ECO GARDENING GROUP at CHRIST CHURCH WALMSLEY

2025: SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!

We would be grateful of any additional volunteers for our Tuesday morning gardening group. If you enjoy gardening and feel that this is something that you could help with, please contact Nick Hitchen for more information. Thank you.  Special thanks to all who have done and amazing job and made such a difference on our older gravestones and also near the Ashworth Gate.

Giving thanks to our Tuesday morning gardening group at Christ Church Walmsley for the amazing – and painstaking – work these volunteers are doing to clear some of the older gravestones. Well done to Paul, Jenny, Tony, Nick … and others … for their hard work and dedication

On 26 April 2025, the daughter of one of our lovely – more senior – parishioners posted her thanks for all the work done by the Tuesday morning volunteers:

“I came home for a visit last week and made my usual visit to the churchyard at Walmsley looking for more ancestors’ graves. This visit was marked by two fortuitous events, firstly the graves have been painstakingly cleaned so it was much easier to read the words, and secondly, I chatted to a lady who told me she had heard there was the grave of a man who had fought in the Napoleonic Wars. When I found the grave (photo attached) it turns out the man was Thomas Gray, who married an ancestor of mine, Sarah Brindle. The gravestone was provided by Joseph Slater (though I managed to miss the inscription off the photo). I assume Joseph was the then proprietor of Slaters Bleachworks. Thomas and family lived in Dunscar and he was listed as bleacher in the 1841 census. I guess Joseph must have been very proud of his employee. The inscription isn’t completely clear, I’m afraid but reads :- In memory of Thomas Gray of Dunscar who died April 19th 1853 aged 82 years. He served, 1797, in the Lancashire Fencibles in the Irish Rebellion. In 1801, in the 22nd Light Dragoons, in Egypt, under Sir Ralph Abercromby, for which he received a decoration. In 1809, in the Marines, at Flushing. In 1810 and 1811, on the coast of Spain. In 1813-1815, in the War in the United States of America. So Thomas did fight Napoleon but other wars too and saw parts of the world very few did in those days. If anyone wants to see the grave go up the church drive and take the right hand path. It’s on the right hand side just below the church (I think). What an amazing story that local man had!”

Part of our commitment to being an Eco-Church is sharing regular tips on how to be more eco-friendly in your every day lives.

Here is our monthly ‘Eco-Tip’ for May:

Say no to the mow. Mowing your lawn less and letting parts grow long saves you time and helps give nature a home. If you want to make an even bigger impact on wildlife, wait to mow your lawn or a section of it until August to support even more animals. Contribute to citizen science and get to know what (and who!) lives in your church’s green space.

Summary of 2024:

As the year draws to a close, we must congratulate our Tuesday ‘ECO’ gardening group volunteers at Christ Church Walmsley for maintaining our extensive graveyard and memorial garden, the second largest  in the whole of Manchester Diocese. Moving forwards, with new initiatives, we hope to achieve greater ‘ECO’ status. 

Thank you to Tony Foster for the photos. Ariel view by Robert Jackson & Toby Kennedy.