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Cemetery Wildlife – January 2024

January 29, 2024 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife1 Comment

The year started off with a beautifully sunny day and temperatures of just a few degrees. Then there was a day of heavy rain. Then we had some dry, cool days, allowing the footpaths around the cemetery to slowly begin to dry out. In the middle of the month Hull had about a week of very cold, frosty days with sub-zero temperatures. This was followed by two named storms in quick succession. I’m happy to report the high winds didn’t cause any major damage to any of the trees in the cemetery. But generally, it has been quite a dry January. The cemetery wildlife has been as active as ever with good numbers of birds around.

Birds

Small Birds

The featured photo this month shows two Robins that I saw on one of my many walks around the cemetery. They’re very territorial birds but these two seemed to be tolerant of each other. This suggests they’re probably a couple, paired up and looking for a suitable nesting site.

I was delighted to get a few brief glimpses of a Goldcrest, searching for tiny insects in the Ivy. The cemetery provides excellent habitat for them, but they’re very difficult to see.

A Goldcrest amongst the Ivy — **Goldcrest (male)**

They’re very similar to the much rarer Firecrest – please see the link at the end of the report for more information.

I saw the 3 Bullfinches I mentioned last month on numerous occasions. I still find it a delight to see that distinctive shade of salmon pink up in the trees.

Two male bullfinches high up in the trees in the cemetery — **Bullfinches (both male)**

I’ve also seen lots of Chaffinches in the cemetery, and Goldfinches too, often in small, highly vocal flocks.

A back view of a Goldfinch perched on a branch in the cemetery — **Goldfinch**

I saw a Dunnock, and plenty of Great Tits and Blue Tits this month. Blue Tits seem to be the most numerous of the cemetery’s bird species. And high up in the trees I sometimes caught brief glimpses of a fast-moving flock of Long-tailed Tits. One day some of them came lower down and one landed in a tree quite close to where I was standing.

A Long-tailed tit perched on a branch in the sunshine — **Long-tailed Tit**

The avian branch of the cemetery wildlife seems to be thriving at the moment and I’m sure the close proximity to houses on the northern boundary has helped them. Several of their gardens, I’m sure, will have bird feeders and sources of water in them. Shelter too. The RSPB’s “Big Garden Birdwatch” took place during the last weekend of the month and this might well have motivated people to put out food and water to attract them.

Larger Birds

I saw Blackbirds, Carrion Crows and Magpies as usual this month, and caught a brief glimpse of a thrush. It was too quick for me to tell which species it was – Song or Mistle – though. I saw two Stock Doves this month.

Stock Dove in a tree in the cemetery — **Stock Dove – one of a pair seen regularly in the area near the Cholera Monument**

However, they’re not an abundant species – the main species of larger bird is the Wood Pigeon and I saw several of these all over the cemetery. They’re bigger than Stock Doves and have a white patch at each side of the neck and different coloured eyes.

A wood pigeon on a gravestone in the cemetery — **Wood Pigeon**

I often see them on the ground and perching on the headstones. But if you hear a loud flapping noise high up in the trees, look up and you’ll probably see one, reaching for the berries of the most abundant plant in the cemetery.

Plants

Plants – fruit

That most abundant plant is Ivy and its berries are now ripe and ready for the cemetery wildlife to eat! This plant is very beneficial to wildlife, providing food and shelter. Where it acts as ground cover it helps keep the area free of frost, making foraging easier.

I noticed some of the Pyracantha bushes still had berries on them, and the Holly and Berberis too. In addition I found a Rowan (also known as Mountain Ash) with some berries on it.

One of the rowan trees in the cemetery, with red berries on it — **Rowan or Mountain Ash**

Plants – flowering

The council finally cut the grass verge along Spring Bank West during the first part of the month. This took place just in time to avoid damaging any of the newly emerging plants. It looks like it was given a high cut, leaving some of the lower greenery intact.

Frosty leaves on the grass verge — **Three seasons in one – autumn decay, spring growth and winter frost**

Soon after the cut, I couldn’t find any flowers along the verge so I ventured inside the cemetery to see what I could find. There was nothing lower down, and it was too early for Blackthorn, but I found some catkins on one of the cemetery’s hazel trees.

Catkins - the flowers of the hazel tree — **Hazel**

Then towards the end of the month clusters of snowdrops started to emerge and flower all over the cemetery. I found at least two different types this month. Note how both have been nibbled by the cemetery wildlife.

A group of snowdrops with single petals — **Snowdrops – single petals (above)**

A group of snowdrops with double petals — **Snowdrops – double petals**

I walked past the grass verge most days, but it wasn’t until the last weekend of the month that I found some flowers growing again, a couple of weeks after it had been cut.

A dandelion growing low amongst the grass — **Dandelion, with a very short stem**

I was also delighted to see my first fully-opened Lesser Celandines of the year, and my first Marmalade Hoverfly of the year on one of the flowers!

A Marmalade Hoverfly on the yellow flower of a Lesser celandine — **Lesser Celandine with Marmalade Hoverfly (female)**

Then back inside the cemetery, I found a common dog-violet in flower. I don’t recall seeing one flowering so early in previous years.

The small purple flower of the common dog-violet growing near a gravestone in the cemetery — **Common dog-violet**

Conclusion

January has been quite a varied month, weather-wise. Even after a day of persistent rain at the end of the month, the footpaths are still easier to walk on than they were last month. The Council provided us with some chippings from some branches they removed from one of the trees overhanging the footpath and road on Spring Bank West. We used these to repair a small area of the southern footpath.

I found a few types of fungi in the cemetery but nothing I hadn’t seen in previous months. Early in the month I was delighted to catch a brief glimpse of a fox one morning. But I’ll end this report, as usual, with the main representative of the mammalian branch of the cemetery wildlife.

Three squirrels sitting on some of the flat headstones in the cemetery — **On the headstones near the northern path to Western cemetery. See you next time!**

The difference between Goldcrest and Firecrest –

British Garden Birds – Goldcrest (garden-birds.co.uk)

Helen Bovill

Helen is a keen photographer and nature lover. She spent a large part of her working life at the Land Registry. She is a member of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and various other similar organisations. Living close to the Cemetery for over 30 years she has seen the fortunes of the site fluctuate and has joined the FOHGC to make a positive difference.

