March

 

The start of March it felt at times that the Winter would never relinquish it's grip on the weather but as we approached the end of the month the Saturday mornings were sunny, that early spring sun that cuts through the still bare trees picking out bits of the Churchyard, one such beam shone low across picking out the top of a very old headstone that is a Celtic cross, a moment to stand and stare in wonder. Elsewhere work continues on tidying around the grave slabs gently cleaning the surface so they can be read and cutting around the edge with a lawn edging tool leaving a nice crisp outline. At the foot of one next to the path a slightly raised area has been created using cuttings from around the Churchyard, backfilled with our own compost and planted up with English Bluebells. Against back wall of the old Churchyard the living green Saxifrage roof of the bug hotel is a wonderful display of white flowers and a very welcome source of food for early pollinators. 

February

 

I have a gardener's almanac written by Alan Titchmarsh in his usual well informed and amusing style, one thing we definately agree on, February is neither here nor there, neither Winter or Spring, a month of waiting for those first early signs of spring. In the churchyard in the past week those first signs are to be seen, Tete a Tete Daffodils, Snowdrops and bright yellow Primroses all very encouraging bright spots on dark rainy days.

Of recent we have had a little companion whilst working in the churchyard, a Robin very friendly and very bold, announcing itself by flying past my head alighting on a nearby branch singing merrily away until I start digging and then the freshly turned earth is scrutinised for anything edible, frequently using my trug as a perch closer to the area.

Until next month enjoy the seasonal display.

 

January

 January and another wet month but fortunately a couple of dry Saturday mornings one in fact extremely pleasant with winter sun filtering through the framework of tree branches and illuminating the hillside beyond, a time to stop and just take it in after so many gloomy dark days and it makes you want to get on with something. After last year's success growing Yellow Rattle another area was cleared including tidying around the adjacent gravestones then sown, since then we have had a very cold snap down to minus ten which is exactly what Yellow Rattle needs to trigger it into germination so here's hoping. We were also gifted the branches from the Old Glossop Christmas tree so they have been trimmed to size and used to top up the dead hedge at the top of the path. Whilst working on the hedge it was good to note that the Honeysuckle is firmly established and starting to spread over the top of the hedge. Honeysuckle is a great source of food for night time pollinators, moths to you and me.

Winter

 I am writing this on the last day of December 2023, a suitable day to look back on the previous twelve months in the churchyard. The weather has been a big factor in this years gardening, total polar opposites, very dry earlier in the year and progressively wetter as we moved through the year into Winter. There have been some successes (and a few failures) and it is our intention to build on them for next year 2024. The Sweet Pea experiment was a success however we need to build a better support framework this time. The orange Calendulas provided a lovely pop of colour in a vacant spot amongst the grave stones. Uncovering the Braddock grave was quite simply amazing and I thank the people who put so much research into the background uncovering a fascinating family history. Thank you also to the Old Glossop Community for all the bulbs planted, something to look forward to this Spring.

Thank you for reading this and also thank you to the people who pop by to say hello when we are working in the churchyard. 

Best wishes to everyone for 2024.

November leaves

 So a very wet November has passed by. Interestingly the leaves seem to have stayed on the trees longer this Autumn, I noticed this driving across Derbyshire and the colours were fantastic but eventually we get a strong enough wind and down they come. Part of our looking after the churchyard is clearing the paths and we gather up quite a number these are bagged into jute sacks and piled in our compost area, this is the second year we have done this and by this Autumn the four foot high pile had been reduced to a heap about a foot high of lovely compost all courtesy of the worms living in there so hopefully by this time next year we will have a nice pile of our own compost to use for planting up, I just need to remember to turn it occasionally. 

October

More wet weather but despite this we have been able to dodge the showers and do some tidying and planting up. A number of graves that had been tidied up earlier in the year required a revisit and weeding, it is amazing how much easier it is to rejuvenate an area already worked on.

We were approached by The Old Glossop Residents Association who not only gifted a large box of assorted bulbs but came along on the last Saturday of the month and planted them for us! We are extremely grateful and a big thank you to everyone who took part and also for the rather nice sponge cake we all enjoyed as we partook of tea in the church afterwards. Elsewhere near the West Porch we have cleared an area behind the railings and planted it up with three varieties of Wallflower which along with the bulbs is something to look forward too in Spring. 

September

 I think most people will remember this September for the contrast in weather, a very warm first half with the later days noticeably wetter! The drier weather was fortunate as we had Heritage Open Days on two consecutive Saturdays, the church was open with tours of the bell tower and other items out for display and perusal. Visitor numbers were encouraging with many people taking the opportunity to look around the churchyard including the recently uncovered Braddock Memorial.

September is the time to start clearing away plants that are dying back and whilst the soil is warm split up and move plants giving them a chance to establish in the warmer soil before Winter arrives. Around the Braddock Memorial is now very tidy and has been planted up with shade and drought tolerant plants whilst they will naturally die back this Autumn hopefully they will have put roots down and will reappear in Spring. We have also cleared away unwanted grass around an old tree stump and planted that area up. Thank you to the volunteers who have put a lot of effort into this.