Volunteers of the Saron
Graveyard Project, Troedyrhiw held two productive sessions in the graveyard
last week.
A floral tribute in
memory of Peter Smith, a passionate supporter of this project who passed away
recently, was laid on his grandparents’ grave.
The vision is to create
SARON MEMORIAL & WILDLIFE GARDEN and, to this end, we have been making
plans with Willows Youth to add some additional habitat features to those that
are already in place. With the help of Dan Townsend, the youth leader at the
Willows, a raised bed planted as a Sensory Garden was installed. Dan took back
to the Willows some kits for the young people to make up into nesting boxes and
bug boxes that we hope will be erected in gardens and other places across the
village.
Other volunteers got stuck in to complete these important tasks:-
Regular
weeding is an essential part of site maintenance at this stage of the project
and Lynda and Sheila’s hard work made an enormous improvement to the appearance
of the site.
Our
volunteers have abilities and experience in many areas and Simon was able to
demonstrate, once again, his stone wall building skills.
Peter
Smith of Bargoed, who had been a dedicated supporter of the Saron Graveyard
Project, Troedyrhiw, sadly passed away recently. In his younger days he spent a
lot of time in the village and was very close to his grandparents who are
buried in the graveyard, as are his great grandparents.
Peter
was a kind and generous person whom members of our group feel privileged to
have known. We have been surprised and humbled by the decision of Peter’s
family to donate the proceeds of his funeral collection to the Saron Project.
This has amounted to a significant sum, the largest single donation that has
been received since we began in 2009, and we are determined that this will be
used in ways that Peter would have been pleased with and befits his memory.
Any support that you may be able to provide to the team that are working hard to restore a vital component of the historic fabric of Troedyrhiw to a condition that we can all be proud of will be greatly appreciated by us. We hope that you may be able to make it to one or more of the events that are scheduled for next week.
It was an extremely hot day in Saron Graveyard, Troedyrhiw last Saturday 29 June. Despite the working conditions our dedicated team of volunteers worked through from 8:30am until 9:00pm. Tiring but very rewarding work!
Volunteers were very pleased with the results of their recent efforts to improve the condition of some of the graves in Saron Graveyard Troedyrhiw. And so was the 7-spotted ladybird that decided to lay its eggs on one of the gravestones!
The Saron Graveyard Project, Troedyrhiw could do with some additional support. If you would like to find out about some major reconstruction work on a retaining wall that will begin soon and discuss the future direction of the project then please come to one of the meetings that are advertised on this page. To show your interest or to help with some of of the on-site work (it’s not all heavy!) then please pop in to one of our Volunteer Days’ which are also advertised here.
MEETING – THURS 27 JUNE; 6:30pm; ANGEL INN, TROEDYRHIW VOLUNTEER DAY – SAT 29 JUNE; FROM 10:00am; SARON GRAVEYARD, TROEDYRHIW
As a group of community volunteers with no religious, political or other affiliations we have been working hard to rescue the graveyard of the former Saron Chapel in Troedyrhiw from the effects of many years of neglect. We are extremely grateful to the landowner and leaseholder for making it possible for urgently necessary structural work to be carried out in the near future. Our small but dedicated team have made significant improvements to the condition of the site but there is much still to be done. We are now appealing to individual members of the community, organisations and local businesses to actively support us in any way that you can so that our vision of creating a low maintenance memorial and wildlife garden can be achieved within a reasonable timescale. So why not come along to our next committee meeting on 30 May or pop in to our next Volunteer Day on 01 June? You can be sure of receiving a warm reception. You might like to contact us by email at friendsofsaron@gmail.com or call us on 01623477141.
Friends of Saron held their Annual General Meeting last Friday at the Willows Centre, Troedyrhiw. The bad weather limited the number attending but this was a very positive meeting. The main points of discussion arose from the welcome news that urgently necessary structural work will soon be carried out on a retaining wall at the expense of the leaseholder. It was strongly felt that the project needs greater support from the community to achieve its goal of creating a low maintenance memorial and wildlife garden on the Saron site. Much time and energy and a certain amount of money have been invested in the restoration programme – but this will count for nought unless the local community values the graveyard as an asset.
Full minutes of this AGM will, in due course, be posted in
the ‘Documents’ section of the Friends of Saron blog at https://friendsofsaron.wordpress.com/
(access from the foot of the home
page).
Many thanks to the volunteers of Saron Graveyard Project, Troedyrhiw who had made themselves available for last Saturday’s Volunteer Day only for it to be cancelled due to the bad weather. This is only the second time since the project began that this has been necessary. A quick look into the graveyard recently showed that many of the plants that we have put in are doing well but so, unfortunately, are the weeds! We would like to see as many helpers and supporters as possible at our next scheduled session on Saturday 1st June.
Please think about coming to see what is going on at Saron Graveyard, Chapel Street, Troedyrhiw on our next VOLUNTEER DAY. You might even decide to stay for a short while and give us a hand. You can be sure of a warm welcome on SATURDAY 27 APRIL from 10.00am.
