 |
 NEWS PAGE - 2013 ARCHIVE |
| 22 December 2013 update |
| Happy Christmas to all our Supporters We would like to wish our many supporters a Very Happy Christmas and thank you for your involvement with the work of FoHPC over the past year.  
 Here are just a few of the many colourful floral tributes that have been placed on graves in recent days. A collage of many more wreaths and flower arrangements can be found at this link. |
| 15 December 2013 update |
| Our Christmas post problem At yesterday's Working Morning it was discovered that Post No.11 of the 20 Heritage Circuit marker posts has been removed (possibly stolen). We intend to carry out a search of the cemetery, as occasional similar cases in the past resulted in finding the missing item discarded nearby. The post used to stand in the south-west corner of Section Ox, a few metres from the New Street gate.  Have you seen
this
post lately?This apparent theft comes soon after two wire mesh litter bins went missing. They were the nearest two bins to the New Street gate. Is a pattern emerging? If you have any information concerning these incidents, please Contact Us. |
| 6 December 2013 update |
| Doncaster CVS 70th Anniversary Today saw the 70th Anniversary and AGM of Doncaster CVS, the organisation that supports local community and volunteer groups. The event took place at the Keepmoat Stadium Conference Centre and the Friends of Hyde Park Cemetery were there to exhibit. It was a great opportunity to network and some good contacts were established. |
| 4 December 2013 update |
| AGM Minutes The minutes of the Annual General Meeting, which was held on 18 November, have now been uploaded to this website. You can open them at this link or via the Downloads page. |
| 20 November 2013 update |
| AGM Outcomes The Friends' Annual General Meeting was held on Monday 18 November. After the welcome and introductions, we were entertained by Pat McLaughlin, who gave a fascinating talk on "Green Men, Gargoyles and Other Grotesques". The audience was enthralled at the many excellent photographs he showed, mainly from the South Yorkshire area, and his knowledgeable explanations. Pat's talk was followed by Friends' Chair, Richard Bell, giving a presentation on the work of the Friends over the previous year. These reviews bring into focus the many achievements of the group. Next, our outgoing Treasurer, Rev. Alan Murray presented his financial report. This was followed by the election of the Officers and other committee members for the coming year. The committee for 2013/14 comprises Richard Bell (Chair); Margaret Herbert (Vice Chair); Margaret Bark (Treasurer); Robert Wise (Secretary); Bill Brinkley; Andria Johns; Sheila North and Helen Slade. Bill is returning to the committee after a few years' absence, while Helen is joining for the first time. Val Moate did not stand for re-election and so is no longer on the FoHPC committee. The minutes of the AGM will be published on this website in the near future. |
| 12 November 2013 update |
| Damaged notice case repaired One of the Friends' notice cases was vandalised recently, when the perspex front was smashed by persons unknown. We have now had the case repaired, but would have preferred to have been able to spend the money on other improvements at the site. However, we are very grateful to Adrian Welch Glass & Glazing Ltd for carrying out the repairs at minimum cost. |
| 9 November 2013 update |
| Poppy wreath placed At today's Working Morning the Friends placed a poppy wreath on the Cross of Sacrifice near the main entrance of Hyde Park Cemetery. Several other wreaths were noted on war graves around the cemetery. 
 |
| 7 November 2013 update |
| Latest Newsletter despatched Our Autumn 2013 Newsletter has been despatched to all our members and supporters earlier today. For those people who have provided an email address, it will have already arrived in your Inbox. The remainder have been sent by Royal Mail. We are very grateful for Weldricks Pharmacy for sponsoring our newsletters this year, thus enabling us to maintain contact with those people without email facilities. |
| 3 November 2013 update |
| Family Halloween Walk attracts large
crowd On Thursday evening, the Friends hosted their second annual Family Halloween Walk. Once again, local actors portrayed characters who are buried in Hyde Park Cemetery. This year's theme was 'Horrible Ends', as all the characters had met untimely deaths, from a variety of causes. Perhaps the most surprising were Mr & Mrs Hanson, who died in a gunpowder explosion at their gunshop in Baxter Gate, central Doncaster, in 1890! A parade of Halloween-costumed children started the event, before groups of visitors were led on a walk to meet several Victorian characters and hear their unusual stories. The feedback that we received from the 150-strong crowd was excellent. You can read more about the event and watch a short video on the Doncaster Free Press website. Sincere thanks are due to the many volunteers who made the event possible. We should also like to thank the following local businesses for their support: HSS Hire;Scratch Music; Mick's Bean Machine; Doncaster Little Theatre; Apex Design & Print Ltd; Cakes & Candies. |
| 21 October 2013 update |
| Turkish link One of the headstones in Hyde Park Cemetery contains an intriguing reference to William Laughton, who died in a railway accident in Asia Minor (see photograph).  What
a surprise it was to see a reference to William in the latest
edition of Penfriend, the newsletter for railway pensioners.
