Next Church Yard Working Party Sat 23-09-2017
ONE MORE TIME...........
Following on from the very successful working parties on Aug 28th and Jul 22nd we will have a third and (most likely) final go this year on Saturday 23rd Sept........
Please do come and join the working party for all, or some, of the time - enjoy an excellent cup of tea or coffee and oh, do bring along with you any secateurs, loppers, saws, shears, gloves etc because there will be an opportunity for a little healthy exercise as well........
The previous two working parties have made tremendous strides in clearing and exposing the graves and bring the area into a better condition for the RBWM to maintain - let's keep the momentum going........
Thanks and congratulations to the working party on Sat 26th Aug who continued the work of the group of Church Volunteers who formed a working party on Saturday Morning, 22 07 2017, to clear badly overgrown growth around graves to enable the local authority to maintain the area - this also exposed some interesting historical grave stones. This has made the area more both accessible and will enable the RBWM to access for maintenance.
Please note:-
In answer to some queries the maintenance of the Graveyard is the responsibility of the RBWM - however they have limited resources to deal with areas of self-seeded poor quality shrubs and ivy covering, and preventing access to, historic graves. As the RBWM could not access this area due to this over-growth - the team worked with the Borough Cemeteries Officer who arranged for the disposal of the removed shrubs/ivy/low branches preventing this access. There will probably need to be a third working party to complete the planned work and hopefully the RBWM will then be able to maintain the area. The work has not impinged upon the area designated by the RBWM to be left alone for wildlife (in fact this area, having been left to it's own devices, is larger than intended by the Council, and does cover some graves). The tree canopy remains for birds and insects. The access and exposure of historic graves has been welcomed by individuals and local societies and our thanks go to the Borough Cemeteries Officer and the working parties members for making this much needed improvement to the historic graveyard.
The images below show the extent of the work undertaken and some of the exposed historic gravestones:-
ALSO:-
Many thanks to the group of Church Volunteers who formed a working party on Saturday Morning, 22 07 2017, to clear badly overgrown growth around graves to enable the local authority to maintain the area - this also exposed some interesting historical grave stones.
The images show the before and after along with the pile of growth cleared which the local authority will remove.
There is also a picture of some of the team taking a well earned break from the work.
The images of the grave stones are not very clear due th their age - they include the gravestones of the first Vicar of All Saints - William Gresley; the second Vicar, Canon Drummond and also that of William Nicholson, founder of Nicholsons Brewery (now the site of the Nicholsons Shopping Centre) and donor of the site for the Library in St. Ives Road.