October 2024

The checks have begun

Following the discovery of the additional Catholic burials, the Friends have begun to make enquiries about this previously unknown group of people, which provides further proof, that our earlier belief that we had a comprehensive record of all the people known to have been buried in the Cemetery. This latest and sizeable discovery of additional burials, coming so shortly after Rosemary Needham, shows that our previous confidence in the comprehensive records we held was misplaced. There are obviously other records which we have not have access to, and the Owners continued refusal  to acknowledge or share the records which we believe they are legally obliged to maintain, means the locations of the graves of this latest large group of people, like Rosemary Needham remains hidden. 

The search for information about these additional people, presents a new challenge for the Friends as the enquiries begin with so much less detail than the previous records provided. We have to consider the thousands of former hospital residents who would have lived at the Hospital during a period of over 30 years. An initial observation of the latest information, questions why there may not have been similar numbers of additional burials among the non-Catholic faiths. We do not have any recorded division of faiths, but believe that the Catholic community might be approximately a third of the total. The first enquiries have been productive and encouraging, but it will be a time-consuming task. It seems likely that we will be able to provide interim details of individuals or small groups of individuals before we are able to provide a summary report identifying all of the people who have been listed so far, and it is possible hat other individuals may be added.

 

 Cemetery to reopen

              A poignant coincidence

  On the very day that Calderstones and Brockhall (mistakenly) Cemeteries were sold by the NHS to a Mr Tony Walsh, 200 miles away in Wells, a Dr Morag Hervey was already identifying how the contempt shown to the deceased residents of the long-stay institutions and their families, has a continuing corrosive impact on the communities where that contempt and indifference remains embedded

                                             From Graham Livings - Minehead

 *Dr Morag Hervey (formerly Bailey), for many years a senior psychiatric physician at the Mendip Hospital, gave a talk about its long history and achievements. This was given in St. Thomas Church, Wells, on 20th October 2000, to help raise awareness of the importance of saving the Mendip Hospital Cemetery from development. Dr Hervey concluded her lecture with the following words:"

"……That brings me, in conclusion, to say a word about the dangers confronting the old Mendip Hospital burial ground. It seems to me that any thought of turning it over to commercial use would be a final act of contempt towards people who had known too much contempt during their lives. They are now beyond damage but we are not. Contempt always damages the contemptuous. Furthermore, the fragile improvement there has been in the attitude of society towards mentally ill people would be countered by a public message of this sort. I wish the Friends of Mendip Hospital Cemetery every success."

A significant discovery

A response from the Bishop

"I have received continued correspondence from you concerning Calderstones Cemetery. This property may be subject to further ecclesiastical law processes, this is something the Bishop has no control over, nor can he predict what is likely to happen next. However, it may be that your correspondence and any of the matters to which you refer will become evidence in such a process. Please refrain from sending the Bishop's office anything further on this matter and keep whatever evidence , view or development you hold for consideration in any future legal process that may arise. Failure to do so may risk prejudicing the matter, and we ask that correspondence to the Bishop seeking to influence him cease. The request is that you hold representations you wish to make until such time as you may have opportunity to make these or as the Court may direct."

September 2024

The southern GOR

We have received enquiries from  readers who are not familiar with the previous or current layout of the Cemetery, concerned about the relative importance of the southern Garden of Remembrance, at a time when there are so many other pressing issues such as the discovery of recent, and seemingly unknown and unrecorded burials in the Cemetery, which raise questions about the location of the owners burial register, and the continuing failure of the owners and the Bishop to respond to correspondence.  For some, the owner's apparent intention to ignore the restrictions of the Cremation Act 1902 and press ahead with his plans, seems to be a more urgent priority. 

However,  knowledge of the history of the southern Garden of Remembrance and developments over the past seven years is crucial to understanding the present situation, and the issues facing the Friends campaign.  The Garden was first established in 1977 and was laid out in a formal grid system of 15 rows, with 15 interments in each row. We are aware that the remains of 211 named men women and children who had lived at the Hospital are interred in individual and previously identifiable plots within the Garden. There are good reasons to believe that the remains of more people were interred in this location, but the Friends only have records for those 211. As far as we aware. there are only three surviving official records of the Garden. The first is the photographs of Bill Edwardson, looking at the grave of James McLennan, one of the Booth Hall babies, with the recently established Garden clearly visible in the background. The second is a copy of the grid, identifying the location of each plot, and the third is the list of each individual's name and their plot number. Both these lists were provided by the Hospital, and like the photos are accepted by all parties.

