Friends of Darwen Cemetery
Issued 5 October 2015
Minutes for Management Meeting on 30 September 2015 at 6.00 pm
Present: John East (chair), Mick Walsh, Kath Walsh, Diane Walsh, Diane Davies, Colin Briggs,
Paul Dargan, Jill Marr, Peter van Dijk (minutes)
1. Apologies.
Steve Davies, Tony Foster
2. Minutes of the last Meeting.
Accepted
3. Matters Arising –
3.1. Belgian refugee grave – We have had a quote for restoring the grave.
We are considering using an actor at Remembrance Services to tell the
story of Darwen’s Belgian refugees.
.
3.2. Wedges in the Ashes Garden – Mick is meeting James Stevenson on
Tuesday to discuss the infills.
3.3. Whitehall in Bloom – Colin attended the presentations on our behalf;
we were highly commended for our efforts in the Nature Garden.
Perhaps we should enter the heather bed in next year’s competition.
3.4. Knotweed problem – Mick reported that there was now Japanese
Knotweed in 11 sections of the Cemetery, including 3 new infestations
well away from previously established areas. Indiscriminant strimming
has resulted in the dispersion of viable fragments and the cutting down
of established plants. Consequently the stem injection of herbicide to
kill established plants will not be possible this autumn.
The employment of inexperienced Payback personnel to strim the
Cemetery was deplored. They had cut down well-established plants in
Section H and deposited the waste on Section K. Eddie Maxwell of
Environmental Services at BwD has asked Payback to stay away from
Darwen Cemetery. We think he is overoptimistic in stating that he is
confident it will not spread.
John and Karimeh have held discussions with Martin Eden, Director of
Environment and Leisure at BwD, to raise his awareness of the
knotweed issue, and to ask for more consultation with Friends groups.
Peter is to write to BwD (Martin Eden, Eddie Maxfield and Tony
Watson) to ask that Payback do not come back on site and that BwD
monitor the knotweed very carefully. He will include Mick’s note.
(P.S. The Payback supervisor has now left.)
4. Chairman’s comments - John. Nothing more to report.
5. Treasurer’s report – Diane reported income of £260 for the Grave
Maintenance Scheme, £73 for the Heritage Walk and the transfer of money
previously stuck in the PayPal account. We have spent £189 for the new
Peter
Public Address system and truck. She is due to pay £117 for Trustees
insurance – this includes the Muck Truck as a special item. We now have
£5044 in cash and bank balances, and no outstanding commitments.
6. Grounds Strategy report – Mick – see Mick’s full report attached.
The Saturday group had met twice with 11 volunteers each time. An
unwanted rhododendron bush had been removed from Section C. A
scheduled Grave Maintenance day had given attention to 15 grave plots.
Encroaching trees were removed from three plots in Section 4B.
The Thursday group had met five times with an average of nine volunteers
each time. Work has commenced on restoration of two grave plots for the
Grave Maintenance Scheme. Planting and general maintenance has
continued in all formally planted areas.
There have been no approaches from DACA or Industry to volunteer to
work in the Cemetery. This will affect our volunteer hour statistics for this
year.
The issue of our duty of care for our volunteers was discussed. We need a
record of who our volunteers are, who to contact in case of emergency,
and whether each volunteer has any special issues that we should be aware
of. Paul will see if we still have volunteer registration forms.
7. War graves report – Diane.
Mrs Tapp has complained about the state of the CWGC headstones to Chris
Hawes, and all the headstones were cleaned on 16 September. Our stones
have been cleaned four times in 15 months – the normal rate is once every
three years. Our difficulty is that, even after cleaning, our headstones do
not look pristine.
Diane has been contacting the adopters to get graves ready in time for the
Remembrance Services.
The display has been at Darwen Vale High School again. They also still have
the granite panel: James will return to remove it.
John will send the CWGC evaluation form to Diane.
8. Education and Interpretation report – No report in Tony’s absence.
9. Publicity and Media report – John.
Our Heritage Walk had been covered on local radio. John said we should
make full use of our website to publicise what we are doing. Diane D said
we should also make full use of Facebook and Twitter as well. There were
ways of linking these different social media. John will contact a young
person who knows about these things or use his contacts at DACA..
10. Grave Maintenance scheme – Paul has been getting in renewal
subscriptions for the scheme, so it will continue for another year.
11. Special Projects
11.1.
WW1 HLF Project – Steve and Jill.
The application form is complete apart from some dates that need to
be changed because time has overtaken us. Jill will circulate it for proof
reading. Jill suggested that the new start date should be 1 July 2016 as
that is the centenary of the start of the Battle of the Somme.
The next thing to do is to have a special Trustees meeting, involving
Steve, his experts, and Brent Stevenson, to agree details of the
Paul
John
John
All
construction.
John will discuss Helen’s fee of £1200 with Steve.
11.2.
Debriefing for Heritage Open Day 2015 – Tony.
45 people attended Tony’s walk. The new Public Address system
performed well, although the new trolley it rides on is not robust
enough for the Cemetery’s uneven roads. The head mike cuts out
when its associated hand mike is switched on. The PA system should
be very good for the Remembrance Services when it doesn’t need to
be moved around. Colin is storing it for the present.
The Town Council is holding a debriefing on 27 October at Darwen
Town Hall for all participants to consider improvements for next year.
12. AOB.
12.1.
Remembrance Services on 6 and 8 November.
Diane said Terry Young is working on a more child-friendly service for
this year. Avondale and Ashleigh asked to be able to read poems. The
names of all servicemen who had passed the centenary of their death
in the last year would be read out. She had invited all the schools.
Peter is to ask the civic dignitaries, as usual, but make clear that we
would like them to stay to join the children in placing crosses on the
graves. We should ensure that children are at the front and adults at
the back.
Paul will put flags in bundles but can’t attend to put them out on the
Friday. The Thursday group will put them out on the Thursday.
12.2.
Diane pointed out that our general leaflet is out of date. John
will talk to Tony and Roy about updating it.
12.3.
Paul said the walk booklets needed their own page on the
website. He will scan in the front pages.
12.4.
Mick suggested that CVS, who send us volunteers, should send a
representative to join one our work parties to see what it is we do, so
that they will be able to ensure that the volunteers they send us have
the requisite skills.
12.5.
Diane asked about the missing face on the little boy statue.
Mick said he will discuss this with James on Tuesday.
Date and Time of next Meeting – Wednesday 28 October 2015 at 6pm
John
Peter
John
Paul
Mick