I have never taken much interest in graveyards. It has always seemed to me that placing a loved one in a box to rot six feet underground is odd. Not that some graveyards do not have grandeur. The Arlington War Cemetery outside of Washington DC, USA, being amongst the finest. Manicured lawns, gleaming white headstones, concise inscriptions all imbue the place with a dignity and beauty. Sited by the Potomac river, overlooking the capital, it cannot fail to impress.
Arlington Cemetery, Washington DC, USA
My paternal grandparents had died before I reached adulthood. We lived far away and were occasional visitors. I was aware that they had been buried locally, but had never visited the grave, which I had been told was periodically attended to by the plethora of relatives who live in the area.
Some weeks ago an acquaintance had called to my home, distressed at the loss of her father many years ago. She confided that in moments of despair she would visit his grave in the small hours, lay down by the grave, and beg for her life to be taken so she could be reunited with her father. Cemeteries are places of profound emotion.
I was visiting relatives in Swansea, and a spare hour or so opened up in which my brother and I had nothing to do, so we resolved to pay the visit, which for me, was long overdue.
Although I am not a great supporter of cemeteries, I recognise their place. Many do find it a comfort to visit the resting places of loved ones. They can also be a tranquil oasis of peace, and places for reflection. Sombre but with understated beauty. The latter is not true of Bethel Cemetery. Upon arrival, I was shocked at what I found.
What confronted me was a sprawling, tangled mess of dilapidation, abandonment, and ruin. It looked like a set from a horror film. Instead it was reality in the midday sun. All of the cemetery was unkempt. The worst looked as though it had been subject to a crazed rampage by vandals. Headstones had toppled, monuments listed at acute angles, graves had collapsed. But this was not the work of vandals, it was the consequence of neglect.
Yet even worse lay beyond the visible evidence of institutional indolence. Vast swathes of headstones had been consumed by overgrowing vegetation, consumed like a lost chapter from “Day of the Triffids”. The rough maintenance that was evident involved crude scything of long grass and weed only. Headstone facings had disappeared leaving no hint of who was buried there. Paths were apparent only by trampled use, cuttings and vegetative debris lay where it had been cut. It was not what I had expected. I did find my grandparent’s grave. Thanks I suspect to relatives, the grave itself looked respectable, the surroundings were not. They were a miserable, depressing, mess.
On a practical level, I can guess at some of the issues. Cemeteries became popular in Victorian times . Urban burial grounds in the 19th century were originally envisaged as public open spaces, and were professionally designed to be attractive places to visit in their own right. Most graves here were post 1850. As time passes, so immediate relatives first age, then die, leaving no-one to maintain individual graves, let alone the estate as a whole.
Christian Church attendance has declined by two thirds since the 1960’s, those that do attend are predominantly over 65. Churches and graveyards are suffering from the support of far fewer, those that do support are becoming older, and the decline is likely to accelerate. Cremation now accounts for 72% of all “disposals”, plots are expensive and an “earner” for the Church or Council. So burial is going out of fashion, resulting in less custodial interest, but still offer an income for very little expenditure for the cemetery owner. I do not blame Bethel Church alone for the scandalous state of their cemetery, I do blame them for not succeeding in finding a solution to this disgrace to their Church, the city, Wales and humanity generally.
Whatever one’s personal religious beliefs, there is a bigger picture here. How we treat the sick, the poor and the dead defines any society. Once we fail to treat the dead with respect, so our respect for the living is diminished. I was horrified when talking to some of my relatives subsequently that the state of Bethel cemetery is repeated in several locations elsewhere in the City and beyond. How has it come to this?
As I wandered about dismayed at what I saw I did glimpse something which threw the public indifference to this place into poignant juxtaposition. It was the grave of Private James Owen , one of the heroes of Rorke’s Drift, one amongst 150 British soldiers who successfully defended a supply depot and hospital in South Africa against thousands of Zulu warriors popularised in the c 1964 film “ Zulu”. A new gravestone had been erected and rededicated. But this is no place for heroes.
It strikes me that a debate about cemeteries in the 21st century is long overdue. There appears to be a downward spiral of indifference, neglect and more indifference with little to attract anyone to them apart from those visiting specific burial plots. Frankly, there is a strong case for re-landscaping significant tracts of this cemetery and reinterring remains of those who have no relatives who visit.
