2016

Our latest newsletter is about to be sent out to all our supporters. You can read it and download it if you wish from this link.

Today was our final volunteers’ Working Morning of 2016. We achieved quite a lot, namely:

• A full litter pick of the cemetery
• Re-planting a shrub that had been partially uprooted
• Tidying the green waste / compost heap
• Removal of a self-set Buddleia obstructing our notice case near the New Street gate
• Washing down the new railings where fixing them had created stone dust
• Removing a piece of ‘flash-band’ and spray-paint from a bench.

If all this can be achieved with just three volunteers, just think what an amazing difference we could make if we had twice or three times as many people attending our Working Mornings. It is only once a month, for two-and-a-half hours. Why not come along on 14 January 2017?

Here are before and after pictures of the final item on the list.

Thorndell Engineering Ltd finished the installation of the eight bays of railings in the New Street boundary wall on Wednesday. Hopefully, you will agree that the railings look great. We look forward to being able to complete the five other empty bays, at the lower end of the street, when funding becomes available.

Here are a couple of photographs that were taken in Hyde Park Cemetery this morning, in the cold and misty December conditions.

As reported a few days ago, the installation of new railings in the New Street boundary is underway. Our contractor, Thorndell Engineering Ltd, has been on site since yesterday morning to install the eight bays of brand new railings. Work is expected to be completed tomorrow (Wednesday).

This work has been made possible only by the generosity of a local couple, who wish to remain anonymous. These benefactors have paid for all the work on these railings and we are incredibly grateful for their support.

Here are some images of the work in progress. More pictures will be posted when everything has been completed.

The new railings for the boundary wall at the New Street end of the cemetery will be installed next week. We are extremely grateful to the benefactors, who wish to remain anonymous, who have donated so generously to allow this work to go ahead.

Yesterday we met with local leaders of the Army Cadets (C Company). They are keen to get their cadets involved in activities at Hyde Park Cemetery. Together with representatives from the cemetery’s owner, Doncaster Council, we identified several horticultural projects that the cadets can tackle. We expect to see some of these projects begun early in 2017.

The first image, below, shows the Cross of Sacrifice after its recent cleaning by the Victoria Cross Trust and displaying the poppy wreath, which we placed for this year’s Remembrance Sunday.

Sadly, in the days leading up to Remembrance Sunday, a person or persons unknown had lit a very large number of tea-lights on the base of the cross. Candle wax had overflowed from many of them, marking the surface of the stonework. We urge people not to do this. It is both disrespectful and very unsightly. The images below show how we found the cross last Saturday, before cleaning it off as best we could.

On 13 November 1916 William Webb MC MM received the citation for his Military Cross, awarded for gallantry during the latter days of the Battle of the Somme. Today, members of his family paid tribute to him at his graveside. The grave has recently been restored by the Victoria Cross Trust at the family’s instigation.
Pictured at William’s grave are (l-r) Jason Webb (gt gt nephew), Cathryn Webb, Jean Kendall (granddaughter), Dave Filby (gt grandson) & Pat Filby. It is occasions like this that demonstrate the value of the work of the Friends of Hyde Park Cemetery.

The full story of William Webb is available to read at this link.

william-george-webb-mc-mm-a92

The former cemetery Lodge is looking fantastic, thanks to the money and dedication invested in it by Adrian Welch. Interior fitting out is continuing, but the exterior works are substantially complete. The Lodge will soon provide high quality domestic accommodation, in the form of two apartments.