In January 2018, and apparently unaware that the Cemetery was consecrated ground and therefore without obtaining faculty from the Blackburn Diocese, a contractor working for the then owner, BORI Ltd, and linked predecessor of the current owner, Remembrance Parks Construction Ltd,  built the substantial foundations, for a roadway running across the Cemetery in a north/south direction. We were told that the Contractor had carried out this work, contrary to the instructions he had been given by the Manager of BORI Ltd. However, it later emerged that the owner/director of the construction company was very closely involved in the planning process with Ribble Valley Borough Council, on behalf of the then owners, BORI Ltd.  On January 11th 2018, when the Friends confirmed to Angela Dunn, the then Manager of BORI Ltd, that the Cemetery was consecrated ground, all work on the site ended and the heavy construction machinery was removed.

The roadway cut straight through a significant portion of the Garden of Remembrance, a portion which the owners, and subsequently the Archdeacon, say they can satisfactorily identify, although they are fully aware that the evidence for that claim has never been shared and validated, and has been consistently challenged  for the past six years. The owners did erect a very small taped-off section, which the Friends photographed, (see Mary's drone photo ) but it was quickly removed, when we sent the first polite request for information and answers to the owners and Archdeacon. (see the Nine points document) at a crucial time in the planning process, leading up to March 2019. Six years after it was first sent, and despite multiple reminders, to the recipients, that document remains unanswered and it is reasonable to question why. The Document refers to the damage/destruction of the Garden, asking if the Owner had subsequently dug into it The specific reason for asking that question was to clarify the visual evidence from our members. The question remained unanswered, until June 2023 when in a meeting with Mr Ron Dunn and the Reverend Canon Grant Ashton, Assistant Archdeacon of the Diocese, Mr Dunn claimed that he had dug into the Garden of Remembrance in 2018 and had done so, with the approval of the Diocese. On four separate occasions since June 2023, we have asked the Assistant Archdeacon and Bishop to confirm or reject Mr Dunn's claim. Those separate requests have been neither acknowledged nor answered.

The "discovery" that the whole Cemetery was consecrated ground and the owners/contractor had constructed a roadway straight through the southern Garden of Remembrance, created serious problems for the owners and their plans to build a car park and access roadways in what was now unquestionably consecrated ground. For the owners, it seemed essential to establish what had happened to those urns containing human remains, and consider how they could superimpose and then integrate, the size and location of the original southern Garden of Remembrance into their official plans, bearing in mind that those plans had already been made and accepted by the Council, and included the illegally excavated parking and roadway.  The owners needed to establish exactly where the Garden was and was not, to propose the construction of an alternative roadway and car parking which avoided it. To that end, it appears that they commissioned a GPR survey of the Cemetery. 

The Friends have never been shown copies of the commissioning brief which was given to the surveyors, or the summary of the survey findings with the caveats and limitations, which apply to this specific survey.  We believe that it was Mr Dunn, who refused the author of the report, permission to discuss the content of that report with suitably qualified representatives of the Friends, regarding it as the privileged information of the owners and commissioners of the report. Whatever that summary concluded, and it may indeed have confirmed what the owners confidently claim is their certainty of knowing where all the burials and interments within he Cemetery are, and are not located, that certainty of claims, seems to have been well promoted and accepted as being factual by some senior representatives of the Diocese and the Council's Planning Department. We will return to our concerns about the limitations and transparency of the survey and its summary later, but it is important to look carefully at the timings of two parallel and interlinked events, The Owners application to RVBC for planning permission to develop the site, variously managed by a Mr Sundeep Gohil, Mr David Daniels and Mrs Angela Dunn, and separately the two applications to the then Bishop Julian, to remove the consecrated status of the Cemetery. Both these applications for de-consecration were made by Archdeacon Mark Ireland who as Archdeacon is specifically responsible for such actions within the Diocese.  

The details of these events have ben retained but will be published after the Archdeacon has been given the opportunity to challenge their veracity.

