Progress Bulletin, Number 2, October 2019
Blessed by unseasonably balmy weather since our last Bulletin, the Friends have organised yet more work parties of varying sizes and purpose in the cemetery.
The most immediate change visible to the residents of Weston Favell village will have been the clearing of ivy from the external wall on Church Way to reveal the beauty of the conservation area stonework on both the public and cemetery sides. The improvement has been remarked upon positively by many people since the work was completed on 2nd October 2019. Contrary to the widely spread rumour the three men seen clearing the ivy were not nefarious characters subject to Community Payback orders. We are aware that ivy itself houses wildlife and it is not intended that any other walls in the cemetery be cleared in a similar manner.
Evidence of the meadow and wild seed planting by children during the Open Gardens and Allotments event on 30th June 2019 can be seen in the borders along the Graspin Lane fence. Please take time to view the changes to the borders as you walk down the Lane to pick up your eggs from Cliff. We look forward to a real show of colour next Spring. And the insects will love ‘em!
It is said that charity begins at home and the Friends benefitted from the sharp eyes of Anne Jones in spotting Borough Council operatives clearing the borders of perennials in Abington Park in mid-October. Helpfully the council left plants with healthy root balls (and some soil!), piled by type, alongside pathways for the public to remove at its leisure. Never backward in coming forward, a lightening-strike on the horde at 9 o’clock the next morning led to a BMW, filled to the rooftop with the ill-gotten spoils of pillage, wending its precarious way back to the village.
Transplanting of the same plants took place at the cemetery without delay for fear that the Borough Council might change its mind, possession being nine-tenths of the law. The “liberated” plants included St. Bernard’s Lily, Common Bladder Campion, Verbena, as well as ornamental grasses, and these now adorn borders in the cemetery. On good authority these should attract insects and butterflies next year. It is also hoped that these can be added to from Weston Favell’s own gardens as keen gardeners split and gift other suitable wildlife attracting plants from their own plots.
The Friends now boast a “Bug Hotel Tsar(ina)” and we hope to organise workshops in the autumn months on creating various sanctuaries for small fauna in the cemetery. A further longer term consideration is to supplement these with bird and bat boxes. Look out for announcements regarding dates and venues for construction parties and come and join us.
The Friends of Weston Favell Village Cemetery will also complete a comprehensive survey of the site to record use of the space, changes to the margins and a log of existing and recently added flora. The aim is to provide residents with a diagrammatic presentation of the work to date and to help us prepare for the year(s) ahead.
The cemetery enhancement project was never intended to be a single season project, not even a single year one. We continue to think in terms of the present as being a platform for many years in the future.
For more information contact:
Martin Brown – martin.brown14@btinternet.com
Anne Jones – anne.michaeljones@tiscali.co.uk