Cemetery Wildlife – December 2023

December 31, 2023December 31, 2023 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife1 Comment

The month started off very cold and frosty, and there was even a light dusting of snow one day. The cemetery always looks lovely when covered in snow, but it wasn’t deep enough for the spectacular look that used to be a regular sight every winter. Nevertheless I managed a quick visit before the snow thawed, and found some fox footprints at the eastern end. Proper cemetery wildlife rather than just that of a dog, although the two can look similar!

Fox footprints in the cemetery snow — **Fox footprints**

It was also a very wet month, with some heavy rainfall leaving wet puddles everywhere. After one night of particularly heavy rain a hole opened up in the ground near one of the graves, exposing some of its foundations. The month ended with some mild but very windy weather, bringing down plenty of small branches and also a couple of larger ones.

Birds

It’s a lot easier to spot the avian branch of the cemetery wildlife at this time of the year, with many of the trees being bereft of their leaves. I was delighted to see bullfinches on a number of occasions and counted a total of three – two males and one female. I watched one of the males flying down low, grabbing something in his beak and then flying back up to a higher branch. It turned out he was eating wood avens seeds, a small plant that grows all over the cemetery and has tiny yellow flowers in the spring. After a few hours of working in the cemetery or just walking around with my camera, I always end up with some of these seeds attached to my clothes. But they are obviously appreciated by these stunning birds!

Two photos, one showing a male bullfinch and the other showing a female bullfinch, in the cemetery trees — **Bullfinches – male (left) and female (right)**

There are three different species in the cemetery that have large areas of feathers in shades of pink/red – bullfinch, chaffinch and robin. But as you can see there are subtle differences to those shades.

A male chaffinch on a branch in the cemetery — **Chaffinch (male, above)**

A robin on a headstone in the Quaker Burial Ground — **Robin in the Quaker Burial Ground**

Goldfinches also have red feathers, albeit just a small area around the face, and which is absent in juvenile birds.

A goldfinch on a branch in the cemetery — **Goldfinch**

I see these most days now, and counted a small flock of six at one point. The collective name for goldfinches is a charm, and they certainly are charming little birds.

I also saw a slightly larger flock of long-tailed tits, high up in the trees.

A long-tailed tit perched high up in a tree in the cemetery — **Long-tailed tit**

Nest box survey

The volunteers did this during the middle of the month – a little later than usual due to the wet weather. It’s a job best done when it isn’t raining. This is the fourth year we’ve been doing these surveys.

We should have a total of 57 boxes in the cemetery but we were only able to locate and check 50 of them. 26 of them showed signs of having been used at some point during the year. This gave us an occupancy rate of 52%. I’ve counted the two owl boxes at the western end of the cemetery as having been used due to them containing nest material, although there was no evidence to suggest they’d been used by owls. They had most probably been used by either wood pigeons or stock doves. And as we were checking one of the boxes, a squirrel shot out of it, followed by another one and then at least two more! None were babies but were probably juveniles born in the summer. I’m sure our activities hadn’t adversely affected them – just look at my last photo!

A collection of leaves and twigs removed from one of the owl nest boxes — **The contents of one of the owl boxes**

This occupancy rate is lower than the 61% of last year’s survey. I noticed in last year’s survey that several of the original boxes had been used every year but this year 5 of those boxes had not been used for the first time. The majority of our boxes have been in place since 2019 and are now around 5 years old, so it could be that they’re starting to deteriorate and are less attractive to the birds. However, the main species that use the boxes are blue tits and great tits, yet I haven’t noticed a decline in their numbers.

Plants

I don’t have much to report this month as very few of our plants are in flower. The musk mallow, one of the wildflowers we planted in November 2022, and which started flowering in June this year, is still flowering. I had feared it might have been killed by last month’s frost but it survived. It’s a welcome addition to the Spring Bank West grass verge and it will be interesting to see how much longer it continues to produce flowers.

The pink flowers of the Musk Mallow — **Musk mallow**

I saw a few dandelions flowering in the grass verge alongside Spring Bank West. At the end of the month I noticed that the lesser celandines had started to grow. I even found a few buds on some of them, and an almost-open flower.

An almost-open lesser celandine flower — **Lesser celandine**

There is a large Forsythia growing at the side of the main entrance, and I found buds on that too.

A small yellow forsythia flower and buds near the cemetery gates — **Forsythia flower. The green shoots are also flower buds – the leaves appear after the plant has flowered**

One of the snowdrops the volunteers planted in the Quaker Burial Ground a couple of years ago is now in flower. But last year they had started flowering well before Christmas.

A lone snowdrop in the Quaker burial ground section of the cemetery, with the houses on Spring Bank West in the background — **Snowdrop (photo taken 30 December)**

Elsewhere in and around the cemetery there are still plenty of berries for the cemetery wildlife to eat. The lead photo shows a male blackbird eating some of the berries on a variegated holly tree. That tree is in the central part of the cemetery. I took this next photo on a frosty morning at the start of the month.

The red berries of the pyracantha with a light covering of frost — **Pyracantha berries**

Fungi and Lichen

I found a few types of fungi including some jelly ones, and this large bracket earlier in the month. I checked it a couple of weeks later and it hadn’t been affected by the snow.

A large bracket fungus growing on a tree in the cemetery, with a light dusting of snow — **Bracket Fungus**

I also found a nice example of turkey tail fungus on a tree near the centre of the cemetery. Parts of it showed evidence of having been nibbled by the cemetery wildlife.

Turkey tail fungus growing on a tree branch in the cemetery — **Turkey tail**

December’s high winds left the ground littered with fallen branches. This gave me the opportunity to examine, close-up, the lichen covering many of those small and medium-sized branches. I don’t think I’ve mentioned lichen before, which is the result of a partnership between fungus and algae. The most common one in the cemetery is this – the common orange or yellow scale lichen. Please see the link at the end of this report for more information on this fascinating organism.

Yellow lichen on a fallen branch in the cemetery — **Common orange or yellow scale lichen**

Conclusion

Winter has now arrived, but there are many signs of autumn still present. On one of the milder days I noticed the sunlight catching a cluster of small insects in flight, probably flies of some sort. At the end of the month some of the late winter flowers had already started to appear, and the month ended on a mild rainy note. The ground is still very wet and the footpaths muddy, making the conditions less than ideal for humans. However, the cemetery wildlife has not been affected, and there is plenty of food and water to sustain it as we head into January.

