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Ford Park Cemetery Trust
January 2019
FORD PARK Newsletter
CEMETERY
2019
TRUST NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2019
Our fund-raising Spring, Summer and Christmas Fayres raised an amazing sum total of £3,641.50. We had a wide range of stalls at each event. A big thank you for all those who made it possible to reach this amount.
The Carol Service was a great success. All the tickets were sold, and the congregation had the pleasure of listening to the Plymouth Clarion Choir during the service. Afterwards there were favourable comments regarding the new programme format. The printing of a larger font was welcomed by those of us with less than 20 20 vision!
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Ford Park Cemetery Trust
January 2019
CHRISTMAS WREATHS Maggie Heath with her band of trusty Volunteers toiled hard just before Xmas with the orders piling in. In all, we took 226 orders for wreaths and crosses this year, reaching just under £3000. Thank you to all that supported this venture.
CHRISTMAS RAFFLE The Trust is very fortunate and had many prizes donated by local businesses - Wyatt Bros Funeral Directors, W.C. Parson Funeral directors, Co-operative Funeral and Mason Services, Goals of Plymouth to name but a few. We are truly grateful for their continued support it raised a healthy £960
TREADMILL SPONSOR WALK Our staff and volunteers collectively walked 73 miles on a treadmill to raise money for the Bell Turret. £2000.00 was raised through sponsors and an additional £500 will be claimed through gift aid. Thank you to Sam in the office for the idea and the loan of her treadmill. Here’s Maggie showing the way.
The bric-a-brac shelves just inside the office building has now raised an impressive £5,399.92. The money has enabled us to buy the purple slate around the roses opposite the office and Victorian Chapel, the graves in between the two Chapels and new hymn books for the Victorian Chapel. New slate has been laid around the graves between the 2 chapels, matching the rose gardens adjacent to the Chapels. Co-operative funeral services staff carried this workout for us as volunteers. It has hugely enhanced this area We are working towards purchasing a Cemetery Map for the grounds. Please remember us if you are clearing out any unwanted items.
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Ford Park Cemetery Trust
January 2019
IMPROVEMENTS
We have been extremely fortunate to have receive donations to help renovate our memorial garden from Co-operative local community funding and the Friends of Ford Park Cemetery.
The final piece of work was the installation of new railings and a gate They are solid galvanised then sprayed with a process which should need no painting for many years. Thanks to Maurice Rowland who carried out this final piece of work. Hope you are as pleased with the final result as we are.
Due to our old faithful van no longer being able to be driven on the road we had to purchased a second-hand van. Our thanks go to Atlas Graphics who kindly donated the signage for it.
Concrete repairs have also been carried out on the slopes between the central valley and Glendower gate.
Our new website was launched January 2018 funded by an anonymous supporter.
Please have a look at www.ford-park-cemetery.org. You will be able to read all about our events and services we offer. If you are a Facebook user, you can also follow us on there just type “Ford Park Cemetery Trust” in the search bar.
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Ford Park Cemetery Trust
January 2019
STORM DAMAGE TO BEECH TREE
Trustees of Ford Park Cemetery (Jeannie & Maggie) with Royal Naval Association (Plymouth Branch) Chairman Des Mcarthy
Sadly, one of our oldest Beech tree, fell victim to the high winds we experienced at the end of November. It damaged the H.M.S. Rattle Snake Memorial, an obelisk which is dedicated to 14 officers, seamen and marines who died while the ship was on patrol on the West African station. There is a happy ending however, as the Plymouth branch of the Royal Naval Association kindly funded the repair to the obelisk. In the same event we also lost two of our memorialised benches. Unfortunately we have had to replace the benches ourselves as they were not covered by our insurance policy.
As you can see from the photos we were lucky that there was such little damage.
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Ford Park Cemetery Trust
January 2019
WILDLIFE We received these photos from Greg Bradbury together with this note -
Spotted Flycatcher
Wheatear
“Walking around the cemetery on 05-09-18, and being a wildlife photographer and keen nature watcher, I took a photo of a bird which, I don’t think has been recorded in your cemetery. I have forwarded a picture of a Spotted Flycatcher, this bird is a migrant and very rare to see in Plymouth, you can now put this in your records of wildlife, also another seen on the same day was a Wheatear.”
