Tag: environment

Appeal for Community help!!

Great news…..FBEC have been accepted as entrants into the ‘RHS Heart of England in Bloom’ in the Cemetery category but we could do with some practical help before judging , towards the end of July, just to make sure we make a good impression.

We have at least one wooden bench in our Civilian Garden of Remembrance that needs rubbing down and re-varnishing.

We have an area under a newly planted hedge surrounding a small group of War Graves that needs serious weeding…..

Some of the Section Markers on the main drive could do with a wash …..

…..and a few other small items.

All of these  jobs could be done at a time to suit yourself. (Provided the cemetery is open!) If you think you can help, can you contact us  by e mail on friendsofbec@gmail.com. to arrange times and dates etc 20150614_095651 Many thanks

Work on the Civilian Garden of Remembrance

FBEC have been lucky enough to receive a donation from one of our members that has enabled us to revitalise the Civilian Garden of Remembrance in the Cemetery.  Our main concern was that the beds had become over full and hard to maintain and that the quality of the soil needed improvement. The work was beyond our members abilities but we were able to engage ‘Rudge and Wood’ who are based at Winterbourne Botanical Gardens to undertake this project with some of their students.

20151026_125730It started like this…….and is nearly complete, so it looks like this…20160622_152413

 

20160622_151937It should be complete by the end of the week and we hope to hold an official unveiling in the near future so watch this space. Our thanks to Darren and his team and you can see more photographs of them at work on our facebook page.

‘Clean for the Queen’ litter pick in March 2016

Glorious sunshine helped our ‘Clean for the Queen’ litter pick in Brandwood End today. A dozen volunteer and the local Ranger dodged the heavy traffic in the Cemetery today to collect 32 bags of litter!  Most of the collected rubbish consisted of flower papers and we would like to appeal to visitors again to remove the papers from flowers left at grave sides.IMG_8412 The recent winds have created pockets of rubbish along the Sunderton Road boundary fence and Broad Lane, which will soon be enveloped in brambles so todays efforts were well worth while.

Our thanks to our volunteers and the Ranger for giving up their time on Mothering Sunday and we hope to see you all again at our usual quarterly litter pick in June.

IMG_8410We were also able to use this event to promote membership of the Friends and an awareness of what we do in Brandwood End.

All the volunteers were amazed at the volume of traffic that we observed passing through the cemetery today. With vehicle numbers in the hundreds every hour, speeding was not an issue and there were queues on all the main drive areas!

IMG_8420This should give you an idea of the volume of rubbish we managed to collect, and these two bins were just in one area!  32 black bags in all…IMG_8423

 

All in all….a good mornings work.

Extra Special Litter Pick on Mothering Sunday

clean_for_the_queen_logo_V4This Sunday, 6th March, the Friends of Brandwood End will be carrying out their usual quarterly litter pick, but you may have noticed that it falls during a special event weekend. This weekend is ‘Clean for the Queen‘ weekend when local residents are encouraged to work together to rid their area of litter.

The Friends will be meeting at the Lodge on the main drive at 10am so please come along and help. Normally we will finish at about 11.30am. This is a chance for us to promote FBEC on one of the busiest days in the cemetery and for you to enjoy a stroll around this beautiful green space while collecting any litter you may find.We have had some windy days so we are sure there will be lots of blown flower paper around!

We do have a number of ‘litter pickers’ but please bring your own if you have them. Stout shoes and gloves are also advisable.

Could this mean Spring is on the way!

Beautiful day today in the Cemetery. Sunshine, snowdrops(mainly leaves!) and the Woodpecker hammering away. Everywhere you look the daffodils are blooming and blossom trees are in bud.  Muntjac are calling…….maybe all a bit early in the year?

Litter pick March 2014 (16) (800x600)spotted woodpecker20160219_095224Every few days one of our committee strolls (or drives) around the cemetery to see what has been happening. The Tree Officer tells us that, despite loosing one large aged conifer at the far end of the cemetery, we escaped severe damage in Brandwood End.  A number of fallen branches were also reported to him by Bereavement Services and they have also been dealt with.

Welcome to 2016

A belated 2016 welcome to all our followers,  from the Committee of The Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery.

Who knows what 2016 will hold for the cemetery and all those that visit? The good news is that we appear to have escaped relatively unscathed from the high winds that have battered the area and other than the usual cascades of water from our blocked Victorian drains…….life (as far as we know) has been smooth. The Friends will be meeting with Bereavement Service staff in the next few weeks to discuss a number of issues, not least of all improving fencing around the chapels and our up and coming Lottery Bid with Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust to investigate the Hedgehog population in Brandwood End.

Please keep watching our page and spreading the word.

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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

 

Last minute reminder for tomorrows litter pick!

Tomorrow, Sunday 6th December, sees the last litter pick of 2015 in Brandwood End. Please come along and support us if you can. 20140301_112004The windy weather means that there will be plenty of litter blowing about! Meet at the Lodge at 10am. Pickers etc will be provided but stout footwear and gloves are recommended.