Two squirrels at the entrance to one of the cemetery's owl nest boxes — **Two squirrels for you this month, at the entrance to the owl nest box I mentioned earlier. See you in 2024!**

Some more information on lichen –

What is Lichen? 7 Lichens Found on Trees – Woodland Trust

Helen Bovill

Cemetery Gates Refurbishment

December 31, 2023 by Helen Bovillin News2 Comments

Friday 1 December 2023 saw the official opening of the newly refurbished cemetery gates. The weather was kind to us and the sun shone as Dame Diana Johnson, MP for Hull North, kindly performed the ceremony for us at our invitation.

The Friends of Hull General Cemetery (FOHGC) identified refurbishment of the gates as a project that would enhance the appearance of the entrance to the cemetery. Quotes for the work involved were obtained and we applied for a local ward budget grant from Hull City Council. Our application was successful and we appointed local firm Lightowler to carry out the cleaning and repainting of the gates. This began in October and was completed surprisingly quickly considering it had to be done between rain showers, and well in time for the official opening.

It was good to be able to get the work done by a well-established local firm – the same one that carried out the previous refurbishment of the gates over 40 years ago. Our grateful thanks to Lightowler for all their hard work and to Hull City Council for providing the funding for this important project.

Gallery

Bill Longbone giving a brief history of the cemetery gates, watched by Dame Diana Johnson MP — **Volunteer and FOHGC charity trustee, Bill Longbone, giving a talk on the history of the gates, watched by Dame Diana Johnson MP**

**Opening the gates – it took a team effort as those gates are heavy!**

Dame Diana Johnson talking to some of the cemetery volunteers — **Dame Diana Johnson MP talking to volunteers and FOHGC charity trustees Bill Longbone (left) and Karen Towner (right)**

And finally, here’s what Lightowler said about the occasion –

https://www.lightowler.com/news/proudly-helping-to-bring-hull-general-cemetery-back-to-its-best

Helen Bovill

Cemetery Wildlife – November 2023

November 30, 2023 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife4 Comments

November was very wet and windy, with so much rain that the footpaths throughout the cemetery have remained muddy all month. A lot of the time it was quite mild, but the month ended with two cold, sub-zero frosty days. One of those might have included a light dusting of snow overnight, but the next morning it just looked like a very heavy frost. On the final day of the month there were some light falls of hail and snow. The ground didn’t freeze though, so the cemetery wildlife had no trouble finding food and water.

Birds

There were decent numbers of the regular small birds around. It seems to have been a good year for them, especially the chaffinches, great tits and blue tits.

A great tit looking for insects on the bark of a tree branch — **Great tit looking for insects behind the bark. Note the jelly fungi towards the bottom of the branch.**

I also started seeing a pair of coal tits almost every day. It’s great to see them back in the cemetery. They’re just slightly smaller than blue tits.

Two photos, one showing a blue tit and the other showing a coal tit — **Blue tit (left) and coal tit**

I’ve also seen Goldfinches regularly too. This is a bird than can occur in large flocks, but the most I’ve seen together in the cemetery has been four or five.

A goldfinch perched on a branch in the cemetery — **Goldfinch. The males and females are difficult to tell apart – the difference lies in the amount of red above the eye. As the red extends a way back, this is probably a male.**

I’ve also seen quite a few wrens in the cemetery. These tiny birds move so quickly, and usually disappear into the ivy on the trees, that they can be quite a challenge to photograph. And sometimes I only hear them, as they have quite a loud and distinctive call.

A wren on a log — **Wren in the Quaker Burial Ground**

An even louder bird is the carrion crow. But they’re usually very easy to spot!

A carrion crow high up in the branches — **Carrion Crow**

Whilst I don’t have anything rare or unusual to report, I did catch a very brief glimpse of a pair of bullfinches. I also caught a quick glimpse of a goldcrest.

Plants

There were very few plants in flower this month. The most distinctive of those in flower was the musk mallow, growing on the grass verge alongside Spring Bank West. New flowers were still opening late in the month, although the frost might now have finished them off.

Two photos showing the pink flowers of the musk mallow - one before the frost and the other after it — **Musk mallow before and after a heavy frost**

A few dandelions were in flower but they might fare a bit better in the frost.

A frost-covered partially opened dandelion — **Dandelion after a heavy frost**

Trees

It has been quite windy this month and a number of branches, some of them quite large, have fallen from the trees. But no significant trees were damaged. Most of the deciduous trees are starting to look very bare now. However, the leaves that have managed to cling on despite those high winds have now turned to lovely autumnal shades of yellow and orange.

The autumn colours of a beech sapling in the cemetery — **Beech sapling (above)**

The bright autumn colours of an ash tree in the cemetery — **Ash**

Fungi

I didn’t find much in the way of mushrooms and other fungi this month which was a bit surprising when I look back on what I saw in the November of previous years. I didn’t see any of the velvet shank I normally see growing on a particular fallen log. But I saw some candlesnuff and some coral spot, both growing on rotting wood.

Candlesnuff fungus growing on a rotting log — **Candlesnuff fungus (above)**

Coral spot fungus on a fallen branch in the cemetery — **Coral spot**

Insects

The smallest branch of the cemetery wildlife has been very quiet this month. I’ve seen a few flies, hoverflies and ladybirds, but no butterflies.

Conclusion

The last full month of autumn has been a very wet one. As we head into winter there is still plenty of autumnal colour left, but plenty of greenery too. We are hoping the Council will give the grass verge alongside Spring Bank West one last cut for the season. This is because lots of new thistles have already started to grow there and these could stifle the growth of the spring flowers that are essential sources of nectar for early insects such as butterflies, some of which can appear as early as February.

A squirrel in a tree, looking directly at the camera — **Your squirrel of the month. See you next time!**

Helen Bovill

Cemetery Wildlife – October 2023

October 31, 2023 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife2 Comments

October was a typically autumnal month, with some misty mornings leading to sunny days. It was quite mild at times, but it was rain that dominated the month with some quite heavy and prolonged showers, especially towards the end of the month. As a result of this higher than average rainfall, all the footpaths in the cemetery are very muddy. At least the cemetery wildlife wasn’t short of drinking water!

