Former mayor hits out at condition of cemetery
THE former Mayor of Macclesfield has slammed the state of the Gardens of Remembrance at Macclesfield Cemetery and Crematorium, which he says have gone from a ‘beautiful’ space into a ‘ridiculously overgrown’ and ‘inaccessible’ one.
Lloyd Roberts, also a former councillor for Tytherington, had his wedding photos taken there next to ‘a beautiful lake filled with water lilies’ around 20 years ago and says the area is now unrecognisable.
He said: “A gentleman in his eighties came all the way from Buxton by bus and couldn’t get to the tree by which he had paid to have his wife’s memorial.”
He added that the dam at the end of the lake had collapsed into a pond of sludge and shopping trolleys had been abandoned there.
He added that a sign banning woodwork or metal on memorials was ‘disgraceful’ but said he would be happy just to see the gardens fit for purpose so people could visit the site where their loved ones’ ashes were scattered.
A Cheshire East Council spokesperson said: “There used to be a wall in the cemetery that crossed a vale and created a pond which collapsed about seven years ago.
“As a result, the stream that fed the pond ran its own course and, as it meandered, began to undermine the embankment.
“The council is in the process of carrying out work to stabilise the embankment and outfall and to repair the collapsed culvert.”