Rectory Lane Cemetery, Three Close Lane, Berkhamsted HP4 2DH
www.rectorylanecemetery.org.uk
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We're looking forward to welcoming everybody to our Easter Discovery Trail on Saturday 30th March, 10am - 1pm
This is a lovely event - perfect for families. Please come along and spread the word about it. There will be refreshments to buy too, as well as eggs to win!
We're grateful to Berkhamsted Town Council for supporting this community event. Take advantage of our Early Chick ticket option and save money - follow this link! Adults and children under 3 are free!
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Children can follow the trail using a clue card specially illustrated by the artist Lizzie Martell. On completion of the trail, which will take in the first signs of spring and the cemetery's intriguing trees and memorials, children will be rewarded with a chocolate Easter egg. They can also keep the enchantingly designed clue card as a memento to colour in at home.
All proceeds from the Easter Discovery Trail will go towards the upkeep of the Cemetery, as a place for nature, community and heritage. Early Chick tickets cost £3.50 (+booking fee) per child (aged 3 and over) via: tinyurl.com/5x7d6y6n or the QR code, with tickets on the day at £6.50.
Why not get yours now and bring your family along!
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Back in 2022, 114 visitors enjoyed the cemetery's Easter trail and we hope that even more members of the community will come along and take part in the tradition of an egg hunt with friends and family - in our safe green space in the centre of town.
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OUR EVENTS BROUGHT IN NEW VOLUNTEERS!
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These two Spring events brought us three new grave adopters and three new working party members - which is brilliant and gets this year off to a promising start. Within that group are three people who enjoy mowing, which is particularly great news as the grass is beginning to romp away.
We are grateful to the existing grave adopters who continue to invest in their flowerbeds.
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These photos were taken at the Saturday event, which boasted a variety of weathers: rain, hale, sun and a rainbow - showing our beautiful Garden of Remembrance with its Celebration of Life wall.
The glass tiles are gradually multiplying as more and more people want to commemorate loved ones with their chosen texts. If you want to do the same, follow this link to find out how straightforward it is.
We can also, now, inter ashes in the area just below the garden - which is bordered by hebe, lavender, salix and hellebore plants. Get in touch if you'd like to find out more about this: team@rectorylanecemetery.org.uk
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Up at the top of the cemetery is our Volunteers' Retreat and the beautiful carpet of primroses has returned. Most of them are native, but there are a few pinkish ones too - perhaps escapers from previous grave gardens.
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Looking towards the ponds and bog garden.
We're beginning to see which plants have survived the winter and where we have empty plantpots which are small monuments to their previous occupants.
It is exciting to check each week to see if we have any new inhabitants of the amphibious variety...
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GETTING FIT IN THE OUTDOORS!
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Of course, joining our working parties or becoming a regular mower in the cemetery or gardening a grave are fantastic ways to get fit - both physically and mentally. But you might want to avail yourself of something else too...
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Sarah from WildStrong who runs regular outdoor fitness sessions in Rectory Lane Cemetery recently chatted to Radio Dacorum about the positive benefits of exercising outdoors, in most weathers! She was joined by one of her regulars who is a firm advocate of the exercise. She is looking forward to more members joining them as Spring gets underway. To listen to the interview follow this link. Why not give it a go?!
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BIOGRAPHY OF THE MONTH
John W. Stanlake
29/11/1879 –04/12/1943
Of humble origins, John became a missionary in Africa, died in an asylum and is buried in Berkhamsted
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An example of the ship he lived on as an infant.
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John William Stanlake was born on 29 November 1870, on the Isle of Sheppey. When he was four months old, he was living with his parents on a naval hulk Aetna (An iron clad floating battery built for the Crimean War but never used. It burnt down a few years after John was born). This appears to have been housing Metropolitan Police Officers, who were responsible for policing the Royal Dockyard at Chatham and the surrounding area. His father, a Cornishman, was one of these police constables.
To find out more about how he came to be living in Rhodesia and working as a missionary, follow this link to his biography, researched by one of our volunteer genealogy team We are very grateful to our genealogy volunteers, their research shows the myriad lives and experience of those buried in our cemetery.
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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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