   

Owners lack of response

Further letters have been sent to Mr and Ms Gerard, the two owners and directors of Remembrance Parks Construction Ltd, asking for copies or sight of the burial register and location maps which we believe that they should have been given by the previous owners and registrar's at the time of their initial purchase of the Cemetery in 2016. Those records would be particularly helpful to relatives and friends like Nikki Needham, trying to establish the exact locations of their loved ones and answer confirm the area of interments in the northern section, which would include Daniel, Harold and John and possibly confirm the names and details of other currently unconfirmed people. We are advised that as the responsible owner of the Cemetery, Remembrance Parks Construction Ltd is legally obliged to maintain a burial register and  access to its content for appropriate enquiries. Unfortunately as the month ends, we have still had no response to our letters, from Mr and Ms Gerard  .

Another Drone Photo 

Looking west to the chapels. Please note the rows of regular patterns running right to left and the southern garden of Remembrance with coloured marker sticks  highlighting the much larger area identified in the Friends photos compared with that suggested by the Owners. If you enlarge the photo you will also see the three yellow marker sticks, identifying the location of the interment attended by former nurse Joe Raw

The ownership of graves    

Question 32 Has this use (present use) been continuous since it began?

Answer : "The consecrated land has been continuously used as a burial ground since consecration."

Question 36 Please confirm that any fixtures, fittings and chattels included in the sale are owned absolutely by the Seller free from any third party rights.

The NHS was unwilling to suggest that it owned the tombstones, coffins. monuments etc, confirming that they are the property of their existing owners, and as such cannot be transferred or sold to the purchaser or any subsequent purchaser.

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CWGC contact

We have been contacted by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission confirming that they were aware of the temporary closure of the Cemetery. The Regional Manager has been in touch with the Owners and was told that the illness of the Company';s tree-surgeon has led to a delay delay in progressing with the work, However, he was reassured that the necessary work will be completed to allow the Remembrance Service to proceed as normal.

Circulation of drone photos

A copy of the first of Nikki Needham's drone photos see below, has been circulated to the Owners Mr and Ms Gerard, the Bishop, the Ribble Valley Borough Council, the MOJ and the local media, We await acknowledgements and responses and will publish the other equally revealing photos in due course,  

      Nikki Needham's Drone photos

This is the first of a series of drone photos taken for Nikki it is focussed on looking north at the junction of the central path and the cross path which runs in a north south direction. The unmistakeable pattern of regular rows following that same direction in both the north west and north east quadrants is striking.This area of land has been totally neglected, overgrown and wild for the past five years and the Owners claim that there are no burials in this area. In the absence of any other explanation we now believe that these may be graves, but would welcome suggestions and ideas fro readers who may have direct experience of such matters

William Herk sets a 75-year record

We were recently contacted by a relative of William Herk, who died in Calderstones Hospital in November 1996 aged 92, having been admitted there in 1921, as the facilities were returned from the closing Queen Mary's Military Hospital to civilian control. As far as we aware, William spent more time in the Hospital than any other person;  we would welcome contributions from readers who may be aware of other people who spent similar lengths of stay in long-stay hospitals in the UK or elsewhere. As William arrived at Calderstones as a young adult rather than a child, his record is even more exceptional.  

                   Left outside

 

Complaint to the Ombudsman

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August 2024

  

Temporary closure

We received an email from Mr Ron Dunn, see copy, informing members and other visitors of the proposed immediate closure of the Cemetery, to allow the Owners to assess and then as necessary, address the risk of potential injury to visitors from diseased or dead trees in the woodland area. A similar assessment and subsequent removal of diseased trees took place in the past and we will monitor the situation closely over the next few weeks. Members are asked to note the courteous correspondence from Mr Dunn; we look forward to an early response confirming the assessment of risk, details of any remedial action to be taken and a date for the full re-opening of the Cemetery

RON Dunn

Fri, Aug 23, 8:42 AM (3 days ago) to me, Angela

Dear Dennis,
As you know, we have a large number of trees in the woodland area that have suffered from Ash dieback and are now in a dangerous condition. These trees are placing visitors to the cemetery at risk. Unfortunately previous notices asking visitors to stay on the path have been ignored and given the windy conditions at present, this has highlighted the imminent danger that these trees present. It has become evident that some of these trees are within striking distance of the paths so even if visitors do comply with staying on the path they may be at risk, so we have taken the decision to close the cemetery until we are able to bring contractors in and fell the trees in question.
The closure will come into effect from today and this will mean access to Whalley Military Cemetery will not be possible until the tree work has been completed.
We have already contacted a local arborist, advised Archdeacon Mark Ireland; the War Graves Commission, Ribble Valley Council and the Registrar for Blackburn Diocese, Lisa Moncur.
A notice has been placed on the gate, but I thought it might be helpful to let you know in case you receive any enquiries.

