Dave, Alan, Rita, Astrid and Chris all working in the cemetery on another sunny day – the weatherman says it may be the last for a while! Chris had cleaned most of the granite stones in the 7 – 12 Parminter grave, and Astrid and Rita were given the task of cleaning the remaining bag, which was soon completed and the stones were spread out evenly in the grave. Now looking pristine again. The girls then went over to clear up the remainder of the bramble cuttings – still in a neat pile – next to the back fence of the first house in Wembdon Road. The now full dumpy bag was taken to the area where the full bags are stored by Chris and Dave. 35 dumpy bags which had kindly been emptied by SDC were folded neatly and stored in 3 dumpy bags by Rita and Astrid for future use. The girls then decided it was tea break time and went to join the boys who were working on the J9 Cox memorial – a large headstone incorporating a cross that had been toppled and broken in many pieces. They first had to sort out the kerbs that had sunk, it is important that the kerbs are level as the slabs will sit on the kerbs forming a platform for the broken headstone. After the kerbs had been sorted, two of the slabs which were next to the grave, placed there by Fine Memorials some time ago for our use, another was a little way away and was left over from a memorial they were working on and surplus to requirements. Using round poles, it did not take long and took little effort to move the slab to the Cox grave.
Suddenly the sun disappeared and black clouds were upon us, threatening rain, so it was decided to do the final adjustments of placing the pieces of the headstone on the slabs and tidying the grave area around the headstone with earth and grass seed to the next visit – weather permitting. Tools were packed up and placed under a tree for shelter. The group then noticed that the hedge along Jam Factory Lane had been cut to fence level by SDC so everyone went over to have a look, this has made a tremendous difference and very much appreciated. It makes the cemetery look so much tidier. Both Chris and Astrid took photos of the mornings work. The threatened rain did not materialise but it was decided to call it a day and make our way home.
