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Anger after ‘eco’ measures leave Henley churchyard ‘overgrown and a trip hazard’




RELATIVES whose family and friends are buried in a Henley churchyard are angry after ‘eco’ measures to encourage bees and butterflies created a ‘mess’.

Some branded St Nicholas churchyard ‘disrespectful’ to their loved-ones, while others warned the uneven ground and overgrown grass is a trip hazard.

Things came to a head after the area at the top end of the churchyard was left uncut for the eco-friendly No Mow May campaign. Wildflowers and grasses were left untouched, so their seeds had a chance to spread. The grass was eventually cut last weekend, but many say it should not have been left so long.

Susan Holmes, 75, whose brother-in-law and other family rest in the churchyard, said she and her husband Tony Holmes, 78, find it ‘sad and upsetting’.

St Nicholas Church, Henley.
St Nicholas Church, Henley.

She said: “It was overgrown. The grass was terrible and looked scruffy. I know it was No Mow May but this went on up until half-way through July. It’s been left too long – they needed to come in weeks ago. If they’re so keen on it being pristine, why did they leave it so long?

“It is very uneven and it’s mainly elderly people who go up there.”

Another pensioner took to social media to point out: ‘The churchyard is where we have our loved one’s graves, it is not meant as a haven for bees, we need to be able to tend our graves.’

The Henley resident, who’s in her 80s, said she was ‘very worried’ about falling on such uneven ground’.

Several others took along their own lawn mowers and grass strimmers to cut the grass around relatives’ graves, as it became so unkempt.

Tensions were already running high, as the Herald reported in September last year, after officials at St Nicholas’ Church published a public notice in the newspaper naming 44 graves in the churchyard that needed attention to bring them in line with Church of England rules governing what was permitted on graves.

This demanded the removal of personal items such as photos, trinkets, teddy bears and other decorative objects like windmills, plants and lights. Many graves have borders or are gravelled over and owners were told these must also be removed and replaced with turf.

Mrs Holmes, who lives in Stratford, said many people are still angry about being ‘named and shamed’ in such a public way.

She added: “We were forced to do something we didn’t want to, but they haven’t kept their side of the bargain to keep it looking nice.

“A lot of people are still really upset about it.”

Ray Evans, parish clerk of Beaudesert and Henley Joint Parish Council confirmed that ‘a long list’ of residents have complained about the upkeep of the graveyard.

He said this time last year the graveyard was in ‘tip-top condition,’ with the whole area tended by the JPC’s handyman and the community PayBack team, with work carried out ‘free of any costs to the church’.

He told the Herald: “It is actually the responsibility of the church to carry out such care but as the community benefits, the JPC stepped in to help.

“This year the local authority mounted a No Mow May initiative to protect the propagation of insects and small mammals and the JPC voted to support the campaign. In that one month the grass and weeds grew to such an extent that the PayBack team are very much in arrears.”

Mr Evans said it was unlikely the JPC will take part in next year’s No Mow May campaign.

He added: “Much as we love to get the graveyard back into good condition, we have an enormous workload about the rest of the town which has to take priority.

“As the church is unlikely to take on their responsibilities any time soon, the JPC will endeavour to get the whole plot back to normal as quickly as possible.”

St Nicholas church parish treasurer Graham Hindley told the Herald: “It was only the very top end where the wildflowers grow that was left longer than normal.

“It is still not very safe up there now that the grass is cut. You can see the mole holes, even when the grass is cut. It’s not very safe, I quite agree with them. The long grass was peculiar to this year and the church has said it won’t be uncut next year.”



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