Honesty Shop – 29 June
Another Honesty Shop and Community Cafe coming up on 29 June. Coleshill Town Hall from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. More detail on the poster. Follow the link below:
Archive for month: June, 2018
Press Release – Town Council Statement on Cemetery Memorials
Town Council Statement on Cemetery Memorials
Following social media posts regarding Coleshill Cemetery. Coleshill Town Council wish to make the following statement:
“The Town Council owns and manages Coleshill Cemetery, off Maxstoke Lane. The Council, as with other Burial Authorities, has a Cemetery Policy which contains nationally recognised rules and regulations relating to the maintenance and operation of the cemetery. The Council adopts a policy for the maintenance of the cemetery in order to protect it as a tranquil and reverent place for friends and loved ones to visit their relatives.
“The Town Council’s Cemetery Policy can be found located on the noticeboard in the Cemetery. New owners of plots at the Cemetery are also provided with a copy of the policy.
“In relation to the issue that has been raised, the relevant parts of Town Council policy are, ‘No glass article or any article of pottery shall be placed on a grave. Wind chimes and windmills will not be permitted in the cemetery.’
“The Town Council operates a lawned cemetery and therefore has to ensure the area is able to be mowed. Flowers are, of course, well and truly allowed and particularly welcomed. However, wind chimes and windmills have been viewed as detracting from the reverent feel of the area.
“The above restrictions have been in place for a number of years. Visitors to the Town Cemetery often comment positively on the general appearance of the cemetery and the fact that it is beautiful, reverential and respectful. Comparisons are made with other cemeteries where colourful memorials are seen as making the overall appearance less appropriate in the eyes of most visitors.
“Recently, a family has been advised by a member of the Council staff that its windmill and scarecrow would probably have to be withdrawn, to be collected from the cemetery office. The three very beautiful and well-maintained flower bowls and one vase were not of issue whatsoever and the Council welcomes these as floral tributes in our cemetery.
“On hearing that the family has been made to feel upset as a result of this, the Council will now take the time to listen and reflect on the views expressed about the windmill and scarecrow, not only in relation to this particular grave but in the context of the wider Cemetery. The Council has therefore decided to leave these memorial items in place until a next opportunity to discuss it in early July and will be liaising with the family. The Council welcomes the views of those who use of our cemetery and we look forward to having a discussion about how we operate the cemetery in a way which continues to be respectful to all of those who have sadly passed away.”
Coleshill WI June Meeting
At our June meeting our speaker Chris Edwards of the RSPB gave a fascinating talk on the Middleton Lakes Nature Reserve in the Tame Valley, south of Tamworth, and the extraordinary variety of birds and wildlife now thriving there. He showed a video of how the site, previously old sand and gravel workings, had been developed since it was opened as a reserve in May 2011. It was landscaped, creating different habitats and nesting areas for numerous animal and bird species, including bitterns whose numbers at the site have risen from around a dozen to over 150. The reserve is also home to hares, otters, grass snakes avocets, godwits, stilts, screech owls, Pacific golden plovers, reed warblers, cuckoos and herons. On one day last year 104 different types of birds were spotted.
The site is popular with families and school groups, enjoying the chance to run wild in the Play Meadow and enjoy pond-dipping, bird-watching, picnics and rambles.
On October 3rd, the Warwickshire Federation of WIs is organising a group walk at the Nature Reserve and this is already attracting a lot of interest
Alison Wilks, the delegate for our group of WIs to the National Federation’s annual meeting at Cardiff gave a report on the proceedings. The national chairman Lynne Stubbings from Wishaw recalled the suffragettes of 100 years ago, the successful campaign to win the vote for women and the improved quality of life over the period for women in rural areas. A short film looked at the WI’s development over the century and its early campaigning work, initially to improve social housing. Delegates voted on this year’s resolution, “Mental Health Matters” on the need to urge the government to establish parity between mental and physical health and to provide greater funding and more services to treat those affected by mental illness. With an increase in the number of suicides and psychiatric services stretched perilously thin, this once-taboo subject is now seen as high priority and the resolution was carried almost unanimously with 98% in favour.
Nine of our members attended an afternoon tea-party at Packington Hall, hosted by Packington and Maxstoke WI, to celebrate the centenary of the WI in Warwickshire with a slap-up cream tea. Our Social Time entertainment was a flower-themed quiz,
Our speaker judged the competition for a Posy from your Garden, placing Gill Tyers the winner with Jane Hewitt second and Jane Mills and Maureen Lindsay joint-third were.
On October 13th we are staging a fund-raising coffee morning in the Town Hall for the Air Ambulance.
Our next meeting is in the Town Hall at 7.30pm on July 10th with a talk on “The Magic of Morocco.” The competition is for a colourful holiday photograph. Visitors welcome as always – just turn up and join us.
