Tag: environment

Spring tidy up for Civilian Garden.

Lucky for us, the sun shone today as a few of the Committee of FBEC wrestled with huge bags of bark to top dress the beds in The Civilian Garden of Remembrance!

 

A few weeds pulled, a bit of snipping here and there, some bark, a rake and a sweep ….and everything soon looked spick and span.

 

 

You can see a few more photo’s taken by Nicola Clarke from Idverde HERE

and the final result…………………

The Last Litter Pick of 2017!

Gosh, where has 2017 gone. Today saw the last scheduled Litter Pick for 2017 and hopefully by the time we ‘pick’ again in March, we may be seeing some signs of Spring in 2018! Our thanks to today’s volunteers. Here….yet again ….are some more early snowdrops we found today and also some of the fungi nestling in the leaves around the cemetery.

  

 

Beautiful, and busy, day in Brandwood End.

Today I popped into the cemetery as ‘Idverde’, the contractors that mow , kindly agreed to take some ‘width’ off our Civilian Garden hedges. Nesting now over, so hard cut back undertaken with heavy duty equipment. The hedge was thriving so well and putting on so much growth that it was beginning to impede the grass cutting to the rear of the adjacent graves. All good now. Thank you to the Idverde staff.

The new round feature beds are now well established and it is such a peaceful place to pass a few minutes. Today was busy in Brandwood End as there was a funeral and a large number of cars.

Trim for our hedge!!

Despite agreeing that no serious hedge cutting would take place to our hedge surrounding the Civilian Garden of Remembrance (for ecological reasons), we had to give in- and do a slight top trim today as some of the uppermost shoots were stretching nearly a meter above the hedge itself!!

 

Before, with the stragglers standing proud!

Back under control below. We have made sure that the main body of the hedge remained undisturbed.

Julia, assisted by our youngest gardener…and an after view, looking much tidier.

Can we also report that our redesigned and replanted beds are now coming into their own and reflect a riot of colour and texture, whilst needing minimal attention. Mission accomplished !

Hedge uncut in this one …..           Beautiful  texture filled   beds

                   

Great day at St Albans.

Year 5 pupils at St Albans RC Primary were one of our many partners in the making of our Hedgehog film and completion of our Hedgehog Project. Today they viewed their efforts and we shared a few gifts to remind them of their work.

Well done St Albans and we look forward to working with you on our next project.

Pupils and parents get to see ‘their’ Hedgehog film.

Last week members of the FBEC committee and Rachel Gillies (our Community Film Maker)  joined parents , teachers and pupils at Woodthorpe Junior and Infants school for a showing of the ‘Help for Hedgehogs’ film. This film was made entirely by pupils of Woodthorpe Primary and St Albans RC Primary under Rachel’s direction.

Rachel reported lots of giggles and prods between pupils, lots of good comments from teachers and the Headteacher is very keen to share the film on Social Media and in the school newsletter once it is available.

Several members of FBEC have worked alongside Rachel on her visits to both schools and marveled at the enthusiasm and knowledge shown by all the pupils.

Have a look at Rachel’s own site, where she gives our project a great write up!! http://www.community-film-maker.org.uk/

Our thanks go to the Heritage Lottery for funding what has turned out to be a wonderful project. Just a couple of months left and St Albans get their chance to see their input!

Litter pick in June sunshine.

Five FBEC supporters and 11 members of the 148th Birmingham St. Dunstan’s Scouts cleared 17 bags of litter this morning on their summer morning litter pick.

Our thanks go to our regular supporters and also to the Scouts, who try to turn out at least once a year to help. This time the pickers were packed away just in time to beat a downpour!

June Litter Pick.

Final reminder to everyone that FBEC will be holding our ‘Start of Summer‘ Litter Pick on Sunday June 4th- 10am till 11.30am – meet at the Lodge on the Main Drive. Litter pickers and bags provided, but we advise you wear stout footwear and gloves as well. This is your chance to enjoy a stroll around this amazing green urban space whilst helping to keep it litter free. The staff work hard to clear any litter but our efforts always produce more, as we have the time to search ! Most litter is flower paper. Can we ask you again to remove papers from flowers left graveside, as when the blooms die the wind blows them and their wrappers around the cemetery.

Hedgehog film showing.

This is the final reminder that there will be a chance to view the Help for Hedgehogs film that was made with assistance from local pupils. The film follows the year long project undertaken by FBEC, The Wildlife Trust (Birmingham and Black Country) and the Park Ranger Service to survey the cemetery for Hedgehog activity and increase awareness of Hedgehog requirements if we wish to stop their rapid decline.

7-8pm at Park House in Kings Heath Park  Monday 5th June. Please visit this link to register if you think you will be coming along as space is limited. More details can be seen here.

This is a family event and suitable for children but those under 16 should be accompanied by an adult. There will also be a showing for pupils and parents in both local schools involved.  (St Albans RC Primary, Woodthorpe Primary) Contact your school for dates.