We are pleased to welcome David Cotter back to Ford Park Cemetery for a Classical Guitar Concert.

 David and his family are great supporters of the cemetery, and his concerts are always well attended so if you are planning to come along, we recommend that you contact the office next week to book your place.

The current long term weather forecast suggests that we are in for a good July.

 Our next big event at the cemetery is our Summer Fayre which we are holding on Saturday 23rd July, starting at 11am.

There will be a variety of stalls in the Visitor Centre and the Victorian Chapel and, if the weather holds, maybe even some stalls outside in the car park! The Northey Room will be selling teas, coffees, cold drinks and snacks.

 We look forward to seeing you there.

Saturday's Summer Fayre raised a total of £648 for the cemetery. Many thanks to all those who came along to support us and also to those who volunteered to help make the day a success

Summer Fayre

Saturday 24 July 11 am til 3 pm

Bric a Brac, Books, Cakes, Crafts, DVDs, Gardening, Jewellery, Refreshments and many more.

It is always good to see children visiting the cemetery, either in a school group or with their parents.

This year, in conjunction with our latest exhibition, we are holding a "Young People's Day" on Sunday the 4th August, from 12.30 pm until 4.0 pm.

Activities, some of which are suitable for wheelchair users, will include circus skills, orienteering with the Army Cadets, pebble painting, and several trails. Refreshments will be available to buy, there will be no charge for the activities.

Bring your children/grandchildren and join in the fun, we look forward to seeing you.

Under 12s must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Our next exhibition opens on Saturday (27th July) and this time we are focussing on the youth of Plymouth, both present and past.

So as well as posters celebrating scouts, cubs, guides, brownies, service cadets, boys and girls brigade and St John's Ambulance badgers and cadets, we are also reminiscing about Maker camp and Saturday morning pictures.

We are also holding a Youth Day to complement our exhibition on August 4th - more about that soon.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Visitor Centre.

Ford Park Cemetery Trust are pleased to welcome Mad Dog Mcrea, in a rescheduled performance at the Railway Social Club.

The money raised will be used for the re-instatement of the bell tower .

Hope to see you all there for a great night out.

Tickets available in advance from the office during office hours, or on the door of the Railway Social Club on the evening of 2nd August.

A message from Maggie who organised the Summer Fayre this year:

This year our Summer Fayre raised £1219.04 for the Cemetery.

We must give a special thank you to the 9th/21st Scout Group for their loan of the Marquee and most important putting it up and taking it down.

This year we welcomed the British Legion, with whom we have a very special relationship through our V.C's /war graves, and were delighted to be able to offer them a table and hope to be able to do so at any future events.

Last but not least is, and I cannot say this enough, a big Thank You to all our volunteers, who assisted at the Fayre. It has been very difficult this year, through holidays, and previous commitments, to be able to have enough helpers and we were struggling. We were also helped by some unsuspecting members of the public: Fred (Anon), thank you for your assistance, Isobel Nobel, from Launceston, who answered our call and helped out on the Bric A Brac and Mark (Elaine's partner) who only dropped in to pick her up and ended up taking down and putting away all our tables.

However, it was hard work but we did it !

Thank You - Maggie

On Saturday 20th July we are holding a Quiz Night, if you enjoy answering questions or just fancy a fun evening with friends, why not come along.

The quiz starts at 7.30 and the evening includes refreshments.

Tickets are available from the Cemetery office for £6.

Our latest exhibition will open on Saturday 28 July in the Visitor Centre.

The theme for this exhibition is a review of transportation in Plymouth and will include posters on planes and trains, hansom cabs, cars and taxis, stagecoaches, trams, trains and buses, push bikes and motorbikes, toll houses and toll bridges and, on the water, liners and ferries.

As usual there will be a guided walk to complement the exhibition. This will be on August 5th, more details to follow.

Join us on Sunday 5 August at 2pm for a guided walk around the cemetery visiting the graves of those connected with transport in Plymouth.

