Margravine Cemetery goes from strength to strength steered by the Friends of Margravine Cemetery and an energetic committee.
The Friends meet weekly to do some gardening; weeding beds, clearing undergrowth and so on. The heavy lifting is done by two employees of the Council and external contractors. There are more than 400 trees across the 16.5 acre site and more than a dozen are planted each year. A Friend “adopts” a newly planted tree in its early years to water, mulch and clear weeds. So many trees die in their first two years if not nurtured. There is a new website and it only costs £6 a year to be a FoMC. Restoration of buildings and monuments is another focus. There are two listed buildings urgently in need of restoration and one listed headstone likewise.
The overall appearance of the cemetery has won two awards this year from the Royal Horticultural Society’s London in Bloom competition, although it’s fair to say the the flowers in the cemetery are understated, in a good way, and do not rely on gaudy annuals beloved of municipal gardens. I used to go to stay with my grandmother in Bournemouth as a child and loved the spectacular blaze of colour in a park by the sea. Children take time to develop good taste.
Events in the cemetery include a bats walk (bring a torch), bird watching, butterfly identification, nature walks for children from a local nursery school, a nature bulletin for FoMC members and dog walking so long as they are kept on a lead and their poo is picked up.
On Margravine Gardens the tree outside my house was heavily pollarded last autumn but has made a good recovery this year. Yesterday the tree beside it was pollarded and further along the street, in a south facing front garden, is a flourishing olive tree but it can take up to twelve years to produce fruit. Of course this is no time at all for a tree with a life span then can be for thousands of years but more typically about five hundred years .
