Annual Report of the Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries 2012-13

1. ANNUAL REPORT for 2012-13 TO THE AGM OF FRIENDS of BROCKLEY AND
LADYWELL CEMETERIES JUNE 2013
The Friends group was formed in July 2007, and now has a membership of 97, up from 71 at
the end of March 2012. The majority of members live in and around South-east London, but
others further afield as well as abroad, including Canada.
The Friends group had six open committee meetings during the year, plus one General
meeting in addition to the AGM. An Events Sub-committee also met. All meetings were held
in the Chapel in the Ladywell Cemetery, following agreement in 2011 with the then Head of
Bereavement Services, Shirley Bishop. Since Shirley retired, we have welcomed her
successor, Alison Beck, to a couple of meetings, as well as Colin Burgess, in his new role of
Operations’ Manager, following the retirement of Irene Kemp. The group is pleased to have a
place for its meetings and events.
5 “work sessions” have taken place, including one in conjunction with the Council’s Nature
Conservation Department’s Nature’s Gym. Work has mainly been removing sycamore
growths in both Cemeteries. Because of bad weather the January session was cancelled, as
was a replacement session in March. Numbers attending have varied between 4 and 12,
representing 89 hours’ work over the year.
The group has been involved with assisting in two “outside” events. The first was the
unveiling of a headstone to Gunner Arthur Howard, a veteran of the Anglo-Zulu War, who
died in Deptford. The group assisted the Royal Marine leading the campaign to get greater
recognition for these veterans. The Mayor of Lewisham was present at the dedication on
September 16th
to lay a wreath, along with a direct descendent of the Zulu commander at the
Battle of Rorke’s Drift, in which Gunner Howard took part.
The second, organised by the David Jones Society, was an international seminar on aspects of
the work of poet David Jones. This took place in the Chapel on 21st
September, when a range
of international speakers gave papers on the poet’s work and influences. The Mayor of
Lewisham opened proceedings.
The group was represented at the dedication of a memorial to Cmdr. Archibald Buckle, who is
buried in the Brockley Cemetery, at the Garden of Remembrance in Bellingham. A
biography of Cmdr. Buckle, written by one of our members, is appearing in the St.Hilda’s
Church magazine. A representative attended the dedication of a WW1 memorial in Nunhead
Cemetery, organised by the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery.
Five public guided walks were held over the year, including one for the Brockley Max
Festival, which was attended by about 30 people. Attendances at other walks have varied
between 2 and 20, but those attending expressed their thanks to the guides. We are still
coming to grips with the “excess” of information we have, but recent shorter walks have come
in “on time”. New members and donations have been garnered on all the walks.
The Council’s People & Rivers Project organised several walks in the Cemeteries including
looking at trapped moths, and for ash dieback, which members attended.
The main event of the year was to celebrate the 5th
Anniversary of the Friends in July.
Displays of photographs and information were set up in the Chapel, as well as a table selling
homemade cakes, tea and coffee. Several “taster” walks also took place. It was estimated that
up to 200 people came, including two Lewisham councillors, one of whom has the Cabinet
responsibility for cemeteries.
We held our third Remembrance Day event, laying wreaths at the two war memorials and
picking three relevant points of interest in between. Up to 16 adults plus 2 children attended
the event, a slight increase on 2011.

2. Of significance to the group, is that fact that HM Revenue & Customs has registered the
group as a charity. This should help our standing in the world, and enables us to claim tax
paid by individuals on donations and subscriptions through the Gift Aid scheme.
The group had stalls at a number of events, helping to raise the profile of the group. Stalls
included at the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery Open Day (May), St. Mary Magdalen School
Summer Fair, the Hilly Fields Midsummer Fayre and at the Gordonbrock School Summer
Carnival. At the request of Brockley Design Festival, we opened up the Chapel as part of
their Architecture Treasure Hunts.
The group is represented on the Council’s Biodiversity Partnership, and supplies details of
work done and numbers attending for a national reporting scheme. Bird sightings are also
reported.
The Friends remained a member of the National Federation of Cemeteries’ Friends, and sent
two delegates to the AGM of the National Federation of Cemetery Friends in Norwich. Two
delegates will be attending the 2013 AGM in York.
The website and BlogSpot, managed by Patrick Napier, continues to be the channel for
enquiries from within the UK and abroad about friends and relatives buried in the Cemeteries.
There were 4,784 visits to the site in the year, down slightly on 2011-12. Among the top four
pages read were Jane Clouson once more, Memorial to Rorke’s Drift, Margaret McMillan and
David Jones. Cmdr. Buckle was a close fifth with Elizabeth Watkins and Edward Windred
sharing sixth place.
Members of the group have continued identifying and photographing particular graves, and
writing them up for the Blogspot. As a result members have been able to supply information
to enquiries from Australia, Singapore and Belgium, and in turn have been supplied
information from people who have particular interests. Chess players have been prominent
this year. Members also keep a few graves “tidy” at the request of descendents unable to visit
the graves.
During the year, the Friends successfully applied to the Ladywell Ward Assembly for a £250
grant to cover the cost of pieces of equipment and materials.
A bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund is being prepared in the hope of securing a grant to
renovate the Hither Green/Sydenham civilian memorial in the Ladywell Cemetery and the
Deptford Civilian airship memorial.
At the last AGM a committee position of “Group Co-ordinator” was established in order to
explore links with other organisations. This has led to the group applying to be affiliated to
Voluntary Action Lewisham.
Work has started on a publishing programme. A simple “Google map” with identified graves
is the first step so far accomplished.
I would like to thank all members for their continued enthusiasm and support over the past
year; to Nick Pond and Jessica Kyle of the Council’s Nature Conservation Department for
their advice; also to Alison Beck and Colin Burgess, the Council Officers responsible for the
Cemeteries, for their co-operation in the past year.
Geoffrey Thurley
Chair