Plants

Small Flowering

Many of the cemetery’s plants have now died back, including the Hogweed shown above. It’s good that some of the seed heads remain upright even after all the seeds have been eaten because they make a great focal point for us photographers! However, I also found one still in flower.

The white flowers of Hogweed inside the cemetery — **Hogweed**

Elsewhere in the cemetery I found lots of Ivy still in flower and attracting plenty of small bees and hoverflies.

The main place for flowering plants is the grass verge along Spring Bank West. As I mentioned in last month’s report, the Council cut part of it during the hot weather early in September. Then we had lots of rain and the verge looks green and lush as a result. Unfortunately this has allowed lots of thistles to start regrowing, but the verge is due for one final cut of the season, hopefully soon.

Despite this I found several plants still flowering, including Tansy, Feverfew and Smooth Sow-thistle.

Bright yellow Tansy flowers on the grass verge alongside the cemetery — **Tansy (above)**

The daisy-like flowers of Feverfew — **Feverfew (above)**

Freshly opened Smooth Sow-thistle flowers — **Smooth Sow-thistle**

That small patch of Ragwort I mentioned last month is still in flower. I’ve also found White Campion, Wild Basil, Toadflax, Dandelions and Musk Mallow still flowering.

An opening bud of a pink Musk Mallow flower — **Musk Mallow**

Trees and larger shrubs

The heavy rainfall on the trees has saturated the bark, making it appear very dark.

An old Horse Chestnut tree in the cemetery, with bark darkened by heavy rainfall — **Horse Chestnut**

It isn’t just the flowers that add colour to the cemetery – the leaves on the trees look equally colourful, especially on the Forsythia growing near the cemetery gates. It gives us masses of bright yellow flowers in the Spring, and then this in the Autumn.

The bright autumnal colours of Forsythia leaves — **Forsythia**

The Dogwood growing inside the cemetery is very colourful too.

The autumnal colours of Dogwood, with raindrops — **Dogwood**

The leaves on some of the trees have started to turn autumnal, but it looks like their main colour will come through in November.

The berries on the trees also add splashes of colour all over the site, and provide food for the cemetery wildlife, especially the birds.

The bright red berries of Pyracantha near one of the cemetery monuments — **Pyracantha**

Birds

The usual small birds were around in good numbers, including Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Chaffinches, Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens, Great Tits and Goldfinches.

A Great Tit in the cemetery — **Great Tit (above)**

Goldfinch perched on a branch — **Goldfinch**

Walking through the cemetery one day, I heard a cooing sound that differed from the Wood Pigeon and Stock Dove ones I usually hear. When I looked up I saw a pair of Collared Doves perched on the roof of a nearby house. Unfortunately they were not in the cemetery itself so don’t count towards this year’s list of bird species seen in the cemetery. I’m hoping to see them again, but inside the cemetery.

Insects

I saw plenty of small bees and hoverflies this month. One sunny day I was walking along the grass verge and noticed that practically all of the Dandelions and other similar yellow flowers had a small insect on them. This includes Ladybirds, both Harlequin and native.

A Marmalade Hoverfly on a Dandelion — **Marmalade Hoverfly (above)**

Ladybird on a bright yellow flower — **Harlequin Ladybird**

I didn’t see any butterflies in October, and neither did any of the other volunteers. This is unusual, because I’ve seen at least one Speckled Wood in the previous two Octobers.

Fungi

Just a couple to record this time – a Jelly Ear and one that looks very like the Dryad’s Saddle ones I’ve seen on a few occasions in the past.

Jelly Ear Fungus growing on a rotting fallen branch — **Jelly Ear (above)**

A partially eaten large brown fungus - Dryad's Saddle — **Dryad’s Saddle**

Conclusion

October was a very wet month. The muddy conditions have made walking in certain parts of the cemetery quite a challenge, especially where people have ridden bikes along the paths, exacerbating the problems. With rain forecast for the start of November, the paths aren’t going to be drying out anytime soon. Despite all this, the cemetery wildlife seems to be thriving.

But I’d like to end this report with an appeal to all the animal lovers out there – once Halloween is over, please don’t leave your leftover pumpkins in the cemetery. They’re not good for wildlife to eat, especially hedgehogs. Whilst some animals may have a quick nibble of the pumpkin, the majority of it will remain, turning into a rotting mess that the litter picking volunteers then have to remove. The link below gives more information about what to do with your unwanted pumpkins.

Thank you on behalf of the cemetery wildlife, and I’ll be back next month!

https://www.forestryengland.uk/news/dumping-pumpkins-the-woods-bad-wildlife-says-forestry-england-expert

Helen Bovill

Cemetery Wildlife – September 2023

September 29, 2023 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife

September started off unusually hot. Temperatures reached the high 20s, possibly even 30, in the first week, qualifying as a heatwave. An unexpected end to the summer here! The trees still had all their leaves though, giving plenty of shade to cool down the cemetery wildlife. As a result, the ground remained damp throughout this period. Autumn officially started in the last half of the month, and it started with quite a few rainy days. Some of the rainfall was quite heavy and the paths are rather muddy again. High winds brought down a few medium-sized branches but no major damage was caused.

Birds

I started this report with one of the two Coal Tits I’ve been seeing regularly this month. These little birds are very slightly smaller than Blue Tits but their colouring is quite different.

Blue Tit on Elderberries, with one in its beak — **Blue Tit and Elderberries**

There is plenty of food for the birds now because of the berries on many of the trees and shrubs. The Elderberry bushes with their fruitful abundance are particularly popular as you can see from the photo above. I saw other species that are light enough to perch on their thin stems too, such as Chaffinches and Blackcaps.

A female Blackcap and a male Chaffinch perched in an Elderberry tree — **Blackcap (female, left) and Chaffinch (male, right)**

Blackbirds like the Elderberries too!

A Blackbird perched in an Elderberry tree — **Blackbird – the brown head indicates this is a young male, still to get his full Winter plumage**

Other birds I’ve seen this month are Goldfinches, Wrens, Great Tits, Robins, Wood Pigeons, Crows, Magpies and Dunnocks. I haven’t had any more sightings of the Bullfinches I saw a couple of months ago. A visitor to the cemetery told me he’d heard a Tawny Owl calling in the area near the Owl boxes. Our end of year survey of the bird boxes should reveal whether or not they’ve nested in the cemetery this year.