Regards

Ron

  

Neighbours and the Cremation Act

    It now seems obvious that the Owners, Remembrance Parks Construction Ltd, the Diocese and Ribble Valley Borough Council are all aware of the litigation and the relevant neighbours lack of consent. While the Council and the Diocese might rightly say that they are not responsible for this legislation, they were both fully aware of its implications and took decisions which they knew or should have known would have consequences for the rights of those ordinary people. We may or may not hear further on the informal discussions and advice, which we believe those institutions have had with the Owner about this matter.  

Further response from RVBC

The details of the complaint are confidential at this time, but in general terms it relates to the appropriateness of some lobbying in respect of a specific variation to planning permission, issues concerning the Lawful Commencement certificate, and contradictory interpretations of Council policy in respect of the significance or otherwise of  "the presence of bodies."

 

Drone Survey of the Cemetery

The partner of one of our members is a professional drone operator and recently completed a drone survey of the Cemetery paying particular attention to the areas where Nikki Needham was told by employees of Remembrance Parks Construction Ltd that her mother was buried in October 2002, and the general area in which she recalls the burial - they are quite different, The initial preview of material showed several  interesting features which we were previously unaware of, and an interpretation of differing colouring and shading of grass which we had noticed before. For instance, there were distinct and regular alternating patterns of dark and light grass running in a north/south direction in the area of the Booth Hall babies RC section, which were inexplicable, but when pointed out leave you feeling surprised that you had not noticed them previously.  There were several evident areas of subsidence in rectangular or square shapes for which the survey might provide some further clarification, especially if as seems likely, some appear  to be grave size. The survey results should be available in the next few weeks  and will be included on the website. 

The unanswered question

Members and readers will be familiar the Nine points document, which was first sent to the then owners Buildings of Remembrance International Ltd and the Archdeacon of the Blackburn Diocese in 2018. A question on that document asks "has the owner at any time dug into the area of the Garden of Remembrance?" The question, like the other eight points was never acknowledged or answered by either party.

However, in June 2023 at a meeting in the Diocesan Office, chaired by the Assistant Archdeacon, Canon Grant Ashton, Mr Dunn, an employee of the current owners, Remembrance Parks Construction Ltd, said he had dug into the Garden of Remembrance in 2018 or 2019 and taken photographs of the urns, and had done so with the approval of the Diocese. This astonishing revelation was the first time that representatives of the Friends had heard of that claim, or the implied approval of the Diocese. A request for Canon Ashton to confirm that claim was understandably unanswered by the then recently appointed Assistant Archdeacon who was not involved with the Cemetery during the relevant period. Over the following 12 months, three further polite requests were made to Canon Ashton, asking him to confirm or reject Mr Dunn's claim. On each occasion, the request was simply ignored. Finally, as we couldn't get an answer from the Archdeacon or the Assistant Archdeacon we respectfully put the question to Bishop Philip, and inexplicably, that request was also ignored.

The question is  of enormous importance, not only to the families and friends of the 211 people known to be interred in that Garden of Remembrance but also those of all the other deceased, buried and interred there as recently as 2002, The implications for the essential ongoing trust and confidence in the people responsible for the management and governance of those final resting places within consecrated ground, are obvious. 

The question is really quite simple. Mr Dunn claims to have dug into the Garden of Remembrance (southern) during 2018 or 2019 to photograph urns, and did so with approval from the Diocese. Is that claim correct or not?

