“Go oft to the house of thy friend, for weeds choke the unused path.”
For the past decade I have been visiting Castle Bromwich Graveyard on a regular basis and with the help of others have managed to uncover many graves that were obscured by brambles, stingers, holly and various other shrubbery. The change has been quite miraculous. But, as with all things it requires consistent effort to maintain the progress. I confess that for the past 18 months, other things have taken priority in my life and as a consequence some graves are being reclaimed by nature.
Today, I spent a while trying to change that. I decided to start with an area that contains the graves of war dead and spitfire pilots. I walked from home with just a pair of secateurs and gardening gloves, so what I could achieve was limited. I will need to return with some loppers and a rake and spade to finish the tidy up but I made good progress.
It can be hard to see what the brambles are covering, but ninety minutes later, it’s much clearer.
Let me take a minute to remind you of the stories of a few of the people buried in these graves, and why it is important to me to keep their graves tidy and their stories alive.
Edwin Tufnell Hayne served during WW1 earning the honour of being a Sopwith Ave. He was awarded a distinguished flying cross for his achievements, but was killed in a flying accident in 1919. His gravestone sums up what this post and the graveyard project is about:
Let those who come after, see to it that his name be not forgotten.”
Frank Dudley Evans was killed in a flying accident at Bristol. He was serving with 4th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, attached to the Royal Flying Corps.
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