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.