Plants

The Pyracantha bushes are now laden with berries, adding some welcome colour and providing food for the cemetery wildlife.

Red Pyracantha berries on the verge alongside the cemetery — **Pyracantha**

A one metre strip of grass along the verge on Spring Bank West was cut by the Council earlier in the month during the hot weather. The rain that arrived mid-month helped the regrowth, and there are now a few Dandelions flowering. The Musk Mallow has survived the cut, and a small clump of Ragwort is still in flower.

The yellow flowers of the Ragwort, on the grass verge alongside the cemetery — **Ragwort**

The Ivy is now in flower, but generally there were not many flowers to be seen in September. I did see a few flowers on one of the bramble bushes, and on this Ribwort Plantain.

The white flowers of the Ribwort Plantain on the grass verge alongside the cemetery — **Ribwort Plantain**

It’s easy to miss these flowers, which look quite different to other more traditionally shaped ones. I also found some Cyclamen growing in the cemetery near the Cholera Monument.

Pink flowers of Cyclamen, growing in the cemetery — **Cyclamen**

The main things to be found on the plants at the moment are berries as already mentioned, and seeds such as on this Dock.

The dried brown seeds of the Dock plant — **Dock seeds**

Insects and other small creatures

I’ll start with Butterflies, as they’re still around in September but in much smaller numbers. I’ve seen Small White, Large White, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood. I can always rely on the latter for a photo, and they often fly on overcast days as well as sunny ones.

A Speckled Wood butterfly on a Hogweed seed head — **Speckled Wood on a Hogweed seed head**

I’ve also caught brief glimpses of the occasional Dragonfly around the cemetery, but none have landed anywhere so identification wasn’t possible. It’s surprising to see them here, especially as there is no pond or other source of water in the cemetery. The abundance of vegetation and damp areas most probably explains their presence.

There are still plenty of hoverflies and bees around, making the most of the flowers on the Ivy. Large queen bees are feeding up on the nectar to sustain themselves during their winter hibernation.

A Queen Buff-Tailed Bumblebee nectaring on Ivy flowers — **Queen Buff-Tailed Bumblebee nectaring on Ivy flowers**

Snails are not insects of course – they’re molluscs – but I thought this White-lipped one was worthy of inclusion because of its attractive shell. It seems to be one of our regular species and stands out nicely on dried plant stems.

A White-lipped Snail crawling up a dried plant stem — **White-lipped Snail**

Conclusion

It’s been a quiet month, with nothing unusual to report as far as the cemetery wildlife is concerned. I occasionally hear a fox calling later in the evenings, and they do live in the cemetery. They seem very wary and secretive though. However, a regular volunteer had a good view of a fox early one evening.

When you spend a lot of the time in the cemetery, either volunteering or just enjoying a leisurely stroll, you get to see certain individual animals that stand out from the rest. Here’s one such animal – I call this squirrel Nick because of those distinctive tears or nicks in both ears. Whether these were present at birth or if they’re the result of a disagreement with another squirrel I don’t know. But here he (or she) is!

A Grey Squirrel climbing up a tree in the cemetery — **That’s all folks. See you next month!**

Helen Bovill

Cemetery Wildlife – August 2023

August 31, 2023 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife1 Comment

August was a cool and wet month with lots of rain, some of it very heavy, in the first week. There were some warm sunny days too, but nothing even remotely resembling a heatwave. Some of the paths inside the cemetery are therefore still muddy. It was very windy on several days, resulting in some fallen branches although none had caused any damage. With no extremes of temperature to adversely affect the cemetery wildlife, it continues to thrive.

Insects

Butterflies

The good news is that I observed butterfly species number 12 in the cemetery this month – a Gatekeeper. I’ve never seen one in the cemetery before. This one was on the grass verge along Spring Bank West, and is pictured above, on Ragwort. They can be seen in the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s wildlife garden in Pearson Park, which is less than half a mile away from the cemetery, so that could be where it came from.

It has been a very quiet month for butterflies. The only other ones I’ve seen are Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Small White, Green-veined White and Holly Blue. I didn’t see any of them in large numbers, just singly or in twos or threes.

A female small white butterfly resting on a dandelion — **Small White (female) (above)**

Two Green-veined White butterflies on green foliage — Green-veined White Butterflies. Note how the female (resting on the leaf) has her abdomen raised – this is to warn the approaching male that she does not want to mate. In fact it looks like she was in the process of egg laying before the male approached her.

Holly Blue butterfly laying eggs on an Ivy flower bud — **Holly Blue laying eggs on an Ivy flower bud**

Other Insects

The main types I’ve seen this month have been Ladybirds, Bees and Hoverflies. The most striking of them was this Hornet-mimic Hoverfly. It’s noticeably larger than the other ones that are around at the moment, and is harmless to humans. The yellow band between the eyes indicates that this one is female.

Hornet-mimic Hoverfly on a Dandelion — **Hornet-mimic Hoverfly (female)**

Plants

Small

Most of the Thistles that had taken hold of the grass verge have now died back, so it looks a bit tired at the moment. However some Dandelions and other similar yellow flowers, often difficult to identify with certainty, have now started to come through. There is still some Knapweed for the cemetery wildlife to feed on, including this White-tailed Bumblebee.

White-tailed Bumblebee on Knapweed in the cemetery — **Knapweed and White-tailed Bumblebee**

The Teasels planted in various locations in the cemetery have now started to flower. However, they can sometimes be difficult to spot because the wind and wet weather has caused them to lean over. But again, they are great for the cemetery wildlife and there was also a small bug of some sort on this one which I didn’t get time to identify. This is because a Bee landed on the flower, thus displacing it.

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee on a Teasel flowerhead in the cemetery — **Teasel and Buff-tailed Bumblebee**

I’ve been keeping an eye on the Toadflax that was planted on the grass verge last year. It started to flower last month but is looking at its best this month. I was delighted to find this Sloe Bug, also known as a Hairy Shield Bug, on the flowerhead.

Toadflax with a Hairy Shield Bug on the flowerhead — **Toadflax and Sloe Bug or Hairy Shield Bug**

Elsewhere along the Spring Bank West verge I found White Campions, Feverfew and a new one I hadn’t noticed before – Black Medick.

