Alan, Chris and Astrid working in the cemetery today (18 October 2026). Once again we were lucky to have dry and fine weather. Work continued in section G, today on the Emery grave G 61.
Edwin Emery drowned in 1882, and Harriet beloved wife of Robert Rowland died 1902.
Wooden rollers were used to enable the headstone to be moved out of the way to progress the work.
The large base block that the headstone once sat on had sunk into the ground and needed to be raised. Several support bricks were placed under the wide base to increase its height and earth packed around to hold it into position. A concrete base 3ft x 1.5ft x 3 inch was used to ensure that the two pieces of the headstone were supported and held together. The headstone was cleaned and carefully lowered into position, cement was added to the crack and the broken piece of headstone was slid into position and fitted snug. Cement was also added where the headstone sits against the large support base to prevent rainwater from entering and weeds from growing up. The area around the grave was tidied and the cemented joints were covered with polythene bags to prevent them from getting wet as rain has been forecast for the next few days.
In the meantime, Astrid had started working on the wildflower ground next to the boundary fences behind the houses on Wembdon road.
Astrid had dug out and removed weeds in this area, tidying the area around the rose plant which had been planted in memory of our late member Bernice Lashbrook.
Astrid also started trimming the bay trees which had been growing large and out of shape, filling up a large bag with weeds, prunings and fennel plant.
After a stop for tea break, Chris and Alan then started on the Palmer grave no77 in section G. During the previous week, we had seen that some of the kerbs had been pushed and moved out of place. We dug out the long kerb as it had fallen inwards and the short kerb had been pushed out of position, most likely by the mower. The pad stones supporting the kerbs were sound. Both kerbstones were placed back into position with a little packing slate to adjust heights. The kerbs are now ready to be cemented together but this will be done another day. The centre concrete slab has cracked and sunk in the middle, once the kerbs have been cemented together it will be decided how to rectify this, the easiest way will be to fill the centre with stone chipping to level the surface.
A member of the public who regularly walks through the area stopped for a chat with us, so we showed them the work we had just carried out, they also spoke about the amounts of litter being left behind in the area.
With the weather being sunny, it was easier to see a large tree had its branches cut recently by the council, this tall tree is by the far side wall, near Jam Factory lane.
We could also see several branches had become broken on another large tree, and these will need looking at by the council specialist tree surgeon team. The council have been made aware of this.
Chris and Alan were pleased with the results of their work, particularly the Emery grave which was in a sorry state, they then packed up their tools and made for home.