I accept the problem relating to bought, but unused as yet, plots, and recent graves which are still vital places of pilgrimage and comfort for the living . However what struck me was how expensive so many of the memorials clearly were, and how derelict the surrounds were. Is this what living relatives want ? This lack of design, planning and ambition means that the potential health and environmental benefits of cemeteries are not being realised. Meanwhile, cemeteries will deteriorate further. I do not expect Bethel cemetery in Sketty to be like Arlington cemetery, USA. I do expect minimum standards of decency which are woefully absent at present.
Garyswordz 
A fascinating insight. Your words took me on many mind journeys. Arlington to Swansea and the graves of a civil war to the landscape of social decline. I’m always drawn to the American Cemetery At Madingley. The beauty of the parade ground gravestones haunted by the ghosts of brave young men. Loved this post. Thank you, Gary.
I’m sad to say that this is the very cemetary where we buried one of my aunts some 20+ years ago, and even then it was in a poor state. My father (it was his sister’s funeral), who was in the first stages of Altziemer’s at the time, found it difficult to walk through the overgrown grass and horribly uneven ground, it caused him much distress.
Thanks for posting this, Gary.
What a sad coincidence. I have complained. The reply was predictable. The graveyard is four and a half acres. Only eleven plots pay for upkeep. The church has a dwindling ageing congregation. There is no public money. Because it is a non conformist cemetery other churches won’t help.
There is currently a consultation on the possible reuse of graves to ease the shortage of burial plots: click to see the Law Commission’s consultation on grave re-use
representations by 15th nov 2024
Sadly little has changed at Bethel although there did appear to be some work started clearing undergrowth at the bottom of the cemetery.
My grandfather, Thomas Frank Burley , died 13th March 1930, is buried at Bethel, Grave No31, Row 44 although I have no means of discovering where this is? Does anyone know of a grave register for Bethel Cemetery please?
Maintenance of the graveyard, I believe is being carried out by Nurse and Payne. I am concerned that the church and cemetery are up for sale and the relatives of people buried in the graveyard are not being involved in any decision. I am about to put a notice in the Evening Post in an attempt to find other relatives.
07/08/22
Hi Barbara,
It is indeed Nurse & Payne who now look after Bethel Cemetery,
I manage to get in touch with a Jayne Morgan back in 2019 who was very helpful and between us we located my grandfathers grave. Since that time I try to visit fairly regularly and keep things neat and tidy.
Later enquiries, someone was asking for a fee for each request?
You may have noticed that in March of 2021 I discovered that Gary’s relatives were buried just behind mine.
I was not aware however that the church and cemetery were up for sale and would appreciate any further news?
Kind regards
David.
Hi Barbara,
Thank you for the update regarding the meeting on Tuesday, I hope that my message of the 23rd counted as an apology?
I look forward to hearing of future meetings and any news regarding Bethel.
Very many thanks,
David.
I agree with you entirely, my grandparents are buried here, and the condition of this is graveyard is entirely unacceptable!
Hi Gary,
Thought you would like to know I have visited Bethel cemetery in Swansea this morning and discovered that by chance your relatives graves are just a few rows behind my grandfathers! Their graves are all up together, looking good, a bright sunny morning, just replaced the wooden cross on my grandfathers grave!
I have some photos if your interested but no email address for you?
Best wishes
Dave.
Sent from my iPad
thank you. garylongden81@gmail.com
I think my Great Great Grandfather and Grandmother are buried here. He was George Blundell the Blacksmith. Known in the area as the Grand Ole Man of Sketty.
Hi Fiona,
Please note the reply left today for Barbara above,
Kind regards
David
The adjoining house with attached chapel and graveyard is for sale with Rees Richard’s and Partners. It’s the picture of the house in Carnglas Road that is on the website.
This morning I have been in touch with West Glamorgan Archivists office in Swansea and they have been very helpful and share our concerns as ‘this has historically been an extremely important cemetery, not just for chapel members but for the whole of Swansea as some notable people are buried there’.
