April 2024

The RPC information 

Members will be aware of the delays we experienced in receiving what is said to be RPC's new and additional information which would support their claim to be aware of the deaths that took place in the Hospital and the location of all the burials and interments in the Calderstones Cemetery, The RPC claim is very important to the Friends because as far as we aware, this is the information which may have persuaded the Assistant Archdeacon and then the Archdeacon to make an application to the Bishop for the partial de-consecration of the Cemetery. We believe that based on the documents in Appendix 10 Parts 1 and 2 which we have accessed,  the claim is unfounded and the information supplied would not support the conclusion RPC appear to have reached. On the contrary, the RPC information appears to provide further confirmation to support the evidence in our two latest submissions to Bishop Philip.

We would like to encourage as many members and readers as possible to join us, in reading the full text of RPC''s Annex 10 Parts 1 and 2 which we believe is the only new information that has been provided, to see if they would reach the same conclusion as RPC, in that the post 1966 deaths at Calderstones are accounted for, and the locations of all the burials within the Cemetery can be clearly and confidently identified. 

A question about the Church

We have been asked if St Luke's Church, within the Hospital when it was first established in 1916  was part of the Blackburn Diocese? There was certainly some connection with the clergy who provided services there for over 70 years, but as far as we are aware, the upkeep maintenance and management of the Church appears to have been the responsibility of the Hospital authorities, like the Cemetery, across the road, For many years, a  Reverend Harper who was also the curate of Whalley Parish Church was responsible for the many different weekly services at St Luke's Church. One of our members has also pointed out that St Luke's Church was quite unique in that it provided services to both Anglican and Roman Catholic people who worked and lived at the Hospital and through that arrangement had some connection with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford. Readers who have any further information on the history of St Luke's Church and its clergy are invited to add their contribution to our records. 

Invitation from NFCF

The NFCF or National Federation of Cemetery Friends have invited the Friends of Calderstones and Brockhall Hospital Cemeteries to attend their annual conference in Bedford during June. We are a registered ember of the NFCF which has been a consistent source of support over the past six years and hopefully will be able to send a delegate to represent us at the Conference in June.

Sean Uttley

 Representatives of the Friends recently met Sean at both Brockhall Hospital and Calderstones Hospital Cemeteries. At Calderstones, Sean, who dug the grave and buried the famous "Lady in the Wicker Basket" was able to show us the general area by the railings on the NORTH side of the central path where he buried the  Lady which we hope he will now identify on a  map although as he says, the ground is so overgrown and neglected it is difficult after 20 years to be exact within a few feet of the location but he is confident that he has been  able to identify a spot very close to the grave. On his visits to both cemeteries, Sean commented on the extremely wet conditions at Brockhall compared with the relatively firmer ground at Calderstones, and believes that the last seven months had been the wettest in his 40 years of grave digging.

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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