New Markings on GOR

The area for the proposed development of the crematorium has now been marked off with rope providing a better impression of the size of the building. At the same time, metal marking rods have been been placed in the area of the southern Garden of Remembrance, presumably by employees or contractors of the Owners. These rods indicate a much smaller area than the true Garden of Remembrance which was photographed when  Bill Edwardson  was visiting the Cemetery. Those photos show the true extent of the location and size of the Garden, which is clearly much larger than that suggested by the Owner and seemingly supported by the Archdeacon. We understand why the Owner and the Archdeacon might prefer to have had a smaller garden of remembrance but the facts are evident in those photos. We have highlighted the metal rods with a purple marker and the Friends marker rods in yellow. - see photos, The disparity is obvious and needs to be resolved. 

During the same visit a yellow marker was placed at the site of the interment attended by  Josephine_(Jo)  Roe, which is inside the plot of the proposed crematorium. What appears to be the clearly marked outline of another grave , closer to the chapels on the north side of the central path was also discovered and has now been marked with a yellow marker.

Photo gallery

The formal complaint to RVBC

The Friends received an early response from the Council in which it suggested that while accepting that a formal complaint had been made to the Council, which for reasons they fully understood was not proceeded with by the Friends in 2019, it was now too late to consider that same complaint again, five years later. It was Bishop Julian's decision to uphold the consecrated status of the Cemetery in 2019 which led the Friends to make the pragmatic decision of not proceeding with the complaint at that time, in "the perceived best interests of all parties." Following Bishop Philip's ruling in May, over which, it is accepted that the Council had no influence, circumstances have changed and the injustice which the Ombudsman noted had not occurred, as a consequence of the Council's actions in 2019, may now be subject to review. We understand the difficult position which the Council now faces, but the reason for the Friends not proceeding with the complaint in 2019 has been removed, so we have asked the Council to reopen the complaint, which in the circumstance we believe is the most appropriate course of action.

July 2024

Cremation Act 1902

A very important recollection

The Assistant Archdeacon

                                            A disappointing response

 On June 1st 2023, the Assistant Archdeacon, Reverend Grant Ashton, chaired a meeting at the Diocesan Offices in Blackburn which was attended by Mr Ron and Mrs Angela Dunn, two representatives of Remembrance Parks Construction Ltd, and three representatives of the Friends< At the meeting Mr Dunn mentioned that at some time in 2018 or2019, he had dug into the southern Garden of Remembrance to identify and photograph urns which had been interred there. Significantly Mr Dunn added that he had had the approval or permission of the Diocese to do so.The Friends were astonished to hear this claim as it had never been mentioned before in the six years of our involvement with the Cemetery and the Archdeacon, who was previously involved with this matter. Requests for clarification from Reverend Ashton at the time, went unanswered and it is quite possible that this was also the first time that he had heard the claim

The exact location size, extent and current state of the southern Garden of Remembrance is hugely important for our current and continuing campaigns objecting to the development of any new construction within the Cemetery. Knowing where those human remains are, and where they are not, is essential in considering any of the necessary ancillary facilities which might need to be constructed on what is still consecrated ground. With that in mind, on three separate occasions we have politely and respectfully asked the Assistant Archdeacon directly, and the Diocese separately to confirm or reject Mr Dunn's claim. Unfortunately, on each occasion the request has been neither acknowledged nor answered. For that reason on 11th July we again wrote to Reverend Ashton asking him to answer that same question, which he did not, and instead asked that we do not contact him again, but he did confirm that he finished his report in August 2023 and has no further involvement with the Cemetery.

Rosemary Needham R.I.P

This is the certificate provided to Rosemary's daughter Nikki after her mother's burial in the Calderstones Cemetery on 16th October 2002

Rosemary's Certificate

The Certificate was given to Rosemary's family by the then Registrar of Ribble Valley Remembrance Park,  Mr Colin Arkwright, in recognition of the purchase of the burial rights to a grave which is is identified as being number 1142. recognises the family's exclusive burial rights in that grave . The Certificate also confirms that it has been registered "within the books of the said Remembrance Park," showing that a register of this and other burials would have existed in 2002. The Friends were not aware that such a register existed and presume that the register and its consequent responsibilities and liabilities would have been transferred at the point of sale on the different occasions when the ownership of the Cemetery has been sold or transferred since 2002. Due diligence checks by prospective owners should have quickly revealed the presence of post- Calderstones Hospital burials within the Cemetery and the existence of a register identifying the individuals and details of such burials, as well as the liabilities to those individuals and their relatives. The Friends have written to directors of Remembrance Parks Construction Ltd, asking them if they have the Register. Among those records, there might also be Mr Arkwright's helpful location map, showing us where each of he graves might be. The grave number used on the Certificate is not a number which has been previously seen on any of the multiple cemetery maps in our possession, all of which were supplied from the Hospital, or  are copies of publicly available records. However, if you followed the logical pattern of numbering which the Hospital had used, then plot 1142 would have been in the south west quadrant of the Cemetery, where there was only one known and previously recorded burial in 1926. There is no evidence to confirm that Mr Arkwright did follow that numbering pattern, he may have decided on a completely new recording system.  