A white campion flower on the grass verge alongside the cemetery — **White Campion (above)**

The Daisy-like flowers of Feverfew growing in the cemetery — **Feverfew (above)**

The tiny yellow flower of the Black Medick, with clover-like green leaves — **Black Medick**

The Crocosmia growing in the Quaker Burial Ground was looking at its best earlier in August, adding some welcome colour to that rather dark part of the cemetery.

In another dark part of the cemetery, away from the footpaths, I found some Cuckoopint, also known as Lords-and-Ladies. The seeds should end up red, but this small group of plants never seems to thrive and they usually die off before the seeds reach maturity.

The seeds of the Cuckoopint plant, with a few of the top ones just starting to ripen — **Cuckoopint or Lords-and-Ladies**

Trees and Fungi

The windy weather has dislodged a lot of the fruits from the cemetery’s trees and they make for a lush green carpet on the ground.

Hornbeam tree and fruit in the cemetery — **Hornbeam and fruit (inset)**

Whilst not being plants of course, I’ve included fungi under this heading because many of them grow on trees, both living and dead. I didn’t find much in the way of fungi in the cemetery this month but I did find this small group of what appears to be some sort of Honey fungus.

Honey Fungus growing on a fallen log in the cemetery — **Honey Fungus**

Birds

Young birds are still fledging, including this Goldfinch, pictured with one of its parents.

Two photos showing a young Goldfinch and an adult Goldfinch on a tree in the cemetery — **Goldfinches – fledgling (left); adult (right)**

The Chaffinches, Blue Tits and Great Tits seem to have had a very successful year with lots of youngsters around. The adults are looking a little worse for wear, so it was nice to see a smart-looking Great Tit in full breeding plumage.

An adult Great Tit in full breeding plumage — **Great Tit**

When I’m walking in the cemetery I often hear loud crashing noises coming from high up in the trees. I look up and see these – Wood Pigeons.

Wood Pigeon high up in a tree in the cemetery — **Wood Pigeon**

Early in the month I heard the sound of at least two Sparrowhawks calling in the trees, but I wasn’t able to get a photo of them. As birds of prey are usually silent, I assume these were youngsters, calling to a parent for food. Other birds I’ve seen this month include Coal Tit, Wren, Robin, Stock Dove, Crow, Magpie and Blackbird. I didn’t see any Dunnocks or Long-tailed Tits though, or any sign of the Bullfinches I saw regularly earlier in the summer.

A young Blackbird on a branch — **Young Blackbird**

Conclusion

Another great month for the cemetery wildlife with plenty to see all around the site. Some of the bramble bushes around the cemetery are already bearing lots of ripe fruits, signaling that Autumn is not too far away.

A Squirrel feeding in the cemetery — **Your Squirrel for August. See you next month!**

Helen Bovill

Cemetery Wildlife – July 2023

July 30, 2023 by Helen Bovillin Wildlife

While parts of mainland Europe sweltered under record breaking heat, it has been a rather cool month here, with a higher than usual rainfall too. This caused some of the footpaths to become muddy again. There have been some warm sunny days though, and the cemetery wildlife is still thriving. This is particularly noticeable with the birds, as I’ve seen lots of fledglings around.

Birds

I started this report with a young Robin. It is probably less than a month old as it was flying, but doesn’t yet have its red breast. This will develop in late summer when the bird is between two and three months old. Once the young bird has its red breast it will be chased out of the area by the very territorial males. The initial lack of a red breast prevents this from happening and gives it time to learn to fly and feed itself.

I’ve seen lots of young Great and Blue Tits around the cemetery too.

Two photos showing an adult Blue Tit and a juvenile Blue Tit — **Blue Tits – adult (left); juvenile (right)**

I was delighted to see a Coal Tit this month. It was high up in a tree so I couldn’t get a particularly good photo of it, but I could clearly see the distinctive white patch towards the back of its head. That and the beige coloured chest meant it couldn’t be any other bird.

A Coal Tit high up in a tree in the cemetery — **Coal Tit**

I regularly heard and saw Goldfinches this month. There were lots of Chaffinches around, including young ones, and I still got occasional glimpses of the two Bullfinches I mentioned last month. I’m sure it’s the same pair as they’re not a common or numerous species here.

Two photos - one showing a male Chaffinch and the other showing a male Bullfinch — **Chaffinch (left) and Bullfinch (right) illustrating their different colouring and beak size. Both are male.**

I also saw young Blackbirds foraging on the ground, but begging for food whenever a parent was nearby. I also saw several Carrion Crows, Magpies, Wood Pigeons, Wrens and this Song Thrush.

A Song Thrush foraging on the ground — **Song Thrush**

Insects

There were lots of Ladybirds around this month, and lots of Hoverflies too. When I use my phone to take close-up photos of flowers with Hoverflies on them, it’s always amusing to see another one trying to land on the flower on my phone screen!

A Marmalade Hoverfly on a yellow flower — **Marmalade Hoverfly**

I kept seeing Thick-legged Flower Beetles too, a species I hadn’t seen in previous years in the cemetery.

The yellow flower of the Tansy plant, with a Thick-legged Flower Beetle resting on it — **Thick-legged Flower Beetle on Tansy. It lacks the thick thighs, meaning this one is a female.**

I see lots of flies too, but tend not to mention them as they’re so commonplace and often quite small and difficult to photograph. But this Flesh Fly stood out, being larger than most.

A Flesh Fly resting on a leaf. — **Flesh Fly**

Butterflies

Last month I told you the story of a Large White Butterfly from egg to larva/caterpillar. But I also noticed something unusual about a week after I saw the caterpillar on the plant stem. I saw another Large White caterpillar in that same area (or maybe it was the same one?) on a cluster of what looked like oval shaped eggs. I knew these weren’t the butterfly’s eggs, so I did a bit of research and discovered a rather gruesome story.

It seems the “eggs” you can see in the photos below are actually the pupae of a Braconid, a type of tiny parasitic wasp. It lays its eggs inside other insects, including caterpillars. The eggs hatch and the larvae eat the host insect without its knowledge, whilst leaving the vital organs intact so the host doesn’t die. They then hatch out through a hole in the skin of the still-living caterpillar, and pupate near to it.

The caterpillar is then somehow persuaded to spin a web of silk around all the Braconid pupae to protect them. (This is the material it would normally use to make a cocoon inside which it would turn into a butterfly). And still, barely alive, the caterpillar keeps watch over them. I assume this is what we can see in the photo on the left, although the caterpillar still looks quite rounded rather than an eaten-out husk. A week later there was no caterpillar but the web with the pupae in them was still there.