A
letter to the newsletter mentions a memorial stone to him in St John's
Church, Izmir, Turkey! So now we know where Little Paradise was. We're
trying to find out if William is actually buried at Izmir. Can you
help?
|
| 19 October 2013 update |
| Halloween preparation Preparations for this year's Family Halloween Walk around the cemetery are coming together very well. With a title of "Horrible Ends", we're aiming the event more at our younger visitors than we did last year. Please see our Events page for further details. |
| 12 October 2013 update |
| Wet Working Morning braved by
volunteers Today's wet weather failed to put off half-a-dozen hardy volunteers from carrying out a thorough litter pick around the cemetery. Their determination is much appreciated. |
| 7 October 2013 update |
| 10,000th visitor to website This website recently received its 10,000th visitor. The site continues to be an important platform for the Friends of Hyde Park Cemetery and their supporters. Increasingly, it is providing a means of contact for people from all over the world who have some interest in the cemetery. |
| 15 September 2013 update |
| Busy week! The past week has been a busy one. Not only have the Friends held two successful Guided Walks, but we've had this month's Working Morning and there has been a very useful site meeting concerning the proposed memorial restoration project. These events show that the Friends are continuing to make progress in improving and promoting Hyde Park Cemetery. |
| 7 September 2013 update |
| Date set for Annual General Meeting The 2013 AGM of the Friends will be held at 7:15pm on Monday 18th November. It will take place at the usual venue of St James Church Hall, St Sepulchre Gate West, Doncaster. More details will follow in due course. |
| 31 August 2013 update |
| Benches handed over Further to the News item on 13 July 2013, yesterday saw the formal handover of the two newly-installed benches, from the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church to the Friends. The benches, which have been in use for a few weeks now, are a welcome addition to the facilities at the cemetery. We thank the Plymouth Brethren very much indeed. |
| 23 August 2013 update |
| Grave Finder Service The Friends have received a flurry of Grave Finder enquiries lately. We are delighted to be able to help people from far and wide to find their ancestors, who were buried in Hyde Park Cemetery. For a modest fee, we'll send you transcripts from the Grave and Burial Registers, plans of the grave location and, if you wish, photographs of the grave. If you'd like to take advantage of this service, please visit our Grave Finder Service page. |
| 18 August 2013 update |
| Memorial restoration project The Friends are pressing ahead with their preparations for a memorial restoration project. The work will see some of the most significant monuments in the cemetery restored to as near their original condition as possible. Leaflets and other educational resources will be produced as part of the project. A list of monuments to be included is being prepared, together with details of the repairs needed. We hope to make an application to Heritage Lottery Fund later this year. |
| 13 August 2013 update |
| Grave Finder application form updated The application form for our Grave Finder Service has been updated slightly, to allow for the applicant's telephone number to be included. The form can be downloaded in either MS Word or PDF format from our Grave Finder Service webpage. |
| 12 August 2013 update |
| Fly-tipping in Wildlife area At Saturday's Working Morning we discovered that there had been a significant amount of fly-tipping within the copse of trees that forms the wildlife area of the cemetery. Such incidents, thankfully, do not take place very often. but they are extremely annoying when they do occur. Doncaster Council has reacted quickly to arrange for the mess to be cleared away and also, importantly, to instigate investigations as to who may have been the culprit. |
| 11 August 2013 update |
Railway Walk well received This walk will be re-run on Monday 9 September at 3pm, as part of the St Leger Festival. For details of this and other FoHPC events please visit our Events page. |
| 8 August 2013 update |
| Wrong date in Doncaster Free Press Today's Doncaster Free Press published a short article on page 7 concerning this weekend's Guided Walk on the theme of "Railways & Railwaymen". In spite of emailing the newspaper the correct details, they have wrongly stated that the walk takes place on Saturday. In fact, it takes place at 3pm on Sunday (11 Aug). We apologise for any inconvenience that the newspaper's error may cause. |
| 5 August 2013 update |
