Alan, Dave Astrid and our chairman Miles in the cemetery today (24 September 2023). Although there was the threat of rain, it turned out to be a warm and sunny morning. Nice to see Miles down from Glasgow and rolling his sleeves up to get stuck into some work he enjoys.
Alan and Dave set about sorting out the Boon 14-11 grave that was in a sorry state (Ernest Boon, died 1913). The kerbs joints had all broken apart and the concrete slab was broken and sunk. The first job was to move the two long kerbs and both the end shaped kerbs. This done work started on sorting out the concrete slab that took longer than they first thought due to the number of broken parts. It will take two more session before the grave will look tidy and impressive.
In the meantime Astrid and Miles were given the task of cutting back the undergrowth that had taken over the corner of the cemetery next to the top of Jam Factory Lane, ready for Somerset Council to remove the old and diseased trees and plant new trees.
Astrid got to work clearing a corridor in the corner up to the far wall, in the process clearing the very overgrown memorial to the Tuckers (D-19: William died 1911, Joanna 1924 and William Charles 1871). She cleared the full stretch to the wall along the Jam Factory Lane - the ground just needs a going over with a mattock to clear the roots now.
Miles meanwhile cleared an area near the Walters memorial (K-27: John Walters, died 1865), digging up bramble roots and working to clear around the dead trees, which are due to be removed by the council. He managed to get up a rotten tree stump and moved it to another area to rot down for the bugs. Directly underneath the stump was a crisp packet dating to the 1980s, showing how old that tree was. Continuing an unlucky tradition of Miles accidentally breaking tools (which seems to happen every time he helps out!), he managed to break Alan’s 3lb mattock: he now owes the team a new handle!
What a stunning job Miles and Astrid have done. It certainly looked like hard work. Well done both.