A reminder that our Remembrance Service will take place at the Cross of Sacrifice on Sunday November 9th starting at 10.50am.

Bat Walk Reminder!

Explore the night with Brum Bats and the Ranger Service on a Bat walk through Jasmin fields Nature Reserve along the canal, through the cemetery to finish at Brandwood Pool.

Thursday 11th September 7.30-9pm meet at the Farm gate on Bayston Rd, facing Kinsey Grove B14 5AR

All ages welcome but under 16’s must be supervised.You will need to bring a Powerful torch and wear outdoor clothing and sturdy footwear.

Please contact the Ranger Service to book 0121 675 0937 – Spaces are limited so you will need to book in advance.

 

Heritage Open Event – Saturday 13th September

Cross of Sacrifice at Brandwood End CemetaryThe Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery and BCC Bereavement Service staff invite you to join them at a WW1 Heritage Open Event on Saturday 13th September between 11am and 2pm.

The days’ activities include:  grave walks led by FBEC members, memorabilia, photographs and a short talk by Doug Smith about the effects of the Great War on everyone involved. Join us for a cup of tea and a slice of ‘trench’ cake!

We would be very interested to see any WW1 family memorabilia that you may wish to share with us, especially anything linked to Brandwood End.

The first walk will start at 11am prompt. If you require any further information please contact us on friendsofbec@gmail.com

‘Trimming’ in the rain!

I am pleased to report that we have been able to give the hedge surrounding the Civilian Garden of Remembrance a well needed trim today. Its great to see how well established it has become and we hope that our recent hedge around nearby War Graves will follow suit!

IMG_7322 (800x600) I am afraid heavy rain throughout this exercise meant that we had to be very quick collecting hedge cuttings and possibly missed some, so take care.

We are always looking for help maintaining this garden area and especially removing the grass/weeds that grow under the hedges. If you could help FBEC with this – please contact us at                        friendsofbec@gmail.com 

 IMG_7323 (800x593)I am sure the pupils of St Albans Primary School will be proud of their planting efforts as their hedge has helped create a private and peaceful area for quiet reflection.