It is outside their remit but have suggested that I ‘contact the denominational headquarters. Bethel is/was affiliated to the Union of Welsh Independents/Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg and details of how to contact them can be found on their website here: https://www.annibynwyr.org/en/page/contact. Often the union acts as one of the trustees and is involved with the sale. At the very least, they should be in a position to put you in touch with someone at the chapel who is able to clarify what is going to happen’.
This I have now done and await their response. I shall keep you informed
David
I left a lengthy and informative reply here last night following months of research into this worrying issue of the future of the graveyard at Bethel, Sketty, but it has now disappeared. Can anyone tell me why?
Robert Orchard
As noted in my lengthy comment last night, the contadt at Bethel Chapel is Dr Dai Lloyd, Secretary of the Trustees. (It is a registered charity.) His email is:
dailloydplaid@gmail.com
There is a meeting planned for concerned relatives next Tuesday 23 August at 6pm in the Vivian Arms, Sketty.
The meeting is good if anyone is able to get to it. What if we are unable to get there? i’m in Lincolnshire currently and cannot get there. Fiona
Sorry but I seem to have missed Robert’s “lengthy comment”?
Is discussion regarding Bethel taking place elsewhere, how is the meeting to be held on Tuesday coming being advertised?
Let me try again with my detailed background email that I tried to post last night. This time I will post it in smaller sections to see if it gets published:
My cousin, Geoffrey Evans of Killay in Swansea, and I (living in Cardiff) have been trying to find out what is going on with the sale of the chapel and its vast graveyard for months now, and have tried, unsuccessfully to date, to interest the press and media in reporting on the proposed sale and the concerns of relatives of some of the, literally, thousands of ancestors and loved ones who are buried there… some very recently. We have met some of the Bethel Chapel trustees, led by Dr Dai Lloyd, the Secretary of what is a registered charity and walked round the graveyard with him and some of his fellow-trustees who include the distinguished brother of the late Rhodri Morgan, former First Minister of Wales. Dai Lloyd is contactable by email on: dailloydplaid@gmail.com
We are very sympathetic to their plight: an ageing and dwindling congregation of this Welsh-language chapel where our late grandmother, Mary Ann Evans of Fforestfach, was the last from our family to worship regularly but where many generations of our family are buried, stretching back to the 1860s. The chapel building has been condemned as unsafe and requiring repairs that would cost a six-figure sum. The private chapel has no access to grants or financial support, the trustees told us, so have to sell. (More to follow)…
i have neither edited nor deleted any of your posts
Thanks Gary. No, nothing to do with you… Posts are moderated by someone running the site, I assume, before being published… perhaps mine was too long. I’ve now split it into several shorter sections…
Hi All, I understand there is a meeting this evening at Sketty to discuss the future of Bethel Cemetery? Please could I ask that someone gives a little feedback for the benefit of those unable to be there? Many thanks! David Huxtable
Sent from my iPad
>
My cousin, Geoffrey Evans of Killay, Swansea is going and will be helping Barbara Morris run the meeting. I’m in London so can’t attend. Will ask them for feedback but best might be for those interested to send contact details to the group once they have set themselves up properly, assuming enough people attend this evening at 6 pm at the Vivian pub in Sketty.I have suggested they might want a simple website or Facebook page…
Robert Orchard
… Our concern is primarily for the future of the graveyard and to ensure that the thousands of graves…some very historic, including of a Welsh missionary whose ministry took him to Wuhan in China… are protected and that the graveyard should not face the risk of any kind of unsympathetic redevelopment. Swansea Council’s planning department were very unhelpful when approached for information some time ago. We ere merely referred to CADW, who told us it was nothing to do with them!
If the graveyard itself is safe from redevelopment, as we hope, what is to become of it ? Any purchaser will want what was the minister’s house nearby and the chapel buildings, which may be convertible to some kind of housing. But how will the graveyard be protected and managed? Gary Longden’s long lament at the unkempt state of the graveyard, which launched this thread, will strike a chord with many who know Bethel but he offers no solution to where the large sum of money required should come from to maintain what is a private graveyard and manage it in the way we would all like to see….
