Restoration of the Churchyard

Bawburgh Church showing the churchyard and graves

It’s been nearly two years now since Helen Liddle and Lin Gibson laid down the challenge to my daughter Holly and I to bring our wonderful St Walston’s Churchyard ‘back to life’.

“What can be difficult about that?" we asked. A bit of mowing, some strimming and pruning along with some much-needed calorie burn (for me at least) to help trim the waistline; it all seemed so simple! Admittedly it hadn’t been attended for over three years, but hey, we were up for the challenge!

Two years on, dozens of visits, blood, sweat, toil, and some tears, meadow grass that you can sit and visibly see grow in front of your eyes, thistles and nettles that growl at you as you walk by and then of course there’s the trees and hedges that need constant maintenance. I now know how the painters of the Forth Road Bridge feel; once you’ve finished it’s time to start all over again!

BUT….

Something exciting is beginning to unfold and nature is beginning to respond to our efforts. Four-foot-high detritus has been cleared, the newfound wonderful light is beginning to play its part and with a little bit of Spring warmth in the air it’s noticeable how the previously unseen primroses, daffs and crocuses are establishing themselves once again and finding their voices in our Churchyard.

The wonderful Mick Andrews has now joined the team and has been a godsend and having just visited the Church for some early Spring maintenance the place is alive with colour!

And so, we begin Year Three in earnest. Of course, we will leave the beautiful early Spring plants alone to do their thing, to shout and scream until we begin the full maintenance programme all over again.

If you are new to the village, or even if you have lived here for a few years but have never felt the need to visit the Churchyard, then you are missing out on a small piece of nature’s wonderful back garden. It is a lovely place to sit and stare, soaking up the peace and tranquillity that undoubtedly exists; forgive the pun but there is a wonderful spirit within the place. Please do give it a visit, we should all be very proud of what we have right on our doorstep; I know Holly, Mick and I are!