BarbaraG Posted 7 May , 2019 Share Posted 7 May , 2019 Was unable to see the details on this CWGC Headstone! So went back prepared and cleared area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin DavidOwen Posted 7 May , 2019 Admin Share Posted 7 May , 2019 Well done Barbara It may be an idea to let CWGC know the graves were not being maintained to their usual excellent standards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbriscoe Posted 7 May , 2019 Share Posted 7 May , 2019 34 minutes ago, DavidOwen said: Well done Barbara It may be an idea to let CWGC know the graves were not being maintained to their usual excellent standards? Definitely, I have been in burial grounds that were like a jungle but the CWGC stones had an area around them cleared. When I was photographing for the TWGPP, the CWGC had an inspector who went around about once a year and checked their graves and did basic maintenance. They have teams who go around every few years doing bigger jobs. I think they also use sub-contractors in some places. I take it they are CWGC headstones, some people erect CWGC-style stones on the graves of ex-servicemen and others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scalyback Posted 7 May , 2019 Share Posted 7 May , 2019 I clear a local grave. The chapel being abandoned and the current owners being chased through the courts. Sometimes access can be an issue, I have to enter via the wall. I don't think the owner will break cover to challenge me, something the CWGC can not risk. Interestingly there are two Boar War graves in the same plot. Both unrelated men DOW in the UK from action in South Africa. It is a very slow process returning the chapel and graveyard to community ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraG Posted 7 May , 2019 Author Share Posted 7 May , 2019 (edited) Being unable to see headstone details I checked CWGC details when I got home. Pte 69832 Arthur CLOUGH R.D.C. MIC shows he enlisted 05 Nov. 1914 - Pte 2253 Lancashire Fusiliers. He died 27 October 1918 J THOMAS served as Pte 5083 HART Yorkshire Regiment. (Suicide) 25 November 1918. From newspaper.... On 27 November 1918 'The Nottingham Journal' reported CAMP TRAGEDY A Soldier Found Shot in Sentry-box. Quote"...Thomas, who was a former dock labourer, had had an impediment in his speech, and left this note:- 'Here ends the life of Joseph Thomas. It has been the hardest life that ever any man had, all through his speech. I have been a coward from the cradle: £5 10s to bury me with.' This sum was found on him...." 11 hours ago, mbriscoe said: I take it they are CWGC headstones, some people erect CWGC-style stones on the graves of ex-servicemen and others. Edited 7 May , 2019 by BarbaraG Additional notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aengland Posted 7 May , 2019 Share Posted 7 May , 2019 Well done to you... The headstones even look to be an example of the current ones that are being used as replacements Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 7 May , 2019 Share Posted 7 May , 2019 4 hours ago, BarbaraG said: J THOMAS served as Pte 5083 HART Yorkshire Regiment. (Suicide) 25 November 1918. From newspaper.... On 27 November 1918 'The Nottingham Journal' reported CAMP TRAGEDY A Soldier Found Shot in Sentry-box. Quote"...Thomas, who was a former dock labourer, had had an impediment in his speech, and left this note:- 'Here ends the life of Joseph Thomas. It has been the hardest life that ever any man had, all through his speech. I have been a coward from the cradle: £5 10s to bury me with.' This sum was found on him...." Ah, the poor man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraG Posted 8 May , 2019 Author Share Posted 8 May , 2019 19 hours ago, Scalyback said: I clear a local grave. The chapel being abandoned and the current owners being chased through the courts. Sometimes access can be an issue, I have to enter via the wall. I don't think the owner will break cover to challenge me, something the CWGC can not risk. Interestingly there are two Boar War graves in the same plot. Both unrelated men DOW in the UK from action in South Africa. It is a very slow process returning the chapel and graveyard to community ownership. Well done to you too - that is greater challenge. Have you seen this... #RememberedHere https://www.cwgc.org/learn/news-and-events/news/2019/04/09/12/58/cwgc-launches-rememberedhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan24 Posted 8 May , 2019 Share Posted 8 May , 2019 On 07/05/2019 at 07:54, DavidOwen said: Well done Barbara It may be an idea to let CWGC know the graves were not being maintained to their usual excellent standards? At a Centenary event at West Hill Cemetery, Winchester last year, I was fortunate enough to meet the CWGC Area Manager responsible for that cemetery and others. Although this cemetery has over 100 CWGC graves with CWGC maintained headstones, I had to ask him why many of the graves around the edge of the site were left in the long grass and a group of about 30 in the middle had the customary short grass, neatly trimmed boarder and flowering plants at the foot of each headstone. I was told that if the headstones were in a group of at least 10, they will get 'Horticultural Support' from CWGC, those in groups of less than 10 scattered around were the responsibility of the cemetery operators - in this case, the local City Council. I suspect this is the case here, headstone maintained by CWGC but general gardening responsibility by the local council. Regards Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbriscoe Posted 8 May , 2019 Share Posted 8 May , 2019 I was talking to the CWGC working at one cemetery where they had a lot of graves. The cemetery authority had asked them to put in ramps to give wheelchair access to all their areas of the cemetery but (needless to say!) there were no ramps anywhere else in the cemetery! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 8 May , 2019 Share Posted 8 May , 2019 18 hours ago, BarbaraG said: J THOMAS served as Pte 5083 HART Yorkshire Regiment. (Suicide) 25 November 1918. From newspaper.... On 27 November 1918 'The Nottingham Journal' reported CAMP TRAGEDY A Soldier Found Shot in Sentry-box. Quote"...Thomas, who was a former dock labourer, had had an impediment in his speech, and left this note:- 'Here ends the life of Joseph Thomas. It has been the hardest life that ever any man had, all through his speech. I have been a coward from the cradle: £5 10s to bury me with.' This sum was found on him...." How sad.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 8 May , 2019 Share Posted 8 May , 2019 5 hours ago, Alan24 said: At a Centenary event at West Hill Cemetery, Winchester last year, I was fortunate enough to meet the CWGC Area Manager responsible for that cemetery and others. Although this cemetery has over 100 CWGC graves with CWGC maintained headstones, I had to ask him why many of the graves around the edge of the site were left in the long grass and a group of about 30 in the middle had the customary short grass, neatly trimmed boarder and flowering plants at the foot of each headstone. I was told that if the headstones were in a group of at least 10, they will get 'Horticultural Support' from CWGC, those in groups of less than 10 scattered around were the responsibility of the cemetery operators - in this case, the local City Council. I suspect this is the case here, headstone maintained by CWGC but general gardening responsibility by the local council. Regards Alan. Thanks for that information. It explains why the groups of CWGC gravestones in the local cemetery are regularly cleaned, grass trimmed, etc. while the individual stones are in various conditions. The "Horticultural Support" which I have seen in action a couple of times (very good, too) doesn't seem to check the conditions of the scattered individual stones. RM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retlaw Posted 8 May , 2019 Share Posted 8 May , 2019 My two daughters, assisted by my 8 yer old grandson & a couple of friends, regularly keep all the miilitary graves and headstones clean in all our local cemeteries, and report any defects to C.W.G. They also do the same for local soldiers on the Some every year. Grandson assisting 1916 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 9 May , 2019 Share Posted 9 May , 2019 Lovely picture! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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