… Personally, I’m delighted to see other relatives of those buried at Bethel now banding together to discuss what needs to be done to safeguard the graveyard under any new ownership. The worst option which some fear would be any attempt to seal off the graveyard from public access because so many gravestones currently appear to be unsafe, and to allow the brambles, weeds and long grass to reclaim those four acres entirely. Hopefully, some kind of public access can be retained, and some imaginative scheme devised to restore and maintain at least parts of the graveyard to keep nature at bay in what could perhaps become a public asset and green space once again. It seems a massive challenge but a journey round the world begins with a single step and I understand that an initial meeting is planned for next Tuesday, 23 August, at the Vivian Arms in Sketty at 6 pm for anyone concerned at the future of the site, and who can get there. Otherwise, contact Barbara Morris perhaps, on the mobile number given below.
Sorry to write at such length but it’s a relief to find others interested and concerned over the future of the graveyard at Bethel in Sketty. I also understand that one of the contributors above, Dr Barbara Morris, has placed an advert in the Evening Post asking anyone concerned about the future of Bethel graveyard and interested in forming an action group to contact here on 07778 940670. Do contact the chapel trustees, though. They have a duty of care to all of us with relatives buried at Bethel but please do appreciate that they are in a very difficult position. Hopefully, some — or even most — of the proceeds from any sale of the property… and the asking price is several hundred thousand pounds, I seem to recall… should certainly be earmarked to safeguard the graves of our relatives and ancestors at Bethel.
Robert Orchard (retired journalist)
For interest, here are the sale particulars of Bethel Chapel, the adjoining house and graveyard: £400,000 asking price for the lot yet the graveyard is barely mentioned!!
Click to access 24804394_30041187.pdf
My cousin, Geoffrey Evans of Killay, Swansea is going to tonight’s meeting, Tuesday. and will be helping Barbara Morris run the meeting. I’m in London so can’t attend. Will ask them for feedback but best might be for those interested to send contact details to the group once they have set themselves up properly, assuming enough people attend this evening at 6 pm at the Vivian pub in Sketty.I have suggested they might want to set up a simple website or Facebook page…
Robert Orchard
Thank you for such a comprehensive explanation of the background to this. Much appreciated! I had no idea that this had been under discussion for months, as I, amongst many others became aware only when Barbara Morris placed the notice in the local newspaper. I understand that a committee was formed at Tuesday’s meeting and I imagine that those of us who registered an interest will be updated as to what happened.
Yes, I understand that 43 people attended the meeting on Tuesday which is very gratifying. Barbara Morris or Geoffrey Evans from the new committee should probably update you but there is BBC interest now and hopefully we can encourage the chapel trustees (it is a registered charity) to ensure that, in any sale, that the future of the graveyard is safeguarded and secured, not least with some of the very considerable funds they hope to raise from the sale. The asking price is £400,000.
43 people attended the meeting with 4 apologies. 42 graves were represented but many more deceased relatives. A committee of 5 was formed with our first meeting arranged for Monday 5th September. I thank everyone who attended and hopefully we will soon have some information about the proposed sale
please keep us updated on here
how do i keep in touch to find out what is going on ? except for on here. Is there a group or something i can be involved with?
I checked with Barbara Morris – see above post – and she confirmed that I could quote her telephone number on here if concerned relatives need to get in touch. This is Barbara’s number, as it appeared in the Public Notices column in the “South Wales Evening Post” recently. It’s 07778940670. The first committee meeting of the group formed at the Vivian Arms the other evening will take place this coming Monday, so we may know more after that. It featured in the BBC Wales news this evening!
Hello Fiona Here’s an extract from the recent e- mail sent by the Friends of Bethel Sketty Cemetery to those for whom e-mail contacts were held. I hope you find this helpful. Contact details for the Friends are at the bottom of this post. A Facebook page will also be available soon.
“There were 43 people who attended the meeting at The Vivian Arms on 23rd August and since then more people have come forward and requested to join our group. We have renamed the group “The Friends of Bethel Sketty Cemetery” and we currently have 82 members. We hope to increase that number and please feel free to share this information with anyone you think may be interested. If they contact us, we will be happy to add them to the circulation list.
We are deeply concerned that the cemetery will be closed to future access, visits and burials. We would like to give you a fuller update and have arranged a public meeting which is due to be held on Wednesday 26th October at 17.30 in St Paul’s Parish Centre, De la Beche Road, Sketty, SA2 9AR. We hope to be able to welcome you there. Councillor James McGettrick and C Michael Locke have been supportive of our cause and will be there too. The National Federation of Cemetery Friends have also been a tremendous help.
