Please meet opposite the Lodge at 11am on Saturday 11th. We will be carrying on clearing some areas of the cemetery of self set trees and shrubs as well as clearing smaller fallen branches.
Category: Gardening
Last Grave Gardeners Session of 2024
SATURDAY 14TH DECEMBER. MEET OPPPOSITE THE LODGE AT 11AM.
As you can imagine we will have to confirm this literally on Friday (So watch this feed in case we have to cancel) as things in the Cemetery are not as they usually are BUT there are many areas of the cemetery unaffected by the current fallen tree issues so we should be OK to go ahead.
We welcome anyone who fancies some outdoor exercise whilst helping to clear graves. Feel free to bring your own gloves and tools such as secateurs and loppers but please make sure you have stout footwear.
WE WILL NOT BE WORKING NEAR ANY OF THE FELLED TREES. THESE WILL BE LEFT TO THE PROFESSIONALS !
Graves uncovered by FBEC and Deutsche Bank
We were pleased to welcome yet another Team of volunteers from Deutsche Bank to Brandwood End this week to help with our ongoing project to make every grave in the cemetery accessible. Many of the older graves have been lost for some years under Ivy, Holly or in some cases self set trees. The Friends, assisted by various Corporate groups, have been working all over the cemetery to try and make sure visitors can get to family graves.
The coppice area they were working on and how it looked afterwards, graves revealed
Sometimes this involves removing Ivy or small Holly bushes and other shrubs that have grown out of control. There are lots of self set trees, mainly conifers, growing on or between graves. Many of these have now reached significant height and width and can obscure maybe 6 or 8 graves! If possible we remove lower branches (crown lift) to allow access to graves but occasionally the tree will be removed.
Deutsche Bank have been on site on several occasions this year and we hope to welcome them again in the New Year. Follow this link to see further photos.
Grave Gardening Session in December 2024
Our last Grave Gardening Session for 2024 will be on the 14th December starting at 11am and running till 12.30pm Meet by the Lodge on the main drive near the entrance. Please try to arrive on time as we will be moving to another area on this 53 acre site and may be hard to find.
Everyone is welcome but under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult.
Stout footwear is advisable and you may want to bring your own heavy duty gloves, although we do have some available.
Eleven Hardy supporters
Our thanks to the eleven Volunteers who turned up this morning to help clear even more shrubbery, but this time we spent some time specifically cutting back the end of Section 41, which was encroaching on graves.
Follow this link to get a flavour of their morning.
Grave Gardeners session- 9th November 11am
We will be hosting this months Grave Gardeners in the cemetery on this Saturday, the 9th November at 11am for a couple of hours. Why not come along and enjoy the fresh air whilst helping to keep Brandwood End Cemetery looking at its best. We have the tools and gardening gloves but you are welcome to bring your own. Meet opposite the Lodge by the main entrance in Woodthorpe Road.
Please arrive by 11am as we will be moving to other areas of this 53 acre site
Under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult.
Grave Gardeners plough ahead with more clearance.
You may think we seem to be doing a lot of ‘grave clearance’, and we are ! We have a very short window Between September and the end of March to remove any large areas of Holly or Ivy as during nesting season DEFRA have regulations regarding disturbing nesting. This also affects how and when we cut the hedge surrounding the Civilian Garden.
Today, Saturday the 12th, was the turn of our ‘community supporters’- or Grave Gardeners as we call them. They meet once a month generally and help clear self set trees and shrubs as well as keeping hedges in check and the flower beds and tubs weeded. We welcome anyone who may be interested to join us. Our next session will be November 9th. Meet at the Lodge at 11am. You may want to bring your own heavy duty gardening gloves but we do have spare pairs. We also have tools, but again if you prefer to work with your own tools they are very welcome. (Loppers/shears/rakes)
Deutsche Bank visit again to help clear shrubbery
Staff from Deutsche Bank turned out again on the 9th to help clear a huge coppice of Holly and Ivy that had overtaken a number of graves making it impossible for family to locate or visit.
The photograph below shows the effort it takes to clear Ivy once it has got hold. Great care has to be taken to prevent damage to lead lettering. Follow this link as it shows the events of the day and a sequence of photographs detailing the progress to reveal this memorial. There were many more as well but this one took almost an hour of two peoples time and determination.
Nat West Staff battle the rain.
Last week we had to cancel the visit from Nat West Staff to help clear graves. As you all may remember, we were suffering from heavy rain and storm conditions -so we were concerned when it appeared things were going the same way with their replacement visit today! We needn’t have worried as three of their staff turned up undaunted and made amazing inroads into clearing the front of Section 8.
I think the difference is evident from the photographs above.? Thank you ladies and thanks to the FBEC volunteers that organised the day.
Welcome back Deutsche Bank.
We welcomed Deutsche Bank staff back to the Cemetery today to continue helping us to clear some of the more overgrown areas . Luckily the weather was relatively settled so we were all able to clear a large section in the time they were on site.
FBEC rely on the help of volunteers and corporate groups to be able to continue uncovering graves buried under shrubs and Ivy and clearing self set trees.
We are pleased to say that we still have several groups booked in for the remainder of this year so should be able to make inroads in other sections of the cemetery.
Our thanks to all our volunteers for giving up their time.