Some time ago we had a number of postcard views provided to us by Mary Harding. Can we highlight them again via this link.
It is interesting to see the magnificent flower beds along the main drive in the photograph, but it should be noted that there were 30+ gardeners at the time!
Just a reminder that our next family Hedgehog event will be happening in the cemetery next Tuesday 25th October 2-4pm. Meet by the Lodge. 
URGENT NOTE
Can we also make an appeal for donations of unopened cans of cat and dog food for the local Hedgehog Rescue Centre as they are running short of food!! Please bring them to the event.
Brandwood End Cemetery Tree Walk
Come and join the Rangers for an Autumn tree walk and admire the changes of the season.
Thursday 20th October 2016
Meet at main entrance at 2pm
We all breathed a sigh of relief to see that the weather was dry this morning for the Friends to welcome over 20 people to the ‘official’ unveiling of our Civilian Garden of Remembrance. Our thanks to Councillor Eva Phillips who made a short speech about the uncertainties in the World today and the value of peace internationally. We all hope that we may see a time when there is no need for ‘civilian dead’ to be laid to rest following conflict.
Eva then cut the ribbon and declared that the garden refurbishment was now officially completed.
Our thanks to our anonymous donor, who meant that we were able to engage horticulturalist Darren Rudge with a team of his ‘Homebase’ students to complete the work. I am sure all our visitors today agree that the garden looks a picture!
Afterwards we all made our way to the Lodge and enjoyed a leisurely cup of tea and some excellent home made cake (thank you Coral!)
Well done Darren and his team!
We were all watching the rain filled skies with trepidation this afternoon as we held our launch event for our Heritage Lottery funded ‘Help for Hedgehogs’ project.
Jan, the Ranger and Gareth from Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust set up their displays but we did not hold out too much hope as the rain got heavier and heavier but we were all in for a surprise!
Even before we had set everything up the rain eased and families began to arrive !
Jan chatted to everyone about Hedgehogs before leading them off on a trail to find interesting ‘Hedgehog’ facts and then everyone collected suitable twigs and cones to make their very own Hedgehog.
I think you can tell from the faces below how the ‘make your own Hedgehog’ activity went!!
Our thanks to the 30+ people who disregarded the awful weather and we hope you will all come back (with your friends!) to our next event on October 25th in Half Term.
Another quarter of a year has passed and we will be carrying out our next Litter Pick on Saturday 3rd September. Meet at the Lodge on the main drive at 10am. We may also need to be watering the newly planted Civilian Garden of Remembrance if it stays as hot as it is now! 
Please come along and enjoy an hour and a half strolling around the cemetery and clearing any unsightly litter you may come across. Bags and pickers provided but stout shoes and gloves advised.
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.
When we all got up to heavy rain this morning we wondered if the visit of the RHS Heart of England in Bloom judges to Brandwood End might be a wash out, but by lunch time the sun was shining and Brandwood End was looking at its best.
Volunteers work within Brandwood End all year round doing all sorts of activities. Their work ranges from litter picks, gardening, historical research, environmental projects, to carrying out surveys, attending meetings and making grant applications. You probably don’t see us, but we hope you see the effect we have in the cemetery.
The Friends of Brandwood End work with Bereavement Services staff and horticultural contractors to try and improve the ‘visitor’ experience in the cemetery. You may be visiting the grave of a loved one, or walking through as a short cut, carrying out grave research or just enjoying the peace and quiet. Whatever your reason, we hope it creates a pleasant interlude in your day.
Today we found a local family enjoying their snacks in the Civilian Garden of Remembrance. We are so glad to see people relaxing in this beautiful, peaceful area.
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.
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!
Our thanks to the Ground Staff from Bereavement Service Dept at BCC who, finding they had more Geraniums than they needed, deployed them in a ‘new area’ adjacent to the old lodge garden.
Keep an eye out to your right as you enter, almost opposite the entrance to their workshop area. Beautiful ! If you are wondering why they are not further out towards the path, the fear was that they might disrupt the track of the large grass cutter operating in that area meant that it was safer to inset them into the hedge area. We think they look rather lovely.