I wasn’t able to observe what happened next due to the rather heavy rain from the middle to the end of the month and I lost track of the plant in the photos. Of course, these photos might not illustrate any or even part of the process I’ve described, but it did seem to make sense.

I didn’t see any more caterpillars, nor did I see a lot of butterflies until towards the end of the month, when there were a number of white ones around – Small White, Large White and Green-Veined White.

A Green-veined White Butterfly on a Wild Carrot flowerhead — **Green-veined White Butterfly on Wild Carrot. Note the tiny beetles on the left, possibly a type of Jewel Beetle.**

I also saw a few Holly Blues, several Speckled Wood, a Comma and a Red Admiral.

A Red Admiral Butterfly high up on some white Bramble flowers. Brambles are great food for the cemetery wildlife. — **Red Admiral on Bramble flowers**

Plants and Flowers

The Brambles in the cemetery and along the grass verge are currently at all stages of development. Some have buds on them, some are in flower, as seen in the photo above, and some have fully ripe fruits on them. All good news for the cemetery wildlife!

Some more of the wildflower plants set by the volunteers last year are now flowering. This includes the Tansy on a previous photo, and the yellow flower the Hoverfly is resting on. These yellow flowers that look similar to Dandelions can be quite difficult to identify and they include Hawkbit, Hawk’s-Beard, Goatsbeard and Cat’s Ear.

Mallow is still in flower along the grass verge – Common and Musk.

Common Mallow growing in the cemetery — **Common Mallow (above)**

The pink flowers of the Musk mallow, with two Marmalade Hoverflies — **Musk Mallow with visiting Marmalade Hoverflies**

The Wild Basil is also starting to flower.

The pink flowers of the Wild Basil — **Wild Basil**

There are Privet bushes in various places in the cemetery, and these were in flower in July. The white flowers are rather small, but they do have a very nice fragrance.

The white flowers of the Privet growing in the cemetery — **Privet**

There is also some Hedge Woundwort growing in the cemetery. It appears in the same place each year but doesn’t seem to have spread anywhere else.

The tall pink flower stems of Hedge Woundwort — **Hedge Woundwort**

I also found some Wall Lettuce – it seems to tolerate shade and adds a bit of colour to a dark area.

The small yellow flowers of the Wall Lettuce, growing near a headstone in the cemetery — **Wall Lettuce**

Fungi

Not much to report, except for this small cluster of Fairy Inkcaps underneath an old bracket fungus. There are a few tough old bracket fungi still around, but I haven’t seen any other new mushrooms.

A large bracket fungus attached to a tree, with some smaller Fairy Inkcap mushrooms growing underneath it - food for the cemetery wildlife — **Bracket Fungus and Fairy Inkcaps**

Conclusion

A cooler and wetter month than June. The vast majority of the Hogweed and Cow Parlsey has finished for the season, so anything you see from now on that looks similar is probably Wild Carrot. The die-back has left the cemetery looking a little battered, and the heavy showers have caused the taller plants such as the Thistles to bend over. But fresh plants are starting to grow and flower, and there is abundant cemetery wildlife wherever you look.

A squirrel in a tree looking direct to the camera — **See you next month!**

Helen Bovill

War Graves

July 19, 2023July 19, 2023 by Pete Lowdenin Events, News, Points of Interest, Volunteers

The recent unveiling of the headstone commemorating the last war grave headstone removed from the site last year occurred on the 14th July this year. It seemed therefore appropriate to tell the story of the lost war graves headstones now.

The reason behind the design and implementation of the classic war grave headstone is told more fully in The War Dead of Hull General Cemetery book. I’m sure you can still find it available on Amazon. Suffice to say that Hull General Cemetery had a number of them erected after the Great War. More arrived after the Second World War. In all there were 28 of them.

Monitoring

One of the statutory duties laid upon the War Grave Commission is to monitor the sites that hold such stones. It has a statutory power to remove stones from sites that it feels may be at risk. That risk is deemed to be high if the headstones are at risk of damage. Surprisingly this role may even stretch overseas. I know that the Commission closely monitored the burial sites of the Commonwealth armed forces from both World Wars in Iraq and Libya in recent years.

Closer to home it took a close interest in how the maintenance of Hull General Cemetery began to decline after the Second World War. On the 11th July 1960 the Hull General Cemetery Company received a letter from the War Graves Commission. This letter informed the Company that the headstones would be removed. The letter stated that,

‘Their purpose in doing this is to substitute them for small blocks in a wall of remembrance being built in the Northern Cemetery, and they want to get all the commemoration tablets in one place in Hull if this can be managed, mainly to save maintenance costs for which they are responsible.’

Other cemeteries affected

This reason was given, I believe, in an attempt to preserve the pride of the cemeteries affected. Hull General Cemetery was the largest one affected but other sites in Hull had their headstones removed too. These other sites were mainly church run ones. Thus Sculcoates, Drypool and Division Road had headstones removed from their jurisdiction. These individuals are all commemorated on the plaques in Northern Cemetery.

However, no action was taken for a considerable time. The Company had no reason to hurry this development, nor did they have the money to remove the stones themselves. The War Graves Commission had no such excuse. Yet, surprisingly, nothing then happened for approximately five years.

The Final Act

The matter surfaced again in the October 1965. Once again it took the form of a letter. However this showed that developments had been occurring in the background. A written affidavit was taken out, presumably by the War Graves Commission.

‘By this written memorandum the Board of Directors resolves that the Secretary be authorised to affix the common seal of the Company to a Deed of Covenant, respecting twenty-eight Commonwealth War burials, made between the Company of the one part and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission of the other part.’

With this document the removal of the headstones was complete…or was it?

As we now know one solitary headstone was left. We have no information as to why it was left. It stood there at the base of the Hodgson family grave for over 50 years after the rest had been removed. It harmed no one and was relatively unobtrusive. And then one day in 2022 it disappeared. The story of that event has been discussed here and on the Facebook site so I don’t need to contribute to that debate.

With the re-introduction of the plaque above commemorating Private Hodgson’s death the story hopefully comes to an end.