| Visit to Scarborough Several members of the FoHPC committee made a self-funded visit to the Dean Road and Manor Road Cemetery, Scarborough, today, as guests of their Friends group. It was an extremely enjoyable, interesting and informative few hours, and many ideas were discussed. We look forward to putting some of them into practice. We would like to thank Liz, Pam and Rita of the Scarborough group for hosting our visit and their Chairman, Jan, for making all the arrangements. Please check out their website at this link. |
| 4 August 2013 update |
| Respects paid at Hull Eastern Cemetery An interest in one cemetery tends to mean an interest in most cemeteries! Being close to Hull's Eastern Cemetery a few days ago meant that it was only a short detour to call in and pay respects to one of the greats of rock music, David Bowie's right-hand man in the Spiders from Mars, guitar legend, Mick Ronson. Mick died at the all-too-young age of 46, back in 1993, but not before he'd established himself as one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time.   |
| 29 July 2013 update |
| Bats in the Cemetery The bat walk on Saturday evening detected approximately ten Common Pipistrelle bats. Grateful thanks to Robert Bell of the South Yorkshire Bat Group for coming along to find the evidence of bats for us. Now that we know that some bats are present, we can arrange another bat walk next year. We can also try to help them by improving their habitat in any way we are able. |
| 20 July 2013 update |
| Two extra FoHPC events coming up Two new events have been added to the Friends' forthcoming programme. There's our first ever Bat Walk and a visit to another Friends organisation at Scarborough Cemetery. Please go to our Events page for full details. |
| 13 July 2013 update |
| Donated Benches Earlier this year the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church in Doncaster kindly offered to donate two more benches for installation in Hyde Park Cemetery. We thank them very much indeed for this generous gesture. The benches were recently fabricated by ET Developments. The photos show Eddie Turner (l), of ETD, and his colleague (r) installing the benches earlier today.   |
| 11 July 2013 update |
| Presentation to Friends' Treasurer Long-standing FoHPC Treasurer, Rev. Alan Murray of St James' Church, is moving to a new parish in West Yorkshire very soon. As a mark of gratitude for the many years of support that Alan has given to the Friends and to Hyde Park Cemetery, he was presented with a leaving gift at the committee meeting earlier this week. The framed collage of photographs shows many of the events and projects that Alan has been instrumental in making happen. We wish him well in his new challenges. Alan's leaving will create a vacancy for Treasurer at our AGM later this year. Please contact us for more details if you are interested in taking on this role. WE NEED YOU, PLEASE!   |
| 10 July 2013 update |
| Butterfly Bushes planted The latest enhancement to the wildlife area at Hyde Park Cemetery is the planting of half-a-dozen Buddleia plants (known as Butterfly Bushes). Their flowers are a great attraction for butterflies, but we may have to wait until next year for those flowers! |
| 6 July 2013 update |
| Black Poplar trees to be removed The Black Poplars trees that stand just inside the cemetery along its western (New Street) boundary are to be taken down in the near future. The Friends were notified of this proposal by Doncaster Council Bereavement Services several weeks ago. The reason for their removal is that they are becoming unsafe due to their age. Also, their roots are doing serious damage to the boundary wall. Some boughs have already fallen during high winds and there are serious concerns that more boughs, or whole trees, could fall in the not too distant future. New Street is used extensively by vehicles and pedestrians, especially Mon to Fri, and their safety is paramount. Following discussions between the Friends and Bereavement Services, it was decided that the Friends would seek an independent expert opinion as to the need to remove the trees. That opinion was obtained and it supported the Council's proposal. The Friends have requested that new trees be planted as soon as possible after removing the Black Poplars and repairing the wall. |
| 17 June 2013 update |
| Monument for Yorkshire Main casualty The ongoing story of Denis Kenny, the first fatality at Yorkshire Main Colliery, Edlington, continues. We reported three months ago that his family was arranging for his previously unmarked grave to be provided with a fitting monument to commemorate his life. The photographs, below, show the recently completed installation. What a fine-looking monument it is.   |
| 11 June 2013 update |