Those featured include one of the first men to drive an electric tram in Plymouth, the first man to own a motor car in Plymouth and the company who first produced the chains for the Torpoint Ferry.

The visitor centre will be open before and after the walk so you can browse the exhibition celebrating transportation in Plymouth whilst enjoying a cuppa and some home made cake. We look forward to welcoming you to the cemetery.

We had our Summer Fayre 14th July – the co - Ordinator was Maggie one of our Trustees

A total of £1052.10 was raised after expenses.

Breakdown:

Bric a brac.                                  200.00
Craft.                                           109.40
Gardening.                                   185.00
Cakes.                                          124.70
Jewellery.                                      70.00
Name the bunny.                             9.00
Raffle.                                           75.00
Half and half.                                13.00
Cafe.                                            250.00
Tombolla.                                    122.00
Lucky Dip                                       4.50

If anyone has any new ideas concerning new stalls for ways of raising more money, and cannot make the Events Meetings, please leave your number with the office and we will get back to you.  Alternatively, the Craft Group meet every Wednesday from 11 am to 3pm.  Please do not hesitate to pop in and see us.

Well done Maggie and all who helped with this event.

Over the last few months, we have been renovating the memorial garden.

The final piece of work has been the installation of new railings and a gate, they are solid galvanised then sprayed with a process they should need no painting for many years.

Thanks to Maurice Rowland who carried out this final piece of work. We are very pleased with the final result.

Ford Park Cemetery Trust is holding a Summer Fayre this Saturday 14^th July.

There will be various stalls including gardening, books, bric-a-brac, jewellery, crafts, plants and homemade cakes.

Refreshments to purchase will be served on the day including tea, coffee, prosecco and strawberries and cream.

The Stalls will be in various locations near the Cemetery office – Visitors Centre, The Northey Room and Victorian Chapel.

The Fayre will be held from 11am – 3pm. Free entry.

On Saturday 7 July Alison and Mike Jameson, who live in New Zealand, visited Ford Park. They are on a tour of Europe and took the opportunity to visit the grave of Alison's uncle. He was Pilot Officer William David Finlayson of the Royal New Zealand Air Force who died when his aircraft crashed near Sidmouth on 24 May 1941. Alison and Mike with friends Tim and Cathy Hamblyn were welcomed by members of the Friends of Ford Park Cemetery and treated to a Devon Cream Tea which they much enjoyed! 

A special wreath had been made by Maggie Heath to commemorate the occasion. This was presented to Alison as the group then made its way to the graveside. Due respects were paid to Pilot Officer Finlayson and three of his colleagues who died in the same incident. The group then made its way to the Victorian Chapel to view the Blitz Memorial. Then a return to the Visitor Centre for a final drink and it was the end of a memorable afternoon. It is a rare occasion that Ford Park can welcome relations of those members of the armed forces who died in World War Two. 

R.I.P William David Finlayson

Volunteers from the Trust have just finished a week running the coffee bar at Harewood House, Plympton, selling not only teas and coffees, but also hand-made sandwiches, home-made cakes and bric-a-brac. Their hard work has been rewarded by making a profit of just over £500.

It was a busy weekend at the Cemetery, with three separate events taking place

Over three days, Friday to Sunday, we held our first flower festival in the Victorian Chapel, with the theme of Children’s Books. There were fifteen entries, with each visitor voting for their favourite display. The winner in a close contest was Jurassic Park by Solomon Heath. There were one hundred and seventy visitors, and the occasion raised over £300 for the Trust.

On Saturday we held our annual Bug Hunt, a family event held in conjunction with Wild about Plymouth. Despite the cloudy weather, fifty five enthusiastic bug hunters spent two happy hours searching for mini-beasts.

The weekend also marked the opening of the latest exhibition prepared by our Heritage Team. Ford Park Cemetery, Then and Now, will run until Sunday, 6th August.