The RPC grave map.

 This is probably the first time that the Friends and other visitors will have seen a copy of this map, though a copy was included in the substantial documentation provided solely via internet in the Bishop's February notice of an application, and it once again highlights the significance of the Owner's failure to answer the Nine points Document. We might question what other documents, have also not been shared with the Friends, and why? The drawing of trees and an area marked with a cross on the left -hand side of the map in the north-east quadrant, are not part of the original map, they indicate an area where the Friends believe that there are other unrecorded graves. It is difficult to date the map, and we do not know if the numbering system is the original 1921 version, or was added later. it must be post 1971 but does not include any sign of either the southern or the northern garden of remembrance, those grave spaces appear to remain free, and available for future burials. Our best guess is that this is an original owners map of the Cemetery, possibly used at a time of a sale, on which the location of the graves has been superimposed in colour coded form to concur with the available pre 1972 hospital records. We believe that the coding is significant, with the orange marking of grave 472 requiring further investigation as our own records show that there had been no recoded burial into that grave up until 1972; the graves in its immediate vicinity were used in 1937. 1941. 1949 and 1954 

      The questionable directions

This is a copy of the direction which employees of RPC sent to Rosemary's relatives.

The questionable directions

This copy of the directions sent to the relatives of Rosemary Needham was provided by employees of Remembrance Parks Construction Ltd, who may not have access to the Company's legal documentation and paperwork at the time of its purchase and could possibly have been unaware of the register of post -2001 burials and the certificates which were issued. In fairness to the people involved, they gave directions to a location which could be seen to have been an accurate estimate of where grave 1142 would be, based we assume, solely on the original 1921 grave numbering system, so it's possible that they were not to know if Mr Arkwright, the previous registrar, had followed that same numbering system. 

  Members of the Friends and a local journalist were present when Rosemary's daughter Nikki and grandson Ben, visited the Cemetery and walked towards the north- east quadrant, where Nikki recalled the burial taking place, Ben had attended but being three years of age at the time, his recollection was limited. When we took Nikki to the South west quadrant where 1142 is located, she had no recollection of that area, and remained convinced that the burial was diametrically opposite the location she had been given.

   The location of grave 1142, as identified in the RPC directions has been located and marked, It is on the fourth row of the south west quadrant from the cross paths and is the fourteenth grave space in from the central path. Further checks have been made on the frequently quoted radar mapping from 2018, the accuracy and relevance of which, the Friends have consistently questioned since that time. Surprisingly, the multiple copies of the  radar images which were reluctantly provided to the Friends, are all consistent in that none show any indication of any burial in the location of grave number 1142, where Nikki and her family have been led to believe her mother is buried. It is possible, but unlikely that there are other unseen radar images which might show something different. However, if less than 16 years after the burial in 1142,  the much vaunted radar system failed to pick up any sign of the burial, then either Rosemary is not buried in that grave or the information provided by the radar check, simply cannot be relied upon. 

Please look carefully at this map especially the area which RPC present as being the southern GOR, it is intentionally meant to give the impression that the owners and the Diocese are aware of the extent and location of the GOR and can effectively work around it, without disturbing it. That implicit certainty has been consistently challenged  without response from 2018  and remains so in 2024. In the questionable personal intervention and discussions that took place prior to the consideration of the now disputed planning application 3/2019/0004, the Archdeacon implies to the Head of Planning that the size and location of the southern Garden of Remembrance had been identified, to his satisfaction.. Despite repeated requests for evidence to support that view, the Diocese has yet to provide the evidence which led the Archdeacon to make this statement. Its significance is very important, because it is solely on the basis of this unproven extent and location that the Archdeacon suggested that a planned roadway should be diverted to avoid it.  