| Latest Newsletter available The Spring 2013 Newsletter has now been prepared as is avalable for download from our Downloads page. |
| 6 June 2013 update |
| Wildfower Memorial Meadow developing The Memorial Meadow is growing very well. Established a couple of years ago, the meadow commemorates the thousands of poverty-stricken people who were buried in unmarked 'Public Graves' in Hyde Park Cemetery. It also serves to improve the biodiversity of the cemetery, allowing native species of plants and flowers to thrive.   |
| 2 June 2013 update |
| Friends' Treasurer moving on Reverend Alan Murray of St James' Church, who has been Treasurer of FoHPC since its formation, will be moving on to take over as vicar of a parish in West Yorkshire in a few weeks' time. Alan has been a real stalwart of the organisation and he will be badly missed here when he has transferred to his new role. We are grateful that Alan has kindly offered to see out his term as Treasurer up to the next AGM, later this year, but we need to be looking for his replacement without delay. The Friends really do need anyone who has a little time available and a passion for conserving and improving Hyde Park Cemetery to come forward and help, please. It doesn't have to be as Treasurer, but if you are interested in that role all the better. Please contact us for more details. |
| 30 May 2013 update |
| More on the Tree Survey Below is a photograph of one of the most unusual trees in Hyde Park Cemetery, and one that was included in Tuesday's survey. It is a Weeping Wych Elm. We don't know the tree's age, but it's possible that it dates back to the opening of the extension in 1882. While the great majority of the trees in the cemetery are in good health, this one does show some signs of problems, with some of the upper branches being devoid of leaves. We plan to monitor its condition.  |
| 29 May 2013 update |
| Cub Scouts carry out Tree Survey Yesterday evening, members of the 65th St John's Cub Scouts came along to carry out a tree survey, helped by several Friends of Hyde Park Cemetery. In spite of the damp and cool weather, the evening was a success, with many of the cemetery's main tree specimen's being included. The survey is part of a national initiative to check on the health of the country's trees. Anyone can join in, wherever there are trees. Click on this link for more details. |
| 19 May 2013 update |
| Railway-themed Guided Walk later this
month It's not long until our next Guided Walk in Hyde Park Cemetery. This will be our first outing for the walk entitled "Railways & Railwaymen". Please see our Events page for further details. |
| 16 April 2013 update |
| Newsletter sponsorship The Friends are delighted to announce that a deal has been struck whereby Weldricks Pharmacy will sponsor the production and distribution of our quarterly newsletter for the next 12 months. While the cost of emailing electronic versions of the newsletter is very low, there are still many FoHPC members who choose to receive a paper copy by Royal Mail. The cost of copying and distribution by this method has increased significantly over the years, so we are especially grateful for Weldricks Pharmacy for their support. If you are one of those members who currently receives the newsletter by Royal Mail but you'd be happy to have it emailed to you, please contact us. |
| 13 April 2013 update |
| Third anniversary Working Morning Today is the third anniversary of the Friends beginning their monthly Working Mornings at the cemetery. Over the past three years these sessions have allowed great improvements to be made to the condition of Hyde Park Cemetery. Not only has our work supplemented that of the Council's grounds team, but we have also installed bird boxes, cut back trees and bushes, planted bulbs and collected lots of bags of litter in that time. These Working Mornings really do make a difference. Please come along and help in future if you can. |
| 9 April 2013 update |
| FoHPC in the Irish papers The Friends have been mentioned in an article in Ireland's Connaught Telegraph. The piece tells the story of the two Denis Kennys, from County Mayo, who died in tragic accidents in Doncaster, in 1910 and 1947, respectively. It provides the background to the recent visit by three members of the Kenny family, close relatives of the current Irish Taoiseach, to Hyde Park Cemetery. The article can be viewed at this link. |
| 30 March 2013 update |
