Llanbeblig cemetary restoration

[spoons]

I haven't seen this mentioned in posts (from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/6174122.stm)

(article text below but photos on the BBC website)

Ex-soldiers' cemetery restoration

The cemetery is frequently vandalised

A town's former soldiers are raising funds to look after a dilapidated cemetery containing war graves.

The Church in Wales-owned Llanbeblig cemetery in Caernarfon is overgrown and frequently vandalised.

Church authorities want to see Wales in line with England, where local councils look after redundant churchyards.

The Royal Welch Fusiliers Comrades Association Comrades want £1,000 to buy a heavy-duty strimmer, safety equipment and training for volunteers.

Last year Welsh Guards cleared the old Llanbeblig cemetery, but vandalism and re-growth are an ongoing problem.

We are dependent on volunteers and I very much appreciate any work that is being done to clear the place

The Reverend Roger Donaldson

Jim Hammond of the Royal Welch Fusiliers Comrades Association, said members felt it was appalling that war graves as well as other graves at the site were so badly kept.

"We can't call on the guards every time we want the place cleared, it's a disgrace that the graves of people who fought for our country are being kept like this.

"If you go to France their war graves are kept superbly, they are well-maintained and looked after," he said.

Robart William Jones, who visited Llanbeblig to search for the grave of his great-grandmother, said: "I couldn't get anywhere near it.

"I was shocked, grave stones have been knocked over and someone has been burning things on the actual graves, it's a disgrace.

Robart William Jones, with grandson Iestyn, was upset by what he saw

The cemetery belongs to the Church in Wales, and the Reverend Roger Donaldson, who looks after 11 different churches in the Caernarfon area, said he hoped eventually the situation in Wales would match that in England.

"Until that happens we are dependent on volunteers and I very much appreciate any work that is being done to clear the place," he added.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (GWGC) sent inspectors to inspect war graves the length and breadth of Britain.

The results of their research are featured on the GWGC website.

"The commission is continuing to make contact with various voluntary organisations, local groups and army cadets to see if they would be able to help us in initial clearance followed by ongoing maintenance of the poorly maintained sites containing war graves," said the commission in the document Raising the Standard: War Graves in the UK.