The main aims of our group will be to ensure that the owners protect the graveyard and access is maintained for visiting graves, future burials and for leisure. We wish to preserve its history and ensure it is a safe and pleasant place to visit. We wish to protect the site from redevelopment or closure. We also want to ensure that burial records are properly and securely maintained. If you have any ideas for how to take this forward, we will be very pleased to hear from you.
Dr Barbara Morris
Chair of The Friends of Bethel Sketty Cemetery
Telephone 07778 940670
bethelsketty@gmail.com “
Thanks for responding so quickly. It’s good to hear that 43 people attended, a committee formed and that the BBC has become interested. I was sorry not to be able to be there, but relieved that momentum is gathering to protect the interests of our loved ones. I’m planning to contact various bodies, including Capel Wales, National Churches Trust – here’s a brief description of the organisation “Capel was formed in 1986 to encourage the study and preservation of the Nonconformist heritage of Wales, offer information and advice to congregations on ways to maintain and preserve their buildings, record and study chapel architecture, encourage chapels to safeguard their records and to encourage sympathetic conversion of chapels no longer required for their original purpose” as described on their website, see https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/get-support/support-organisations/capel
I think this situation would be of interest to this body, even though our main concern is the graveyard. Safeguarding records is also essential surely. imagine they will have experienced similar cases.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-62767536
Hope others have seen the report on BBC Wales website from Garry Owen.
Dave Huxtable
Yes, I saw it. Good to see!
Dear All, we have had a very successful day in terms of radio and TV coverage by BBC Wales and S4C of our campaign to safeguard the future of the cemetery at Bethel Chapel, Sketty in Swansea.
There were illustrated reports on both Radio Wales and Radio Cymru this Saturday morning and TV coverage this evening. The Radio Wales report can be heard on the Breakfast show, via this BBC Sounds link, below. Place the cursor on the arrow first and click to bring up the timecodes, then put the cursor on the long horizontal line at about 51 minutes 05 seconds into the programme to hear it from the start.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001bq0g
And here is the illustrated report from Radio Cymru, also broadcast on Saturday morning — It starts at about 10 minutes 45 seconds into the programme:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001bqml
On Saturday evening, there was a brief TV report on Wales Today. This is available on the BBC i-Player using this link, below, starting at 03.25 into the recording.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001bxg8/bbc-wales-today-evening-news-03092022
And there was a longer TV report in Welsh on S4C’s Newyddion, starting at 19.35 into the recording.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/s4c?rewindTo=current
ALL of these radio and TV recordings may only be available for 24 hours after they were first broadcast so listen and watch as soon as possible !!
There are also online versions of the Bethel Cemetery story in both English and Welsh and these online reports should be available for some time:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-62767536
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cymrufyw/62770046
Do try to watch, listen to or read some of our Saturday coverage, set out above. It should remind the chapel trustees that they cannot just ignore the justifiable wishes of many relatives to be kept informed of what is going on with the sale fo Bethel Chapel and Cemetery , and to be reassured that the cemetery and the graves will be properly cared for and maintained.
Robert
Thanks so much for forwarding these links. I’d heard two, but not all. It is good, as you say, to remind trustees that relatives are prepared to draw attention to this very worrying situation.
Those with even the most minute concept of Land Law will tell you that, as private land, the owners of the church can indeed, and rightly so, ignore your opinion, irrelevant of desperate pleas to the press. Ultimately it is they (I presume) who have paid for any upkeep for centuries. For those who complain about situations like these… might I ask you what contribution YOU have made to the upkeep of your forefather’s resting places? Likely nothing. An annual trim here and there at the most. Another comment states that 11 plots only were contributed towards with regards upkeep, yet I see none of those people complaining. It’s those who contribute nothing that are too ready to find blame. It speaks to a sense of entitlement, to the Godlike concept of self and to a lack of understanding of what real community is.
