1 June 2026

Walking in the Mill Road cemetery, just down the road, is a pleasure all year round.

It was consecrated in 1848 but no longer used for burials as it's officially full. It's pretty overgrown and neglected, but used and loved by locals and their dogs.

And the overgrown wildness makes it a paradise for birds -

So far (meaning in the last few days since I started using the app), Merlin has identified 16 different bird species here: Jackdaw, Blackcap, Great Tit, Common Swift, Wren, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Wood Pigeon, Robin, Thrush, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Goldcrest, Blue Tit, Dunnock, and Cuckoo. 

I'm slowly trying to learn their different calls and what they look like.

I spied this poor headless statue in the undergrowth while bird-identifying - 

I also forage here sometimes, year round, for wild flowers. These are Rubus I think, which flower now and get berries in winter - 

My favourite thing is the Bird Stones: 7 sculptures with poetry that are dotted around the cemetery, each dedicated to a particular bird, with perching places and water wells. Here, the Blackbird stone, hidden along a narrow overgrown path -