Friends of cemetery give royal seat major makeover
A REFURBISHED bench placed in a local cemetery to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 has been officially unveiled following its extensive renovation.
For the past four years the newly formed Friends of Haslingden Cemetery (FoHC) have been undertaking various projects at Haslingden’s Holden Hall Cemetery with the aim of improving the cemetery’s environment and facilities.
Around 25 volunteers from across the district come together on a regular basis to carry out a variety of tasks from tending war graves, planting bulbs, litter picking and simple maintenance.
Andrew Taylor, chair of the Friends Group said: “Our volunteers are a great bunch and in such a short space of time have made a big difference to the cemetery’s environment, improving its biodiversity, placing bird and bat boxes and planting over 12,000 spring bulbs”.
It was during one of the groups regular working days that volunteers discovered a neglected bench, with several rotten parts and a weathered inscription referring to it’s placement at the cemetery to mark the 1953 coronation.
Enquiries were made to assess its condition, but the group were dismayed when reports suggested the bench was beyond repair. However, all that changed when one of the group contacted the woodwork dept of HMP Kirkham who agreed to see what could be done.
Skilled workers at the prison took the bench back to a kit of parts, timbers too rotten to be reused were fashioned out of replacement wood and then rebuilt and refurbished. After which several coats of protective varnish were applied. Importantly, the original 1953 inscription was able to be saved.
Last weekend, just seven days after the Coronation of King Charles III, the Mayor of Rossendale Cllr Ann Cheetham officially unveiled the refurbished bench, which due to the skills of prisoners and staff is now every bit as good as the day it was placed in the cemetery in June 1953 and ready set to face another 70 years of the notorious Haslingden Grane weather, although this time the FoHC will be keeping a watchful eye on it.