Hitchin Wildlife

  Cemetery Engagement Ideas - Junior School A Victorian cemetery off St John’s Road, Hitchin. It is a location which is safely away from traffic and provides a mixture of both historical and wildlife interest. There is the possibility to make use of the leaders of the cemetery tours (Veronica Gardner & Phil Barron) to provide extra information. Where   Hitchin Cemetery St John’s Road   What ·        5.64 hectares ·        Owned by NHDC ·        Managed jointly by NHDC & Countryside Management Service volunteers ·        Three separate sections based on the age of the burials ·        Oldest, mostly Victorian part most interesting. ·        Variety of graves: indicate relative wealth & religion ·        Chapel, split in to two: CofE side and non-conformist side Why   ·        Created 1857 ·        England’s population roughly doubled every 50 years f

 Hitchin Cemetery August & September 2022 The most significant event during August & September was the presentation of a long service award (garden centre voucher) to Betty for her work for over twenty years as a volunteer for the Countryside Management Service. Betty is the hardest working volunteer at the cemetery, keeping going for long hours in all weathers: note the muddy knees!  Betty has been used to hard  work having been a nurse all her working life. I won't embarrass her by disclosing her age, but she mentioned that she was one of those people who camped out all night to see the coronation in 1953 (a bit of rain never put her off then and it doesn't now), at the time she was working as trainee nurse at Great Ormond Street and it was just luck that her days off coincided with the coronation.    Compared to the above event, the cemetery wildlife was on the quiet side during August and September as the summer heatwave meant much of the grass had turned brown and