Pete Lowden

Pete Lowden is a member of the Friends of Hull General Cemetery committee which is committed to reclaiming the cemetery and returning it back to a community resource.

petelowden.co.uk

Eva La Pensee: A personal appreciation

July 14, 2023 by Pete Lowdenin Events, General, News, Volunteers4 Comments

The death of Eva La Pensee in June was a shock although in our hearts we all knew it was coming. Eva had been ill for some time and this had restricted her physical involvement greatly. However, she still played an active role in the policy and clerical work that such a project throws up. Over a few short months even this work became too much for her. Eva died on June 10th.

Secretary

Eva was the original secretary and minute secretary of the FOHGC. She was also one of the founder members of that group attending its inaugural meeting in 2016. She took on board the idea that the cemetery was valuable to the citizens of Hull even if they themselves were not aware of it. As such she launched herself into the above roles with her usual skills and enthusiasm. Her forte in the organisation was the ability to be both analytical and work to a goal. She provided the necessary rigour and discipline that was lacking in some of the original members who were moved more by ‘magical thinking’ than realism. She could see that this project would need more than ‘wishing on a star’ to make it happen.

Skill set

Eva knew that a fanciful approach, unless tied in with factual evidence, was doomed. The Friends needed to convince the people who needed to be convinced to support the fledgling group. She could do this, marshalling an argument so perfectly, that to refuse her analysis of a situation would have been seen to be just being stupid on the listener’s part. I sometimes just had to sit there and admire her in action.

She also had a good grounding from her work with various local authorities that enabled her to negotiate the very first grant from Hull City Council. This grant allowed the Hull Civic Society to open a bank account for the Friends, which at that time was a sub-committee of that society. From this small acorn the Friends grew, FOHGC? Who the hell do they think they are?

What was that all about?

At my first meeting of the Friends, Eva was absent and on holiday. I must admit that I was less than impressed with the organization at that time. It seemed to be dithery and lacking focus. There was no shortage of ideas which was a good thing. Sadly all were doomed. They were either so nebulous that they could never happen. Or, on the other hand, some ideas would have been so negligible in their effect they would not have been worth doing. Adopt a grave, anyone?

So what was the point in talking about them never mind trying to put them into practice. I left the meeting frustrated, and thinking I’d give them another go to prove themselves to me, as I was interested in saving the cemetery. However, as usual, I was busy with other things so I wasn’t going to waste my time.

Eva as a leader

I am so glad I did go back.

At the next meeting Eva was present. You could see immediately how she co-ordinated the meeting. Shepherding the chair, allowing discussions to reach a logical end point and then summarising the debate. And then writing it all up as the minutes and circulating them. This was a whole different ballgame. Count me in I thought.

From my perspective the Friends could not have survived a year without Eva’s intelligence, drive and ability to organise. She was the engine behind the group. She put the fuel in the tank. Without her there at the beginning, the group would never have left the sterile debate of the boardroom where big dreams were endlessly debated yet little groundwork ever happened.

Mutual respect

As time went on we became friends. I’d like to think that there was a mutual respect for each other. We had disagreements of course but never on a personal level. The disagreements happened when our visions for the cemetery did not coincide. Sometimes she was right and sometimes, on far fewer occasions I have to admit, I was. The point was that both of us wanted the best for cemetery and it was just the ‘how’ rather than the ‘why’ which set us apart for a few moments. She was also someone who could recognise when a colleague was overextended.

My forgetfulness and how Eva saved me

One instance of this happening was when Eva had arranged a visit to the cemetery of a group of Hull University students. Eva asked me if I could guide them on the day and I agreed. I knew I had other things on my plate at the time. I probably thought my plans were much more important so the event was filed away in my mind but not in my diary.

The result was as you would expect. I forgot all about it and only later that day, hours after I should have been there, did I remember. I rang Eva to apologise. She said that I shouldn’t worry as she had realised I was up to my neck with things and she had gone along, ‘just in case’. At the next Friends meeting I explained my failure to the rest of the group and how Eva had rescued the group’s good name. Eva sat there quietly while I finished and then said she had planned to attend anyway to help me.

Afterwards

After the meeting she quietly said to me that I had no need to let the others know as she knew I was doing lots of work that many of the other members were not. I said I was raised to ‘own up’ if I had done wrong. She just looked at me and silently shook her head. I occasionally brought up this episode at future meetings as a kind of running joke between Eva and myself. To see Eva smile and tell me, in a mockingly severe tone, to ‘let it go, Peter’ and ‘that she hoped I would try harder in future,’ were some moments I truly treasure of this remarkable lady.

Books

Let’s never forget that it was Eva who prompted Bill and myself to write the books on and for the cemetery. She invited us to her house where Clive, her husband, ran through how one could publish books on Amazon without any start up costs. Although neither Bill nor myself were sure about whether we were ‘author’ material we set to. The result as I detailed in an email to the FOHGC last December was that we had sold 774 books and made, for the FOHGC, over £2000.

None of this would have happened without the gentle nudging of Eva.

Her past

I remember another occasion when Barbara and myself arranged to attend a walk given by Paul Schofield around the historic sites of Primitive Methodism in Hull one evening. Eva was also going and we met up. Later, after the walk, and as with all Paul’s walks it ended with a visit to a pub, we sat and talked. She told us of her childhood in war torn Germany and her experiences which had obviously shaped her views on many things.

I thought at the time how she was, to coin a phrase, ‘ so well-balanced’ after that trauma. She could have given lessons in humanity and co-existence to some of our present politicians who still feel the need to ‘re-fight’ the Second World War to appeal to the baser instincts of society. Here was a woman who’d seen those ‘baser instincts’ as a child and had no desire to have them inflicted upon others today.

Our loss

The Friends has lost one of its guiding lights. I have lost a good, true friend as I know all the others in the Friends group have too.

A greater loss than ours

Our thoughts go out to her husband Clive, her daughters Annemarie and Louise and their partners. Of course one must not forget Eva’s grandchildren. They were a joy to her later years.

Our loss is minimal to all of theirs and cannot compare at all. As Clive said at the funeral, Eva’s last words to him were, ‘We go in different directions now’. I can only guess that without that guiding light of Eva showing the right direction all pathways will remain dark for a while.

Pete Lowden

Pete Lowden is a member of the Friends of Hull General Cemetery committee which is committed to reclaiming the cemetery and returning it back to a community resource.

petelowden.co.uk