Stowupland

1st March 2018 - There is a little more tree work to do before the leaves break. The two trees behind the cemetery building are to be taken down to open up that area.

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When you look at the building under all that green there is a very pretty building with patterned brickwork. During the year we hope to clean the building so we can all appreciate it. The side that has been cleared of Laurel will need spraying and clearing of small stumps during the year ready for seeding later in the year. There is always something that needs doing so I was sad that no one has come forward to volunteer to help with the occasional odd job. Do try to give an hour or two occasionally if you can please. Every year, in both the cemetery and churchyard, the Parish Council has to test every head stone to make sure they are firmly fixed. Colloquially it is called the “topple test” but is taken very seriously because these headstones are heavy and could cause serious harm if one was to fall on someone. Although it is the responsibility of the Parish Council to test them it is, under the Parish Council Cemetery Policy, the responsibility of the owners of the headstone to repair them. Failure to repair them and make safe means the Parish Council has the right to remove them. There were so many headstones identified this year as needing repair that the Parish Council has taken the unusual step of paying to have them all done at their cost. This is a one off and I take this opportunity to remind families visiting both the cemetery and churchyard to keep an eye on headstones and indeed edging kerbs and check for stability. Over time there seems to have been a proliferation of glass jars, and ceramic pots appearing on graves and ashes burial plots. This is potentially dangerous for our grass cutter as well as visitors as they are easily broken. The Parish Council will go through a process to have all these types of things removed. The Cemetery is designated as a Lawn Cemetery and all stone vases and flowers should be set on the plinth at foot of the head stone. If you have a loved one in the cemetery please will you remove any glass, ceramic or metal from the grave and place all flowers at the headstone by the end of April. After that date the Parish Council will remove containers and any other objects which contravene our Cemetery Policy.

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15th September 2017 - Over the next few weeks there will be a lot of work going on in the older part of the cemetery.

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Indeed by the time you read this it may have already started. Along the left hand side of the cemetery the shrubs have encroached to such a degree that several graves have become hidden in the midst. The Parish Council have authorised a sum of money to enable this to all be cleared back to the original hedge line. When the shrubbery has been cleared and the hedge line found it is sure to be very thin and scrappy and even dead in places. The plan after all has been cleared away is, in the autumn, to reseed the cleared areas and plant young whips of mixed hedging to bring the hedge back to become a lush boundary line.

There will also be some clearance beyond the line of conifers in the centre of the cemetery again where shrubbery has covered graves and in a couple of cases taken root in the graves themselves. The spoil heap and greenery at the end of the cemetery will be taken away along with the accumulated rubbish behind the Memorial Wall. When it is all cleared the gravediggers will be instructed to place all spoil in the skip provide. Hopefully we will be able to provide a couple more all weather benches when the work is done.

Work will also begin on the new turn around area in the new part of the cemetery. This will repair the end of the access drive, extend the path from the memorial to the access drive and create a semi circle at the end of the drive to enable funeral vehicles to turn. A skip will be placed behind the semi circle for the remaining soil after a burial but the skip will be hidden behind gates.

It may be a case of things looking worse for a little while before they get better but please bear with the Parish Council while the work is ongoing because it will all be worth it in the end.

Churchyard and Cemetery Committee

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3rd March 2018 - Next Cemetery Committee meeting Saturday 2nd June 2018 at 10.00am.

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Future meetings: 29th September 2018 1st December 2018 Meetings start in Churchyard at 10,00am and move to the Cemetery approximately 30-45minutes later.

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