Category: Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery

Damaged Sunflowers.

Spotted today, flowers having their heads removed by a squirrel! BUT either squirrels or Magpies have sunk to an all time low…..
They have ripped a crochet sunflower head off Valerie Smith’s lovely Lodge path screen. As well as the head, a whole Sunflower has been removed. We are pretty sure it’s animal/bird interference but as a result Valerie has removed the whole display. So much time and work goes into these displays and they make visitors smile. Hopefully it hasn’t put Valerie off forever but it must feel ‘personal’ ….  even if the villains are not human !

Who Lies Beneath?

‘WHO LIES BENEATH? If you recognise any of the unusual surnames below then just maybe one of your family relatives was a victim of the bombing in WW2 and buried within our Civilian Garden of Remembrance. Come along to the Garden between 11am and 2pm on Saturday 14th September to find out more.
Battista, Bramham, Courtnell, Everitt, Granner, Hollyoake, Lovedee, Shamsudi and many more. There are over 50 whose names we know but sadly- quite a few we don’t.
If you know you have family buried in this beautiful Civilian Garden we would love to know more about them if you feel you can share.

Lots of events ahead in Brandwood End Cemetery.

UP AND COMING DATES IN THE FBEC DIARY WHERE WE WELCOME YOUR SUPPORT

  • SATURDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER. Litter Pick 10am-11.30am Meet opposite the Lodge on the main Drive.
  • WEDNESDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER As part of Heritage Open Week, Ian Binnie will lead a free walk around 8 graves of those killed in 1944 and from the Kings Heath area. Meet by the Lodge at 2pm
  • SATURDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER ‘Who lies beneath? The Friends Open Day. As part of Heritage Open Week we will be giving visitors an insight into who is buried in the Civilian Garden and how they came to be there. See Notice boards and Social Media.11am-2pm in the Civilian Garden of Remembrance
  • SATURDAY 12TH OCTOBER, Grave Gardeners Session 11am-2pm, Meet by the Lodge. It is also the start of the Poppy Placing Project prior to Remembrance. If you want to be involved in the Poppy Placing then please e mail us at friendsofbec@gmail.com
  • SATURDAY 9TH NOVEMBER Grave Gardeners Session 11am-2pm meet by the Cross of Sacrifice
  • SUNDAY 10TH NOVEMBER 45AM Annual Service of Remembrance at the Cross of Sacrifice.
  • SUNDAY 1ST DECEMBER Litter Pick 10am-11.30am meet opposite the Lodge on the main drive.
  • SATURDAY 14TH DECEMBER Grave Gardeners Session 11am-2pm Meet by the Lodge

The Friends will have been working in the cemetery for 20 years on the 21stJuly 2025. We will be organising all the above events but also undertaking many other cemetery projects alongside. If you would like to get involved in helping with our research or keeping the cemetery to look cared for then contact us at friendsofbec@gmail.com      or come along to one of our sessions.

Heritage Open Week 6-14th September.

The FRIENDS will again be taking part in Heritage Open Week with a couple of events this year.

On Wednesday the 11th September at 2pm, Ian Binnie will be leading a walk around 8 graves of those who died during the conflicts of 1944. Ian has researched these individuals and will give you an insight into what was happening at the time and how these Kings Heath residents played a part. No need to book. This is a free event so just meet Ian at the Lodge on the main drive at 2pm prompt, as he will then move to other areas of this 53 acre site. Ian frequently does walks around Gallipoli Graves so this will be a new experience.

                                           

Saturday 14th September 11am till 2pm. Come and meet the Friends in the Civilian Garden of Remembrance to discover ‘Who lies beneath’.  There are over 60 civilian bomb victims buried in the Civilian Garden area. Most people have no idea that is the case so the Friends will be able to tell you more about some of them and how they came to be buried in Brandwood End.

                                                         

 

Volunteers support gardening project.

Eleven volunteers turned out on August 10th to help FBEC committee members continue their Grave Gardeners project. Lots done again but always plenty to do. Several graves can now be seen where previously all you could see was shrubbery. The pile to the left was removed to uncover these graves. You can see that there are more to reveal further along.

Our thanks again to Ray and Sue Howell for continuing their work in the Civilian Garden. They give a lot of their time to keep it looking as beautiful as it does.

 

HSBC spend a day in Brandwood End

As a small charity, the Friends depend on our supporters to help us with many of the projects we undertake. As those that follow FBEC will know, we are undertaking a long term Grave Gardening project to remove self set shrubs, Holly and Ivy from graves. We run regular volunteer sessions and members of the Friends also work in pairs on site when they can but without corporate groups to support us everything would take much more time.

                               

Today we were joined by a team from HSBC in Birmingham. They spent all day on site working hard clearing two sections B4 CE and B6CE and you can see the finished effect above right.

This was just one of 4 large piles of leaves, sticks, weeds, self set shrubs and small trees that the team removed during the course of the day. By the time we left, the whole of B4 and B6 were looking far more ‘open’ and cared for. Thank you to all the volunteers from HSBC who worked really hard but were a joy to work alongside. Here’s  to the next time !! A special thankyou to Anita for organising the HSBC side.

Tree Walk 20th July.

Join the Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery as we take a stroll around this magnificent 53 acre site investigating our recently launched Tree Trail.  The Tree Trail highlights the range of trees that this Victorian Cemetery contains, over 1750 planted mainly in 1898/9.

Meet at the Lodge on the main drive at 11am prompt, Saturday 20th July.(For further information and to reserve a place, please contact us on 07811393259 or mail to friendsofbec@gmail.com)