Rectory Lane Cemetery, Three Close Lane, Berkhamsted HP4 2DH
www.rectorylanecemetery.org.uk
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The work by our volunteers continues, getting on top of this year's growth and preparing the ground for next - when we will aim to increase the ratio of wildflowers to coarse grasses...
Please come and join us - either on the first Sunday afternoon of the month or on a Wednesday afternoon. They're very rewarding sessions, doing great work - and we have tea and biscuits afterwards!
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The upper cemetery is a large area, and some sections need to remain undisturbed for nature, while we garden others - we have deliberately focussed on the two lines of graves either side of the main paths, strimming hard and raking off the coarse grass (with the help of Chiltern Society volunteers). These areas will be prepared, first with black membrane to suppress the grass over the winter/spring and then dug over, ready for planting up in the spring with wildflowers.
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Volunteers sewing Yellow Rattle seed along the boundary railings - this semi-parasitic plant should gradually reduce the vigour of the coarse grasses. Volunteers also collect our wildflower seeds so that we can spread them to other prepared areas - this is a large area of purple Corncockle.
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Beds which contained a mix of annual and perennial wildflowers need to be tended in these early days, to ensure that the coarse grasses don't swamp the area preventing seeds and plants from thriving and coming back next year.
The young hedge in the lower cemetery needs help so that it is not swamped with bindweed, Russian vine and other bully plants.
And the yews look so much sharper with the ivy removed.
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The latest grave to be adopted - its never too late in the year to bring some more colour into the Cemetery! Thank you for your latest volunteer transformation.
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If you’d like to support by volunteering – either to help keep the space looking good or at any future events, please email team@rectorylanecemetery.org.uk. You could join us in the friendly Wednesday working party or if you prefer a Sunday afternoon we will be continuing with at least the first Sunday in the month - join our WhatsApp and you can be notified about these. There are still plenty of tasks to do over the Autumn/Winter, to prepare the space for spring. And we've yet to have the leaf fall!
Are you a member of a group who could use the space and make a contribution as you do so?
If you’d like to make a donation towards the upkeep of the space it’s simple and quick to do via this link, and will make such a huge difference
https://www.rectorylanecemetery.org.uk/sustain/support/donate/
THANK YOU
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A beautiful shot of a September Sunrise over the Garden of Remembrance by Liam Stephenson. But you can still enjoy the beauty of the place a little later in the day, or spot all the different fungi...
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Report from our Bumblebee Conservation Trust walker on her final visit for the year: I did not see any bumbles at all and Dave’s hives had very little activity too, all very quiet on the bee front. However, I am sure there will be a number of queen bumbles hibernating in the cemetery. It has so many perfect places for them to tuck themselves safely away for the winter and I am sure that we will see them again in the Spring.
There is I think, a pattern beginning to develop as a result of all the flowers that have been planted. I saw, this year and last, mostly the same species each month, obviously linked to what is in flower as each species has their own preference. I do think it an amazing achievement on your part – from no bumbles when I first visited there are now occasions when there are too many for me to count – you have created a real haven for them which is brilliant! I will continue to visit and keep my eyes open on warm days as in some places buff-tailed bumblebees have been seen out in the winter, with the queen having established a nest in the Autumn instead of going into hibernation. I guess that depends on how cold the winter is and if any flowers out.
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WEDNESDAY 8TH NOVEMBER is the next working party - do join us then or later Wednesdays, continuing through Autumn and Winter...
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11TH and 12TH NOVEMBER - Remembrance Weekend
Saturday 11th November: A small service will be held at the memorial outside St Peters at 10:55.
Sunday 12th November: A wreath will be laid at the memorial in the Garden of Remembrance, Rectory Lane Cemetery at 11:00.
The main Berkhamsted parade will set off from the rear of the Civic Centre at 14:45 for wreath laying at 15:00. The main service will be 15:10 - 16:10 in St Peters Church. Following that everyone is welcome to go to the Royal British Legion Club.
