I’m excited to share my first blog post with you this week. We’ve been a bit quiet with our fieldwork lately, getting ready for spring. This blog will be a bit long but covers what we’ve been up to from October 2023 to 18/02/24. In the future, you can find updates on our events here, so no need to check Facebook or go through your emails. I’m new to blogging, but I hope to get better over time. This blog won’t cover everything like my emails to the university, just the main stuff until the end.

Now, let’s get started with a quick summary and some pictures. Our first time in the churchyard was in the Fall. We did a clean-up and planted bulbs because Fall is the perfect time for planting things like hedges, bulbs, and trees. I’ve included some pictures of the litter we cleaned up (these were taken on September 29th).

Oh boy, it was pretty messy… and way messier than what you see here. Out of all the times we’ve picked up litter, we found all sorts of things: pipes, a suitcase (that one was a bit scary, but luckily it was empty), a child’s tent, old poppy wreaths, cans, keyrings, children’s toys, footballs, table legs, carrier bags, and grocery waste. And when we were looking for weeds, we even found plastic in the soil. This is a summary of everything we’ve come across in the churchyard.

Besides picking up litter during our first outings, we also did some weeding around graves. We wanted to make it more respectful because plants were getting in the way and causing damage to the graves.

When we planted bulbs in the fall, I got a crash course in dealing with thistles and learned about different types. Even with gardening gloves, one managed to prick me! There’s a picture of me being supervised while planting them on 21/10/23.

As Remembrance Sunday approached, we decided to do something special for the grave of the unknown soldier. We wanted it to stand out and be more accessible. On a different note, November is when our hedgehogs get ready to hibernate. To help them, we built a leaf pile in a way that the leaves wouldn’t blow away. We used biodegradable leaf sacks for this. I got some positive feedback because I was the one who raked all the leaves around the grave of the unknown soldier, making it easier to reach. I’ve also noticed more wreaths left there, so it seems like people are still visiting.

We planned to do a bird survey in December but snow fall prevented that, despite that though my poster was a success in encouraging people to join the group

As time passed, we set our sights on being part of the New Year Plant Hunt, which we carried out on the 2nd of January. During this hunt, we spotted three flower species: Groundsel, Daisies, and Winter Cress. We’re hopeful that we might see more variety as the mowing routine changes.

Our second attempt at the bird survey was a success! Unfortunately, I couldn’t capture any bird pictures as moving my camera scared them away. However, our unusual guests, the pheasants, graced us with their presence. The next post will dive deeper into our data and what steps we plan to take next. For now, here’s a picture of the winter poster.

Currently, we’re deep into planning what we’ll be planting this autumn and securing all the necessary permissions to make it happen. Trust me, getting approval for projects in churchyards can be quite the puzzle since nobody seems to know who the landowner is. We navigate through this by seeking approval from various organizations, and for larger projects, we even need to obtain a faculty. Luckily, if you’re facing a similar challenge, there’s a silver lining – you can get the Archdeacon’s permission, which is a quicker and simpler process. Just remember, if it’s something permanent, you’ll likely need a faculty, but for endeavors like planting hedges (as we discovered), the Archdeacon’s permission does the trick.

I’m gearing up for another bird survey, and the next post will feature the poster for anyone interested. Since the survey, we’ve set up bird boxes and a bird feeding station.

In the weeks from 05/02/24 to 19/02/24, I had a meeting with the head Durham ecologist to discuss the mowing regime with other churches. Additionally, I had a chat with a member of the Durham Wildlife Trust who is working on a project with churches and is a bat ecologist. Exciting news – she’s providing us with more equipment (guess I’ll need to update the risk assessment), and there’s a possibility that I’ll receive training in using a scythe and leading a bat walk and processing data. Busy times! I’ve also been mapping the churchyard to prepare for other feeding areas and squeezing in an online volunteering course in the background.