Law Commission's consultation

The Friends  begun the new year with a request to contribute to the Law Commission's consultation on proposed changes to burial legislation which seeks to address the relevance of often historic legislation to the changing circumstances and expectations of the modern day. There were multiple aspects of legislation to be considered, many of which were not relevant for the Friends, but we were asked to comment on the neglect of cemeteries and the remedies and controls which might be applied in such situations. We were also able to quote from our own direct experience with section 5 of the Cremation Act 1902 and the apparent indifference or ignorance of some developers to those regulations, Aspects of governance and enforcement were addressed and it is likely that we may have further contact with the Commission in this respect.  The poor,  inconsistent and at times complete absence of records dealing with all aspects of burial practice was highlighted and we have been asked to comment on our experience of those few areas in which excellent and fully accessible records have survived, contrasting with the majority, which for whatever reason, are simply no longer available.We have particular experience of trying to compile detailed and corroborated records of deaths, burials and cremations from different authorities across a lengthy period of time. In a few instances that corroboration has been immediately available, but often it has been impossible to make the same links and occasionally where the records of one authority conflict with those of another, and  40 to 50 years after the event,  it is impossible to decide between those different accounts. We have already had our fist acknowledgement and contact from the Commission and look forward to being able to make further contributions in the future

Old records and articles.

Shortly before Christmas we received a valuable collection of copies of old records and newspaper articles relating to the Cemetery which make interesting and informative reading,when you consider how events have developed since they were originally produced, how some plans and commitments have been honoured or ignored, and how parts of the Cemetery's history have been conveniently overlooked or forgotten especially when they might contradict the different narratives which the owners, developers, planners and representatives of the Diocese may wish to promote and defend. Over the coming months we hope to reproduce these documents but will begin with earlier plans of a former owner, Colin Arkwright promoting the services which he was offering as part of the Ribble Valley Remembrance Park. Readers will note that Family Burial Plots, Vaulted Burial Plots, Natural burials, as well as Ash Plots and scattering in the Garden of Memories were all available and in some cases, special services were available for pets. We know that Rosemary Needham and the "Lady in the wicker basket" were buried in the Cemetery at this time, and the obvious question remains how many other people were also buried in the same area by the owners of Ribble Valley Remembrance Parks?.The official register record and family rights to Rosemary Needham's grave have survived, but what about those other people. Anybody who walks the length of the northern section of the Cemetery, where Rosemary and the Lady in the wicker basket are buried, especially in dry or frosty conditions cannot miss the multiple areas of regular shaped subsidence in the ground, and will rightly question, if they are not graves, what else could they be?

Retirement of the Archdeacon

Recent photos

During the recent cold and frosty weather a series of photos were taken showing the  areas in which the trees were removed from the woodland area and a general views of both the Calderstones and the QMMH cemeteries. With the severe frost, the overgrown vegetation is much easier to access and visit the graves but also to identify the location of any grave. The marker sticks remain in place identifying the rows of graves in both the northern and southern section and with the knowledge of the row number, it is possible to locate any individual grave in that row of 24, using approximately 44" spacings between the verges of each row. The severe frost also highlights the multiple areas of  seemingly regular shaped subsidence across the northern section of the Cemetery;  if we do experience a further spell of similarly cold and freezing weather, then it might be an ideal time for visitors to see these places.