Category: Information

Completion of the ‘Civilian Garden’ refurbishment

Those of you that follow our blog will know that back in June the Friends engaged ‘Darren Rudge Landscape Designs’ and some of his students to refresh and partly redesign the Civilian Garden of Remembrance flower beds. The beds had become overgrown and following a donation we were in a position to carry out work to reduce future day to day maintenance by our small team of volunteer gardeners. You will see from the photographs below that the results are magnificent, but we would like to invite you to join us at an official unveiling on Saturday September 24th at 10am, followed by tea and cake.

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RHS Heart of England in Bloom-Judges visit due!

Gosh, such a frenzy of activity in the cemetery. We are sure the RHS and all our visitors will appreciate it! Gates mended, benches varnished, beds weeded, roses pruned, hedges cut, notice boards washed, section markers scrubbed, litter picked…….. but hey…..we actually do all of these things all the time- but not usually all at the same time. Well done to all our supporters and committee members for stepping up to the plate. Fingers crossed.IMG_0317 13775614_10153644742371791_1088155904869228560_n Can we invite anyone who is interested in the visit of the Judges to Brandwood End to pop along and join us. We will be meeting them at 3pm by the Lodge, on Wednesday 27th July.

Sarah has spent two weekends re varnishing our two benches- so why not come along and sit on them!

JOIN US FOR COFFEE AND CAKE AT OUR AGM

All members are invited to the Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery which is to be held on Thursday 14th April at 10.30am till 11.30am in the Conference Room at St Dunstans Church, Kingsfield Rd, Birmingham B14 7JN. As you enter from the main gate in Kingsfield Road the Conference Room is on the right. Copies of the Annual Report and the Audited Accounts will be presented and circulated to the members present. Following the meeting these will be posted on our website fbec.org.uk.

Under the rules, existing members of the Executive Committee will be offering themselves for re-election but we welcome enquiries from prospective new members. All nominees must be members of FBEC and nomination forms can be obtained from the Chairman and must be completed and submitted by 31st March 2016.

Any questions to be tabled at the AGM should be submitted in advance to the Chairman by telephone /email by 31st March 2016.-07811 393259 / friendsofbec@gmail.com

The Committee sincerely hopes that you will be able to join us for tea and cake and to learn of our successes to date and plans for the future. We work on your behalf and depend on your support.

Final 2015 Litter Pick Completed!

We were a small select crew that set out on the final litter pick of the year- just 4 of us, but we managed to collect 12 bags of litter before rain stopped play!20151206_100409 (800x600)

The cemetery itself is always kept pretty litter free by the ground staff but there are always pockets of litter that gather, especially in the wind, along fences and hedgerows. The worst offending area is the corner of the site where Broad Lane service road meets the fence. Huge piles of rubbish accumulate road side here …..or are dumped, and blow into the cemetery shrubbery. Below is a before and after photo to give an idea of the problem! You can see the rubbish piled just the other side of the fence.

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We also observed another strange phenomenon today and that was the sight of snowdrops blooming along side daisies!

Our thanks to everyone that has helped at any of our litter picks in 2015 and we hope you will join us in 2016 to continue this very important task. The next litter pick will be on Saturday 5th March 2016

 

A new tree in Diamond Woodland

On Saturday the 12th of December you will find members of the committee of the Friends planting a tree in the Diamond Woodland area opposite to the Lodge to commemorate their 10th year as a Friends organisation.

Saturdays get together will be low key as we are having to meet early at 9.30 to carry out this planting, but we will be having an official  event in the slightly warmer spring weather when the tree should be starting to wake. Members or anyone with an interest is welcome to join us on Saturday. We should be on site between 9.30 and 10am.

We will be planting a Alnus incana Aurea  (Golden Alder) in the Diamond Woodland area. This beautiful tree will offer colour and interest all year round.

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Placing of Poppy Crosses

If you happen to pass through Brandwood End Cemetery this week,  you may well see members of the Friends and volunteers placing some 350 + poppy crosses. Each War Grave in Brandwood End is marked  every year by the placing of a poppy cross on it. A large grid ‘poppy cross cemetery’ is also formed on the grassland adjacent to the Cross of Sacrifice on the Main Drive- to give an impression of the large numbers of those buried within Brandwood End who have lost their lives in wars around the globe.

PoppyPlease pause for a moment after Remembrance Sunday to read the information placed near the ‘poppy cemetery’.

Remembrance Sunday information is to follow this article.