The sun was shining in the cemetery today for workers Chris, Astrid, Alan and Rita. On arrival it was noticed that SDC had started to cut the long grass, which seems to grow daily with the weather we have been having. So much to do, where to start – Astrid and Rita spent the morning clearing brambles, ivy and bindweed from the Spiller cairn, what a tremendous growth in less than a year! With sweat running down their faces and only half of the cairn uncovered it was dinner time. Not the best of jobs being scratched by thorns and stung by stinging nettles – but they didn’t complain! Alan and Chris were working on the large marble grave of Parminter Plan 7 – 12 where one of the kerbs had been hit by the mower and pushed out of place. Moving the kerbs out, they cleaned out the weeds and stones between the kerbs and base, they chipped off the old cement on the ends of the kerbs. They then replaced the kerbs back in position and placed the posts safely inside the grave ready for cementing everything back in place when next in the cemetery.
Having noticed 2 wasps nests within the cemetery we placed a stake in position by the side of each nest, as a warning sign for people walking through the cemetery. The team walked round the cemetery to check there were no more wasp nests and picked up some rubbish on their rounds. Chris kindly came back to the cemetery later in the afternoon and placed a notice on the stakes ‘Caution Wasps Nest’.
Tuesday 31 August
Alan and Rita in the cemetery this morning to meet with the new Grounds Operations Manager for SDC Duncan Lane.
We toured the cemetery showing Duncan points of interest and looking at areas in the cemetery where trees and hedges need to be managed. While we were in the cemetery the band of SDC grass cutters were strimming the grass. The noise of the strimmers disturbed a further two wasps nests in the ground, stakes were positioned nearby. The workmen were asked to put in additional stakes if more nests were identified.
After their meeting with Duncan they finished off clearing the Spiller cairn, a large grave formed by large rocks and boulders.
