Bamford Parish Church No One Cares Anymore

A Memory of Bamford.

A churchyard  is a place where families can be near their deceased loved ones, a calm and beautiful place surrounded by trees and flowers, but that is not the case in Bamford churchyard. The grass and weeds are taking over so it is impossible to walk through the graves without being entangled or tripping over the fallen headstones hidden in the grass. The odd grave is trimmed and tended by loved ones but most of the churchyard is an eyesore, not even the pathways are mown.

A large number of my family are buried in this churchyard so there is always somebody bringing flowers and tidying around the family's graves but the grass around is so thick that my disabled mother and auntie have both stumbled. It is only a matter of time before someone seriously injures themselves, then who will be held responsible? Will it be the Bishop of Derby or our Revd Katie Tupling? Maybe the church wardens Jenny Mather and Carol Cotton, or the Parish Council headed by Sue Becket? Surely one of them has got to take responsibility?

The Church made an awful lot of money out of the sale of the vicarage, they charge to bury people, charge for a headstone to come through their gates but where does all this money go? Not on the care and upkeep of the churchyard, as you can see from these photos below.

Most of the churches in the Hope Valley area, even the ones that are rarely used like Thornhill are well cared for but the best example is the Catholic church in Bamford. That's what a churchyard SHOULD look like!

See photos of what it's like now http://peak-district.webs.com/eyesoreofthepeak.htm