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Books in the Woods (Berkhamsted Branch) which meets in the Cemetery on the 3rd Saturday of the month is continuing through the winter (weather and volunteer dependant): 18th November; 16th December; 20th January; 17th February.
You need to book here to join in.
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WildStrong continues to offer group movement sessions in the cemetery on Tuesday mornings.
A lovely group has formed to explore different movements to build strength and mobility for life. We spend time on the ground (and getting up!), balancing, working on strength and gaining confidence, as well as generally enjoying moving outdoors. The sessions are at a gentle pace and movements can be adapted around you. And once a month we go for a coffee afterwards!
For more information contact Sarah sarah.langridge@wildtstrong.co or visit https://wildstrong.co/berkhamsted
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Jackie Henderson, a skilled artist who now favours working 'en plein air', participated in our Heritage Open Day in September, which celebrated art and creativity and our lovely community open space.
A display of her 'cemetery' work will be hung as part of the Berkhamsted Art Society's Winter Exhibition. Jackie will be donating part of the sale price to support the Rectory Lane Cemetery project - for which we are extremely grateful. She will also be demonstrating her approach to painting en plein air during the Exhibition.
Don't miss this opportunity to see her work and possibly buy one of her stunning framed paintings (a couple are shown below).
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Interring ashes
We have already had four interments into this area of ashes with accompanying fused glass tiles installed on the Celebration of Life wall. If you are interested in this service, please do get in touch. The aim is to provide a beautiful and peaceful location for relatives and friends to inter and remember their loved ones - and also contribute to the costs of keeping the space beautiful.
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Our biography this month, fittingly, is of one of the many casualties of war who are buried in our Cemetery:
Albert Dollimore, Private, Army Service Corps, Reg. No. M2/188002 - who died just a few days after Armistice.
He is commemorated on the War Memorial, but his grave is not in a good state. However, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission are organising to erect a CWGC headstone on his burial plot, and the plot itself will be adopted and cared for by one of our volunteers.
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Albert was born in Berkhamsted in 1895, the son of a timber hewer. In 1911 the family lived at Chalgrove Villa, 24 Shrublands Avenue, Berkhamsted, at that time 17-year-old Albert was employed as a houseboy.
The Army Service Corps, nicknamed the Ally Sloper’s Cavalry, was the unsung hero of the British Army in the War. An Army cannot fight without food, equipment and ammunition. The vast supplies required were sent from Britain using horsed and motor vehicles, railways and waterways. Although not in the trenches, and rarely mentioned in war histories, the men and animals of the ASC were regularly under heavy shellfire as they made their way to and from the Front, and their bravery was second to none.
With his former role as houseboy, Albert would have been accustomed to duties such as laundry, ironing and polishing shoes, so he may have been involved with supplying kit for soldiers. By the time of Albert’s death in 1918, the Corps had attained its “Royal” prefix for its service in the war. Albert died just a few days after Armistice, on 18th November 1918 in Berkhamsted.
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To explore other military burials in Rectory Lane Cemetery, follow this link.
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We're sad to report that the seating in the Cemetery has suffered some damage. It started with the woven willow Family Seat right at the top of the site, which had already been repaired once by its artist, over a year ago, but then was damaged again, with the whips broken and pulled out and even some fire damage to the arch.
Then more fire damage to the wooden slats of the Welcome Seat at the very bottom of the site.
Not only is this hugely disappointing and costly if we are to repair but we also felt that it justified reporting it to the local police, who have been very helpful and supportive.
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The future of the cemetery is entirely dependent upon donations - of time and money. Please help to keep the community space going for future generations to enjoy. If you’d like to make a donation towards the upkeep of the space it’s simple and quick to do via this link, and will make such a huge difference
https://www.rectorylanecemetery.org.uk/sustain/support/donate/
THANK YOU
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