I have been reading your comments about Churchyard Conservation with interest as a similar thing happened in my village 13 years ago.

The village's Churchyard is still maintained along Churchyard Conservation principles and has come first in the Northamptionshire Wildlife Trust Competition 8 times. The Churchyard is a real assert to the village now, with articles being written about it in magazines and people coming toa take photographs on a regular basis, expecially in the spring when the cowslips and Fritillaries are in flower.

From looking at it as an outsider, I just wonder how many people complaining about the grass not being cut in the Churchyard have actually volunteered to cut the grass?

Even if those people did volunteer to cut the grass, I suspect the novelty has warn off by now (My father has cut the grass in the churchyard for the last 43 years, with very little assistance. Volunteers don't last long !!)

Helen,
Thanks for opening this topic. Generally I agree with you. But to the defense of the objectors, they did ensure a rota was set up right at the beginning, and though inevitably calls have gone out for replacements for those that dropped out, it looks as if they are continuing to mow. Yes, we have had long term mowers as well, Ron Jones and Doug Stevens in particular.
One aspect of this debate that did not seem to come out clearly is that the whole topic was debated in advance in the open by the PCC (Parocial Church Council), and full details posted on the church noticeboard, available to all. This regime ran, the News And Views reported, for nearly three years before the petition was raised.
The PCC seem to have kept very calm since the campaign started - perhaps before their petition the protestors had already gone through the proper channels, I am not aware either way.
Anyway, I personally hope that now we have had nearly two years more to reflect, a compromise can be (perhaps already has been) reached that satisfies most of the aims of all those interested. Certainly the suggestion that wild flowers and butterflies thrive in the fields around does not match the hope that the churchyard, untreated by modern fertilisers and pesticides, would be a haven for rare and endangered species.
I invite Dorah Bradfield and Sheila Hawes to update us on the current situation as they see it.
(The original report was on page 4 of the August 2003 News And Views, archive version available at www.dsl.iofm.net/AugNews03.pdf )