St Chad's Church
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The Eco-congregation

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Visit to St Chad's by friends of St Matthew's Churchyard, Lightcliffe.

On 9 March - a cold wet Saturday morning - a group of “Friends of St Matthew's Churchyard” from Lightcliffe, near Halifax, visited St Chad's to learn how we manage our churchyard.

St Matthew's is in an unusual position – the original (1774) Georgian church was demolished, apart from the tower, in 1974. Their churchyard surrounds this Grade 2 listed building. The Victorian church which is currently used for worship is several hundred yards away. Much of their churchyard is overgrown with brambles and rosebay willowherb. Their aims, which mirror those we have at St Chad's, are to ensure the place is in keeping with the function of burials, a pleasant, attractive, accessible place for all visitors, a haven for plants and animals and a place that values and protects the local heritage.

Alan Griggs, Mike Willison, Chris Milestone & Suzanne Dalton, members of our Green Team, gave a presentation in church, which showed how attractive and colourful our churchyard looks in spring and summer, and the wealth of wildlife it supports. The Lightcliffe team were full of questions and appreciated the knowledge and helpful suggestions from the Green Team. We then toured the churchyard itself, where they photographed not only the general lay-out, but newly emerging ox-eye daisy plants, the compost “keeps”, the insect hotel, bird and bat boxes.

We were impressed with the enthusiasm and commitment of the Lightcliffe team and hope to accept their invitation for a return visit later in the year. It is very valuable to meet groups from other churches and share ideas and concerns.

Suzanne Dalton

Read here about Greening the Parish Centre , achieved through the installation of solar panels, thermostats and the intorduction of heat zones with secondary glazing to follow as soon as funds permit.

Virtual Water. Click to read Suzanne's article from the Parish Magazine about our water consumption and the concept of a "water footprint".

 

St Chad's Churchyard ...Ways to be Green ..Recycling

What is the Eco-Congregation ?

As a Churches Together initaitive this programme is supported by all denominations, encouraging Christians to take practical steps to care for our planet. Ideas are offered under various headings for ways of minimising our impact on the environment both personally and as an organisation. Find out more from the Eco-Congregation website

If you would like to join the Green Team, please get in touch. We need people with different ideas and interests and you would be made most welcome.

Community Activities :
. Recycling now extended to include Hearing Aids and batteries
. Recycling mobile phones, printer cartridges and postage stamps
. Traidcraft stall continues on a regular basis
. Magazine exchange approx. once a month

Interpretative Boards in the Churchyard
We hope that the two interpretative boards in the churchyard will enable passers-by to appreciate some of the wildlife, history and geology of the church and churchyard. One board focuses on the church building and wildlife associated with the grassland, the second on the geology of the churchyard memorials and the wildlife of the hedgerows and woodland. These boards have been financed by Leeds City Council from Section 106 funding, which is for environmental improvement, associated with the Filter Bed development. The beautiful art-work is by Stephen Huxley of Figurehead Designs in Harrogate .

Suzanne Dalton