Category: Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery

March Litter Pick Cancelled

I am afraid that we have had to cancel our March Litter Pick due to Covid restrictions.*

We will be back in June, on the 6th, as part of the ‘late’ Great British Spring Clean but in the meantime can we ask all our followers, who visit the cemetery, to remove any litter they see into the bins on site, as this will greatly help us and Ground Staff to keep Brandwood End looking spic and span.

Can we remind you that most of the litter that we find consists of windblown flower paper or badly secured artificial flower displays. If you leave flowers please remove the paper, and check that all displays are well secured, as once items blows from a grave we have no idea where they belong!  This week there is a lot of this type of litter on the boundary areas so if you see litter, please pop it in the bin. at any time, but especially during these strange times, do remember to use a litter picker if possible and always wear gloves.

  • We are a member of BOSF and under present regulations our community insurance would be invalid if we held our normal Litter Pick during Covid restrictions.

 

Please avoid driving on the verges!

You can see, from the photograph above, that driving on the verges causes lots of often irreversible damage. There is no excuse! We know the avenues are narrow but the whole road system is a grid. If there is a parked car just use the next avenue and approach from the other end…..or reverse!  If this continues then restricted vehicle access to these side avenues may be the only answer available to Bereavement staff to prevent such mindless damage, and no one wants that.

New fencing completed.

Pleased to see that the new fencing to the rear of the lodge is completed and looking good. The idea was to avoid reinstalling larch lap panels, that the wind soon damages,  and deter people from walking through the lodge garden to the rear burial section- but maintain an open aspect.

I think you will all agree that these new fences fulfil all of those requirements….but it appears someone or something is continuing their usual route ! Gathering by the snow prints I think its local foxes and pussy cats, but they have been very busy!

January 2021

If we haven’t said it already, a Happy New Year to all our members and those that follow our web site.  

The good news is that the lack of weed growth in the Winter has made the cemetery look really well groomed. The issues that we had with invasive ‘Mares tail’ growth appears to have disappeared- but don’t be fooled, they will most likely return with the Spring. This weed spreads its roots underground and means it is especially difficult to deal with, even with weed killer.

It is lovely to see that relatives strive to place wreaths on graves, even if they are slightly inaccessible. The message here is that care should be taken when planting ‘small shrubs/trees’ on family graves as they may well grow to become giants, and engulf both your cherished grave and those of others nearby.

More information on testing of headstones .

Took my daily exercise in the cemetery today and thought I would take a few photos of the extent of graves failing a stress test. These stones are in danger of toppling under minor pressure, so have been marked with blue tape and staked, to allow time for next of kin to have them correctly fixed by a Stonemason, and to warn the public to keep clear of them. In the older sections there are quite a few large stones needing action.