John Clare (1793-1864)

 

John Clare one of the great English poets wrote of the seasons and in particular Autumn.

Nature now spreads around in dreary hue.  A pall to cover all that summer knew;          Yet in the poets solitary way;                            Some pleasing objects for his praise delay; 

John Clare, The Shepherd's Calender (October) 1827.

John Clare expresses his sadness at the passing of summer but encourages us to look around and take pleasure in the colours the berries and the conkers on the path, the late flowering plants adding a splash of colour against the tall wands of grass. And so it is in the churchyard with the Calendula making such a bold splash of orange against the tall wands of grass and colours of Autumn. 

On the corner where the path down from Church Street South meets the West side of the church building we have planted Wallflowers, a different variety this year, Harlequin, multi coloured so a splash of colour and lovely scent to look forward to next spring. 

September

 

One of the aspects I personally like about working in the churchyard is the variety of jobs and the pleasure of seeing an area transformed I was not expecting a job to literally drop at my feet though! A exceptionally strong couple of days strong wind left the churchyard littered with broken branches, so armed with a bow saw, croppers and secateurs we set about clearing up, the bigger wood will be used to add edges to planting areas and has been stacked on one side, the brush wood was neatly piled and made into a dead hedge, another winter habitat. Which reminds me, we must clean out the bird boxes. Elsewhere a replacement frame has been put around the sign next to the South Porch so it seemed a good time to tidy that area and plant up some urns we have been given with black grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus) that has lovely white or violet flowers in spring.

August

As Sylvia Plath wrote, August is a time of in-betweeness, summer is on the wane and the month of September the start of Autumn is around the corner. Looking around the churchyard things are going over, turning to seed but there is still plenty to do not forgetting as Alan Titchmarsh said to find time to stand and enjoy the last flowers of summer and I did just that standing by the sweet peas enjoying their heady scent and watching the pollinators also attracted by that very same scent. Elsewhere there has been time to tidy up and our work area at the side of the church is better organised with our water butt having a couple of additions and a tool storage rack made from upcycled wood.

Flowers

 

The flowers around the churchyard are a joy to behold! The spring wild flowers have been and gone to be replaced by other seasonal perrenial and annual plants, all annuals we have grown from seed, the Cosmos and Nicotiana in tall pots against the church building add a lovely splash of colour and the sweet peas in the frame opposite the West Door are simply fantastic, not just because we grew them from seed but also the scent is lovely, they are old fashioned heritage varieties that have that heady scent from years gone by, several people have mentioned to us how this takes them back to years ago when relatives usually grandparents used to grow them in the back garden and put bunches of them in the house filling each room with their scent, one of the most powerful memory stimulants and of course the pollinators are busy around them. What's  not to like as they say. 

All thanks to the hard work of one of us preparing the ground and building the willow frame. Thank you. 

Elsewhere Calendula and Poppies have been planted between gravestones the Calendula adding that lovely 'pop' of orange. 

Was that really June?

 

Like everyone having endured a wet winter, autumn and low light levels I really thought we might see an upturn in temperatures and a bit less rain. In between these wet Saturdays work has continued in various parts of the churchyard, we have planted up the grey pots outside the church with plants grown from seed, Nicotinia and Cosmos, we have also planted up a wigwam of Hazel poles with Heritage Sweet Peas. Further along from the Sweet Peas work has continued to clear between a row of gravestones planting up in the spaces as we go along including sowing Calendula, the lovely bright orange flowers are such a highlight against the green sward of the churchyard. At the top of the churchyard near the gate to Church Street South tidying and clearing has taken place uncovering two gravestones which date back to the 1840's, these are being researched. As always with the churchyard it's a lovely peaceful place to work whatever the weather.

Mental Health Awareness

 

May saw Mental health awareness week and this made me think about the churchyard in relation to mental health, it is something that I often think about. So are there any benefits to working outside on a project like the churchyard? The answer would be and is a resounding yes! So the question is what are they? The answer is not one aspect but the combination of many, here are a few that occur to me: working outside in the fresh air, gardening is recognised as good for physical and mental health, conversation with other team members, and the satisfaction of seeing a project take shape. Add in the fact you are doing something to help wildlife be it birdboxes or sowing and planting for pollinators and it is a win win situation. 

So if you are interested and like to have a look at what we do pop by on a Saturday morning and say hello, we often have the kettle on. 

April Colour

 

We are very fortunate to live in a very green country, people from overseas travel to visit this island just to enjoy our green vistas and as a resident I can appreciate what they see when the end of April approaches and we start to see that lovely fresh green of this year's new growth, add some sunshine and it is the perfect antidote to a long and very wet winter. In the churchyard the fresh greenery is punctuated by lovely highlights of primulas, hellibores and assorted other spring plants. The Wallflowers are a real statement of colour on the corner near the West Door and considering the wet weather we have lost relatively very few, interestingly we put three varieties in and I think it is one variety that has suffered. Gardening, the constant learning curve.