Alan decided he would go into the cemetery today (13 April 2023) to complete some work on the Crocker and Newswag memorials, plus build up earth along the back fence of the house on the left of Wembdon Road as you enter the cemetery, to improve the appearance.
First job was to clean the bottom inscription on the Crocker grave for Emily wife of George, who died in 1899. The lettering was small and quite fragile, with a fine wire brush in the shape of a toothbrush Alan carefully cleaned the wording with water, the inscription is now clearly readable.
Moving over to the Newswag/Cook memorial. The memorial was heavily stained with algae, Alan slowly cleaned it sufficiently so the inscription can be read and the repaired cross is looking a lot better now near it's white marble colour.
The ground around the grave was in a poor state, it took 3 wheelbarrows of earth to level up the ground improving the appearance of the area.
Just as Alan had finished this work a gentleman walking his dog asked him if he had worked on the Crocker grave, and he thanked the Friends as the memorial looks really wonderful. Alan said it was a joint effort by SDC who removed the tree that had pushed the memorial over, Fine Memorials who had re-erected the memorial stones and the Friends who had cemented the ornate posts and kerbs back into position and gave the stones a good clean. Alan thanked him for his kind words.
A lady walking her dog came in shortly after and said how nice it was to see that people did care about the cemetery and she loved to walk around the cemetery reading the inscriptions.
She asked how the Friends raised the money necessary for any work, Alan explained, by kind donations and subscriptions from the Friends members. Alan said she could look at the Friends of Wembdon Road Cemetery website or Facebook and this would give her the information on how to donate or to become a member (£8 per year).
Alan then moved over to the neighbours fence, building up the bank with large stones and moving earth to cover the stones, still more work required with at least 3–4 wheelbarrows of earth to complete the job. In the middle of this job Alan noticed a gentleman was reading inscriptions on graves, Alan went over to enquire if he could help, he said he was looking for his grandparents grave, Alan took information on his relatives and said Rita would be in contact with him regarding any information found.
Alan felt he had a very productive work session and it was nice for people to thank the Friends for the work they are doing in the cemetery.