This will in turn allow much better access for visitors and will make the mowing and strimming of the cemetery much easier in the long term. Also a considerable amount of effort was put into the erecting of several marble and stone headstones that had fallen face down in the mud over 50 years ago and were uncovered over the last few months.

There is a tremendous satisfaction in finding and turning over these long forgotten memorials to reveal the names of those buried underneath and after careful photographic recording, these will now be added to the churchyard database in due course.

The charity owes a great debt of gratitude to  Mr John Trott who thought up the idea of asking all his friends from the “Mackworth Club” – who are a group of young Freemasons from West Wales  to come along and support the charity. Richard Holmes, one of John’s friends and local businessman, brought a huge amount of machinery  on the weekend including mini diggers, and skips, together with other friends who also came along with their own mini diggers including Rob Richardson, and also Rob Holland of RP Hire Johnstown who lent us the dumper truck and tracked barrow. Without this machinery it would have been impossible to have achieved so much.

On Saturday the 11th January the weather was atrocious with strong winds and heavy rain nearly all day, but this did not stop the efforts of all those involved who gave their all and stuck to the task for the whole day, only stopping for a short break. Thanks must also go to Neil of Williams Fish and Chip Shop in Lammas Street who provided 14 packs of sausage and chips to share out and was much appreciated by all.

Sunday was a much better day weather wise – even sunny at times, and the new workforce equally gave their all during the course of the morning in clearing a lot of stones from the cemetery, the ivy off the walls and again to re-erecting two memorials that had been lying face down for decades. It was unbelievable to see how much effort everyone concerned put in over this weekend and my Trustees are eternally grateful for this huge effort of community spirit. Apart from “restoration and repair” of course the charity has had to consider the health and safety of any visitors to the cemetery, young and old, and as a result has had to make safe several of the Victorian box tombs that had become unsafe due to collapse or damage by reducing their height to ground level thereby keeping the inscriptions intact and visible. As a result the cemetery is now a much safer and tidier place in which to visit. The Charity is grateful to the Chancellor of the Diocese, the Archdeacon, and to the Diocesan Officials for the granting of a Faculty in order to carry out this important work, which has been done to exacting standards.

Thanks to everyone involved. It was a brilliant effort. Also Robert Goodridge and Chris Dzioba – two of the Charity Trustees also attended on the two days and appreciation goes to them also for their efforts.

Content courtesy of St David's Cemetry Website, which you can visit by clicking here.