TOWN CEMETERY ‘BROKE MY HEART’
A WOMAN whose parents are buried at Stowmarket Old Cemetery says it ‘broke her heart’ to see the site had become overgrown.
Beryl Ruffell, 64, from Bury St Edmunds, buried her mother, Alice Moss, at the cemetery 19 years ago and her father. Frederick, just last year.
But Mrs Ruffell said the site has now been ‘left to rot’ and is upset that many areas of the cemetery are being used for wildlife walks and insect hunts.
She said: “It has been completely let go. I wrote a letter to the town council about three weeks ago stating that not only have both my parents been laid to rest in the cemetery but I am also disabled and need my car to get there. Because it is so overgrown you can hardly get a car through the gap at the entrance.
“To see it overgrown was just so disheartening - I just broke down when I saw it.
“It breaks your heart to think my dad was only just buried here a year ago and it has just been left to rot.”
But Michelle Marshall, Deputy Town Clerk, said the council had received a considerable amount of positive comments about the cemetery and that Anglia in Bloom judges has been impressed by the amount of wildflowers.
She said: “The town council has been managing the Old Cemetery as a wildlife area for five years.
“The Old Cemetery is managed in a way so as to create short mown paths around the whole site to allow for easy access.
“The grass on the ashes plot and the area in front of the two chapels is also mown short. The other areas of grassland are managed in a way to encourage wildflowers.
“The cutting scheme was devised by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust and they have been instrumental in the success of this beautiful site. Only last month, they had two events in the Old Cemetery entitled Discover the Old Cemetery and Introduction to Wildflowers.
“A few weeks ago, Mrs Ruffell contacted the council regarding the Old Cemetery and, following this, the vegetation growing around the entrance gates was cut back.”
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Weather for Bury St Edmunds
Thursday 20 June 2013
Today
Thunderstorm
Temperature: 13 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
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Light showers
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