| Memorial restoration plans As part of the planning for a proposed memorial restoration project, two members of the FoHPC committee spent a few hours at the cemetery yesterday morning. They were visiting the graves of the people who have featured in past guided walks, deciding whether or not the memorials / monuments on those graves are in need of restoration. The aim is to link the project to future guided walks, so that the graves visited during those walks will be in good condition. Leaflets and other educational materials will also be produced as part of the project. About half of the featured graves were visited yesterday morning, so another one or two site visits will be needed in the near future to conclude this phase of the work. |
| 22 March 2013 update |
| Time to overhaul the website? The Friends are thinking that it's time to give this website a new look and overhaul its content. We would very much welcome your thoughts on what you'd like to see. What should we change? What do you like about the current site? Please contact us with your ideas. |
| 16 March 2013 update |
| Irish Prime Minister's family visits
ancestor's grave Last Saturday there was a ceremony at nearby Edlington to unveil a statue to commemorate the 133 miners who lost their lives during the period that Yorkshire Main Colliery was in existence. The first fatality was of a pit sinker named Denis Kenny, in 1910. He fell down Shaft No.2 from a working platform when it accidentally tilted. Denis came from Castlebar, Co. Mayo, Ireland. We have known for some time that Denis Kenny is buried in Hyde Park Cemetery and were delighted to be contacted by his great-grandnephew, Henry Kenny. After corresponding for a while Henry, his father (also Henry) and his uncle John paid a visit to Doncaster last weekend, in order to attend the Yorkshire Main ceremony. The photograph shows (l-r) John Kenny, Henry Kenny (snr) and Henry Kenny (jnr), standing at the grave of their ancestor.  In
conversation with these gentleman during their visit to the cemetery it
transpired that Henry (snr) and John are brothers of the current
Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), Enda Kenny.
The Kenny family is planning to have a monument placed on Denis's hitherto unmarked grave. |
| 10 March 2013 update |
| Notice Cases installed Thanks to funding kindly provided by Wilkinson Stores, we have purchased three notice cases for the cemetery. One has been installed next to each entrance. We shall now be able to display posters, leaflets and other information in a professional manner. We hope to fill the cases in the next week or two.    |
| 6 March 2013 update |
| Guided Walks programme for 2013 Following on from the very successful guided walk last month, a programme of six more walks has been fixed for later this year. Starting with a railway-themed midweek walk during Spring half-term and continuing through to an Armistice Day 'War Graves' walk, we'll be covering a wide variety of themes. Please visit our Events page for further details. |
| 3 March 2013 update |
| 2012 Annual General Meeting minutes Due to an oversight, the minutes of last year's AGM (held on 29 Oct 2012) were not uploaded to this website when they first became available. We have now rectified this situation. The minutes and a variety of other documents can be downloaded from our Downloads page. |
| 26 February 2013 update |
| Railway-themed walk coming soon We have been carrying out research about some of the many railwaymen who are buried in Hyde Park Cemetery. The research is almost completed, such that we intend to arrange one or more guided walks on the subject later this year. |
| 25 February 2013 update |
| 'Doncaster Mayors' guided walk Around 20 visitors attended last Thursday's guided walk, arranged as part of the Doncaster Local Heritage Festival. Helen and Andria led the walk in fine style and were rewarded with a round of applause for their efforts. Keep a watch on our Events page for more guided walks later this year. |
| 12 February 2013 update |
| Local History Fair the best yet Lots of people came along to the Local History Fair at Doncaster Museum & Art Gallery last Saturday. There were even television cameras present, for ITV's Calendar News. All agreed that it was the best of these annual events so far. |
| 17 January 2013 update |
| Railway-themed guided walk The Friends are currently putting together a guided walk on the theme of Railways. The cemetery is the final resting place of hundreds of people who worked in the industry that put Doncaster on the world map. We're going to be telling the stories of a few of those people when we host the planned walk later this year. |
| 16 January 2013 update |
Memorial Meadow signs |
| 1 January 2013 update |
| A Happy New Year! 2013 is here and the Friends are looking forward to making even more progress in improving Hyde Park Cemetery. Here's hoping that we all have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. To catch up with our News items from last year please click on the 2012 link, above. |
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