The morning was drizzly, with the forecast of heavier rain, but Astird and Parsley popped by on the off chance anyone else had braved the damp - wisely, they hadn't, because it was miserable! Regardless, Astrid had grown some corn flower plants at home, so they could be planted in the wild flower area. She thought the rain might help them establish themselves quickly, so she made (the complete opposite of) hay while the sun shines. Once this was done they walked around cemetery and headed home, so Parsley could put his paws up.
Friday 14 June
Due to rain and holiday the Friends have not been able to work in the cemetery for a while. Alan & Rita went in early evening today to meet Robert Butler and Frances from Warwick and Robert’s cousin Betsy and Tony Martin from the USA, luckily the rain had stopped and the sun came out. There were 11 family graves they wished to visit, all were located, Betsy took photographs for a book she is going to produce of her family tree. Three of the burial plots had no headstones, Harold Vowles Webber died 22 September 1917 aged 18 months, but he is commemorated on the Webber headstone in section M 28 row 4 plot 9. Edwin Whitting, their great grandfather also without a headstone who was buried 2 March 1921 aged 72 who is in Section M row 4 plot 20, also William Hornsby who was buried 31 January 1935 aged 72 and is in Section A row 1a plot 2 also a relative. They asked if it was possible to have a stone erected for Edwin Whitting and Will Hornsby, Alan & Rita said they would contact Fine Memorial to ask if they could provide the family with some designs and prices for them to consider. They were informed that to erect a headstone in the cemetery Fine Memorial would have to contact Sedgemoor District Council for permission. They were especially pleased to find their great grandfathers resting place as they had been searching for a while to find him. Alan took a photo of the group at one the Webber graves.
Sunday 16 June
Alan, Dave, Astrid and Parsley in the cemetery today. Although most of the week we had rain the grass was not as wet as expected, it was decided to finish off cutting back the grass, weeds and nettles along the new hedge and path of headstones. While Alan and Dave were busy with their mattocks cutting through the nettles some over 4 foot tall, Astrid was cutting back the new hedge that had began to encroach over the headstones. After one and a half hours they had reached the end of the row filling 2 large dumpy bags. Very pleased with their efforts they had a look around and decided that the next work sessions would be concentrated on clearing ground at the end of the path of headstones leading up to the bluebell area which would improve the appearance and allow for another wild flower area. This decided, they made their home.
