Isobel Hamer has been tending her parents’ grave for nearly 30 years, and until now it has been a case of refreshing the flowers and pulling up a few stray weeds.
This year, however, the churchyard at St John’s in Keswick has been allowed to grow wild – to the extent that Isobel says she’ll soon need a strimmer to even find the headstone.
The church claims the decision to stop cutting the grass is to save both money and the environment. But the 65-year-old grandmother is so incensed at what she describes as a weed-infested eyesore that she has launched a campaign to get the area tidied up.
“Because I’ve had a bad back I’ve been unable to get to the grave since Christmas,” Isobel told The Reminder. “But when I finally went down there a couple of weeks ago I was absolutely shocked at what I saw.
“The grass has been allowed to grow so high you can’t even see the headstones, let alone walk to them. They say it’s supposed to be a wildflower meadow – which wouldn’t be so bad. But all I can see are weeds.”
Isobel’s father Tom, a former conductor and church organist, was buried at St John’s following his death in 1994. Her mother Margaret died 10 years ago and was buried in the same grave.
Recently, Isobel’s three young grandsons visited the grave and placed some painted stones by the headstone. But she says: “Last time I went I couldn’t find them. They’d disappeared into the undergrowth.”
Isobel, a former carer who lives at Windebrowe, has now met with St John’s vicar Charles Hope, who has promised a public meeting in September to discuss the matter.
She has also been in contact with her local councillor, Markus Campbell-Savours, who says he intends to look into the situation with a view to possibly forming a community group to deal with areas of untended grass.
In a statement, a spokesman for the Diocese of Carlisle said the decision not to cut the grass during the summer months had been taken by the Parochial Church Council (PCC).
“Firstly, the churchyard provides a rich habit for flora and fauna. Allowing areas to re-wild for a few months encourages greater biodiversity and provides opportunity for wildflowers to flourish which otherwise would not be able to reseed if cut back.
“A second consideration is the cost of cutting grass at the churchyard, estimated to be about £7,000 a year and which is borne by the church’s graveyard fund.”
The spokesman also pointed out that earlier this year Keswick St John’s was awarded Eco Church status and that the no-cutting policy was in line with that award.
Isobel says she intends to keep the pressure up, and she has also found support from other people who regularly visit the churchyard.
They include Linda Mason, whose daughter was buried there 22 years ago.
“It’s very dismaying for people whose loved ones are there, and it’s also incredibly disrespectful,” Linda said. “Calling it a wildflower meadow is a joke, because there are no wildflowers there at all. Something has to be done about this.”