Rosemary Needham Obituary

Contact from Jo

Thanks to all our members and others who helped to locate Jo and let her know we were trying to trace her. Jo has now made direct contact and confirmed the information which she gave at the Cemetery, during the Anniversary Tour on the 15th June. As members will be aware, Jo's information is particularly relevant to the location of the proposed development; we will now be contacting other people and taking further advice on the matter. Having the good fortune to spend much of her time in warmer climes overseas, Jo was not aware that we were looking for her, and as we have now re-established direct contact with her, it's time for our searchers, to leave Jo to enjoy her idyll, in peace. Thanks to everybody who helped to find her.

Rosemary Needham

Response from the Bishop

The Friends received an early response  from the Bishop to our letter to him in which while we recognised the significance of the edited press release concerning his recent ruling, we were disappointed that as yet, over a month later, so many of the people who had taken the time to follow his chosen procedure and write to him directly with their individual and confidential concerns. had received no similar communication from him. A little note from him, would  not have changed the ruling, but it would have shown a personal understanding and empathy with people you might disagree with, but respect their feelings. Unfortunately the very short response was unambiguous, the Bishop concluding that he had nothing further to add to the statement he had made to the Press with the ruling.

Looking for Jo

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Formal complaint to RVBC

The original complaint concerning planning issues which was sent to RVBC in April 2019, was acknowledged but we subsequently declined the opportunity to proceed with the complaint, after Bishop Julian upheld the consecrated status of the Cemetery in 2019. This pragmatic approach to avoiding disruption for both the Council and the Diocese was taken in the perceived best interests of all parties. Now,  and with hindsight, after Bishop Philip's ruling of the 24th May, our 2019 response seems to have been mistaken. The content of the original complaint remains the same and presents the Council with the task of reviewing the specific details concerning the preparation and presentation of a planning application and a subsequent variation and the actions of its representatives in that process. The complaint, with additional supportive information  has now been resubmitted to the Council. We appreciate that there are time limits on such complaints, but feel that the reasons for this delay which are not contested, are unique.  

Recent photos 12.7.24

Letter to the Bishop

Over a month after the Bishop gave his ruling, members who had, at his request written directly to him expressing their personal concerns about the potential de-consecration of the Cemetery had received no response from him, other than the edited version of the press statement which appeared locally. We presume but cannot be certain that the hundreds of other people and organisations who wrote to him have also not received any direct response from the Bishop. Frustrated by the process which had been followed by the Diocese and the apparent lack of courtesy and sensitivity shown, especially to the families of the deceased, the Friends have again written to him. 

Credit where it is due

BBC and media coverage

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cprrxx1d4j8o  

The Anniversary Tour 15.6.24

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      The Owners make an impression

 Recent photos  

The Bishop's Ruling and a response

           The Advertiser article

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      Letter to the Editor

The Friends evidence 

Several members and other interested people who struggle to understand how the Bishop came to the decision he did, have suggested that the evidence we presented to the Bishop, in support of our request that the full consecrated status of the whole of the Cemetery should be retained as Bishop Julian had decided in 2019. We must accept that the Bishop may not have agreed with our own assessment of the evidence and instead decided that the counter-arguments of the Owners, which he had seen and understood, outweighed the Friends three separate submissions to him, and the earlier one which had persuaded Bishop Julian to retain the full consecrated status of the Cemetery. It would be useful to subject our evidence to wider scrutiny, allowing people to criticise or question the case we have made or alternatively, to consider the counter-arguments which the Bishop appears to have found more persuasive.

Over the next few weeks, we hope to present the evidence in an accessible format with appropriate explanations of details and background information where necessary. That information will be carried in the section headed "Application to remove effects of consecration from part of the cemetery 2023/24" rather than this general new section.

 

Gordon Hartley -QMMH

Gordon, who is one of our members and a former employee of the Hospital has contributed other articles and photos to the website previously but has now agreed to have his very well- researched and detailed history of the QMMH Cemetery, published on the site. This is a unique record of the Cemetery which we are sure will be appreciated by members and other local and military historians. Heather Nunn is currently preparing to transfer the document which should be available to read shortly.

