Category: Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery

Mothering Sunday Traffic appeal.

This morning we were in Brandwood End, which was very busy as it was Mothering Sunday. Can we firstly remind everyone that there is a 5mph speed limit in the cemetery. Many cars were travelling well in excess of this causing a dangerous hazard as there were many pedestrians.

Secondly we were horrified to see vehicles parking on verges and churning up the grass adjacent to graves. The side drives were not designed for cars to be visiting so please do not drive on the grass to pass vehicles. Use another avenue or park on the main drive and walk ! Several people who had resisted parking on the verges were then being verbally abused by others who wanted to pass. Again. Use another avenue or park and walk.

This is a cemetery and people are visiting loved ones, please all show some respect!

Leaving flowers?

The Friends know that many of you will be visiting graves on Mothering Sunday and leaving flowers. Can we appeal again to ask that, if you are not frequent visitors, you remove the wrapping paper (Especially cellophane), as when the flowers die- they rot and return to the soil over time. The paper that surrounds them, especially cellophane are silver/gold paper NEVER does. It becomes lightweight and then blows around the cemetery in the wind. If we are lucky one of our litter picking volunteers will collect it but if not it may get shredded in the blades of the sit on mowers ! Either way, it can end up making the environment unpleasant.

If you are a frequent visitor then we presume you always remove dead flowers etc but many of those that do come to Brandwood End travel a distance and may get only a few opportunities to visit. If this is you- Please consider removing any flower paper. Also try not to leave ‘Glass’  vases etc as they do get smashed by Frost, Squirrels and Ravens and last summer caused great concern as a source of fire ignition in the cemetery.

Finally can we ask that any artificial flowers are well secured, as they often suffer the same fate as the paper- which is sad as many of them are beautiful and obviously bought with love.

Thank you again in anticipation of your assistance in this matter.

FBEC Committee

Bat Walk 2023

Another forward date for your diary. Please visit our events page and watch this site for more information. 2023 is a busy year for events in Brandwood End.

              Bat walk

             Friday May 19th

20:00pm- 22:00pm at the farm gate   Bayston Road, Opp Kinsey Grove                   

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

All are welcome but you will need to bring a powerful torch and wear suitable outdoor clothing including sturdy footwear.

Under 18’s must be supervised

 

 

 

Bench to Bench Project with Our Scene CIC

Earlier this month the Friends of Brandwood End enjoyed working with Our Scene CIC on their latest project Bench to Bench, to promote ‘walking, laughing and sitting chatting in lovely our door settings in Brandwood. This project, which includes our neighbouring Friends at Dawberry Fields Park, is also aimed at recommending accessible walks for people with mobility issues.

The poster below invites the very people this is aimed at to come along and share their thoughts on what is needed to entice them to visit, sit and chat in these areas more often. The first meeting has taken place but Suze Carter is still keen to involve anyone with mobility issues to become involved in the designs. The next get together will be in the Lodge at a date to be arranged so watch this site and our Facebook page for more information.

Keep Britain Tidy Campaign

Every year the Friends take part in the Keep Britain Tidy campaign. Our usual quarterly event always falls a little before the official one but we are happy to be counted as supporters.

This year we will be in the cemetery on Saturday 4th March at 10am, and welcome as many supporters as possible. This is usually our last chance to remove litter that will end up under the bushes when they bloom. We provide bags and pickers but ask you to wear stout footwear and gloves. Under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult.

Great Work !

Last weekend was our last major clear up in the cemetery, led by Josie Wall and supported by the Friends.  Our thanks to the volunteers that helped clear a massive pile of Holly from the graves adjacent to the Redwood Avenue. It just shows what an impact just a few volunteers can make. The pile almost hid Julia!

We will still be scheduling gardening sessions as there is so much to do, but this will be the last large scale clearance as the nesting season is now upon us and we dont want to disturb our feathered friends, so watch this page for details.

Advance notice of an interesting talk.

The Moseley Society History Group present an illustrated talk:
Bomb Alley: the World War Two Blitz and Home Front in
Moseley, Balsall Heath and Kings Heath,

by local historians Ian Binnie, Peter Streets and David Vaux.

Tuesday 21st March 7.30pm
There will be two talks each lasting about an hour:
2.00pm at the Moseley Exchange (149-153 Alcester Road, Moseley, Birmingham, B13 8JP).
This will be a live, illustrated talk. There will also be a display, produced by Matt Felkin, which
includes many unique photographs and documents about the Blitz in Birmingham and the local area.
There is no need to register in advance.
The talk will be repeated on Zoom.
The talk will include recent research done by the four historians but will also be based on the
mass of work done by many groups and individuals. If you have done research on this topic or have
personal knowledge join in the talks, either live or virtually and make a contribution.

To register for the Zoom talk email rkt16@btinternet.com . You will then receive the Zoom link a few
days before.