The cemetery is a great place to see wildlife and we are always pleased when we hear of a rare species visiting us.
VISITOR CENTRE The Visitor Centre is enjoying a short break before operations begin again on 30 March.
What a busy year it’s been! We had just over 1900 visitors. The very popular Bug Hunt in June was attended by 76 parents and children who most definitely had a wonderful time finding creepy crawlies.
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Ford Park Cemetery Trust
January 2019
The Centre hosted the Trenchard Token in September which was a great surprise to the 4 groups from Hyde Park School who were entertained by RAF veterans.
For the most part the weather was kind during our public and private walks attended by over 300. Members of the Heritage Team were kept on their toes by the variety of questions asked.
In September Philip Photiou gave a talk on the Siege of Plymouth 1643. Just before the talk Philip had injured his shoulder during a jousting tournament and was struggling with the pain. He apologised for the disjointed talk but all could see the pain he was in. However, despite his discomfort, Philip gave a very entertaining and informative talk, although afterwards he did have to pay a visit to the hospital.
The Visitor Centre volunteers catered for 13 wakes; one unexpectedly attended by 120 people!
Funds raised by the operation of the café and wakes are ring fenced and used to maintain and improve the Visitor Centre. During the past year it was possible to buy new exhibition display stands. These are more manoeuvrable and light weight. Something the volunteers and heritage team cheer about regularly.
Instead of 2-3 hours to move them to provide space for wakes and events, the new stands can be moved in a matter of minutes and take less room when stacked. Another benefit is brighter light levels in the centre when the exhibitions are on display.
The Visitor Centre also purchased a specialized storage drawer to contain the posters when not displayed. Thank you to the Friends of Ford Park Cemetery for their donation towards the cost.
Another large purchase this year was a new Bosch dishwasher with a 35-minute quick cycle – another big cheer from the Volunteers
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Ford Park Cemetery Trust
January 2019
2018 ended with the Visitor Centre hosting the George Hinckley VC memorial service on December 31st. John Whiteman, Royal Naval Association took this lovely photograph of the café volunteers that day
Dates and times of Ford Park Cemetery events and exhibition published by the Evening Herald continue to be inaccurate despite many attempts to get corrections made. Please check the Ford Park Cemetery website or call the office to check. Opening times are on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays 12.30 to 3.30 p.m. Why not call in for a cup of tea or coffee and a piece of cake. There are many books and reference materials also available for sale.
Why not become a volunteer in the Visitor Centre? We are always happy to increase our team. For further information please contact Vivien Warne via the office who will pass on your interest for you.
Our Visitor Centre is available for wakes and for hire for other events. For further information, please contact Vivien Warne via the office, who will pass on your details to her.
PUZZLE CLUB Our puzzle club has gone from strength to strength which only costs £1 to join. If you have a puzzle when you join you can have a straight swap but if not, you can purchase a puzzle for £1 and then swap away. For more information please contact Sam at the office.
BURIALS We are a working cemetery and this year we have seen the number of burials increase. This reflects the quality of service which we give and our commitment to meet the individual requirements of every family. Ford Park is a peaceful and attractive resting place with a beautiful and historic Chapel.
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Ford Park Cemetery Trust
January 2019
GRAVE SPACES FOR SALE There are a wide range of grave spaces available. Our core income is from Burials, Sale of Grave Spaces, Maintenance Contracts and Grave Searches. We are a charity and rely on these sources of income to keep the Cemetery open and running. We look to both local people and further afield to support us by considering us when looking at these matters.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THE GROUNDS We regularly have volunteers from DWP and Dove Project helping with the maintenance work in the Cemetery and we are very grateful for their efforts on our behalf. Are you interested in becoming a volunteer or do you know someone else who is? We are always very grateful for help in the grounds and even in the winter season we have maintenance work to carry out. For further information please contact the office.
Did you know that: Did you know that the two chapels in the cemetery were identical when first built and the original plans included a cloister which joined the two. However financial difficulties during construction forced the directors to abandon the cloister and then in 1941 one of the chapels was destroyed during a bombing raid on Plymouth. The chapel was rebuilt using a simpler design in 1957 and is now used as a visitor centre and cafe.
A very warm thank you for all your support