A note of caution

The Anniversary visit

After the Ruling

We are continuing to seek advice from a variety of people and organisations, but believe that under the process which the Bishop chose to deal with this matter, there is no legal appeal open to us and his decision appears to be final. It may take a few weeks to get all the necessary information, but as we have for the past 18 years, we remain committed to opposing the development of any building within the Cemetery. Please try to follow developments in this News section, while the many questions of clarification which we are receiving. will continue to be dealt with in the Application to remove effects of consecration .., section. The Friends responses to the Ruling will be sent to the Bishop and the Media in due course

March 2024

              A hectic month 

The report and accompanying documentation from RPC was finally provided to the Friends in February and we had been given a deadline of March 8th by the Bishop to complete what would be our third submission in favour of retaining the consecrated status in less than nine months. Members will recall that in July 2023 we provided a submission at the Assistant Archdeacon's request, following our meeting in June, Then on what was effectively Christmas Eve, we received the Bishop's notification that the Archdeacon had submitted an application for partial de-consecration of the Cemetery, based on a report he had received from the Assistant Archdeacon accompanied by documentation from RPC. The Friends were not provided with any copies of the documentation on which the Assistant Archdeacon and Archdeacon had apparently formed their opinions, leading to the making of the Application which interestingly was dated September 2023. We first requested access to the Assistant Archdeacon's report and RPC documentation in July 2023 and were refused by the Assistant Archdeacon on that, and two subsequent occasions. We understand that the RPC documentation was not available at the time the Christmas Eve notification was sent out, and despite our further requests for access to those documents, they were not provided to us and therefore the submission made to meet the Bishop's January deadline, was submitted having been denied access to the RPC documentation on which the Application for partial de-consecration, had been made in September.

 However, we have now received the RPC documentation and will consider it carefully before responding.

More relatives come forward

Through the Website and the Facebook page as well as the Lancashire Archives we have had more enquiries from relatives interested to discover information about their relatives who they believe were in either Brockhall or Calderstones Hospital. Some of these enquiries relate to people we know are buried in the Calderstones Cemetery and we hope to provide advice and further details where we can before arranging visits for those who would like to do so.

The Tours begin

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Problems with the Website

During the month we were suddenly hit with a massive increase in the number of people applying to register as members of the Friends. While a few is always encouraging we were inundated with requests from across the world, Japan and Russia being two of the most common and gradually realised that we had been hit with a massive amount of spam. While we continue to welcome new members, we have temporarily closed the registration process to new members and are working to resolve the problem. As we no longer operate a closed or "members only" page the only requirement is that would-be members support the objectives of the Friends, as set out in our Constitution, which is available on the Website.

Thanks to Aaron 

Councillor Aaron Wilkins-Odudu who represents the Nethertown Ward on Ribble Valley Borough Council has been particularly supportive and helpful in distributing the Friends information around his constituency and has attended other meetings. Aaron's support and local connections are particularly helpful and reassuring to neighbours who may not have understood the significance of section 5 of the Cremation Act 1902 

The Lady in the Wicker-basket

Lancashire Evening Telegraph visit 

Robbie Macdonald, a journalist with the Lancashire Evening Telegraph visited the Cemetery and met several representatives of the Friends and a local neighbour and former member of the nursing staff, ahead of an article he wished to produce covering the history and current issues facing the Cemetery. Robbie spent a lot of time speaking to people getting their different perspectives and took many photographs, far more than he might use in any single article, but when he left, members were generally pleased that he seemed to have a good understanding of the general history and a detailed knowledge of some aspects such as the QMMH section of the Booth Hall babies.  

The politicians visit

We were pleased to accompany the supportive Nigel Evans MP, on a recent visit to the Military and Calderstones Cemetery. On the same visit, in wet weather, we were joined by Councillor Aaron Wilkins-Odudu and County Councillor, Ged Mirfin. The Independent Borough Councillor David Birtwhistle had already visited, so we have had a genuine cross-party interest and support for the Cemetery in the past month. 

Tony Lloyd- RIP

On the 17th January Tony Lloyd, MP for Rochdale died. Tony was an active supporter of the Friends especially providing support and guidance during our last objection to the Archdeacon's 2019 application to the Bishop for de-consecration when his advocacy on behalf of the deceased in the Cemetery and their families was particularly welcome. We were able to pass a message of thanks and appreciation to Tony shortly before his death but we now send our condolences to his family and the support team who assisted him in Rochdale and London