An interesting reply but no-one is arguing about the law here, unless the purchasers of burial plots have legal rights most of us are not aware of. It is a question of the MORAL responsibility of a group of religious chapel elders and trustees of a registered charity to help safeguard the future of the graves of thousands of former worshippers at Bethel Chapel, Sketty in Swansea. Instead, the trustees seem determined to wash their hands of any such responsibility, take the large sum of money, £400k?, they will make on the sale (at an apparently knockdown price for the overall asset) and run. It is very telling that they will not even engage with the concerned relatives of some of those buried at Bethel to explain what they are doing and why. (to be contnued…)
Thanks Robert Orchard, who conveys the disappointment and disillusionment of us relatives very well. Yes, of course we know that private land owners can, and usually do, what they like, but there is a great potential for heartache for very many families in this situation. To “State the Obvious”, you presume that we have not contributed towards the maintenance of the graveyard and upkeep of the graves – not so, I and previous generations of my family have regularly paid for maintenance, until the practice of sending bills by Chapel officers to grave holders seemed to cease many years ago now. I, for one, haven’t received a request for payment for a very long time. Since then I have paid substantial sums for restoration, cleaning etc of our family grave. I know of others who have done so. I have visited regularly to pay my respects and have carried out my own regular maintenance. There are many of us who don’t fall into your characterisation of contribution of “ Likely nothing. An annual trim here and there at the most.” This is an old graveyard in parts, with, I imagine, no descendants left to maintain the older graves. However, the graveyard has been neglected for very many years – see the first posts here, dated 2017 – and the sums spent on Chapel and graveyard maintenance combined are significantly smaller than the amount paid to upgrade the residential Chapel House in recent years. If I interpret the figures correctly, circa £92,000 has been spent on the House in the years 2019/20 and 2020/21, compared with circa £12,000 on maintenance of the Chapel. Maintenance of the graveyard and external areas is shown as circa £16,000 per year, but that figure surprises me such is the level of neglect. The figures are in the public domain and can easily be seen via the Charity Commission’s website. The sale price of £400,000 for the whole site of Chapel, Vestry, Chapel House and 4.5 acre graveyard roughly represents the value of that detached Chapel House alone, in that area of Swansea. Burials in existing graves have continued, one as recently as May 2022, so one can only imagine how such recently-bereaved families in particular must feel. It appears to me that a plan to sell the whole site may have been under consideration for some time. One could not argue that the Trustees have a legal right to do so, sadly without any reference to those of us affected. But the moral aspect of this is another matter, as Mr Orchard says. The apparent lack of transparency and failure to engage with relatives now we have become aware of the situation is upsetting, to say the least. What relatives ask is simply that any prospective purchaser considers the sensitivity of this situation and permits relatives access to visit and maintain graves going forward.
(Continued:) You demand to know “what contribution YOU have made to the upkeep of your forefather’s resting places?” The answer is simple: I have paid many hundreds of pounds to have the two oldest graves of my ancestors buried at Bethel professionally restored and, since I live elsewhere, I also pay a significant fee each year for three family graves to be cared for and kept tidy. Many other relatives may not be able to afford that luxury but we are not asking for everything to be done for us. The relatives and local community who value this open space will have to become involved as volunteers but it seems a reasonable expectation that the chapel trustees accept THEIR responsibility too, especially when they will gain such a large six-figure sum from the sale and have no plans to build a new chapel. The secrecy surrounding this sale is totally counter-productive and treats concerned relatives with contempt. You hide behind a false name here for some reason while belittling relatives’ efforts to campaign for their voice to be heard suggesting the owners fo Bethel Chapel can rightly ” ignore your opinion, irrelevant of desperate pleas to the press”. A free press is a bulwark against the abuse of power anywhere, and what other avenue do we have when the chapel trustees refuse to speak to us and cower behind the cover of “legal advice”? ” https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/sketty-swansea-bethel-chapel-sale-24934089 ” Readers may find this latest press article, above, enlightening to see what we are up against.
On what actual world do you live on to think 400K is a lot of money? Is that some sort of small town mentality? If so, that should be counteracted by the fact that, as you point out, £16,000 has been spent on the graveyard, and that isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. Clearly you have no concept of money and it value. How wonderful it must be to live so simply. So ignorantly. You clearly haven’t needed the skilled hands of a tree surgeon recently… nor a Gardner nor whomever is required to ensure the safety of a graveyard as a whole. Again, I ask you, what have you contributed to that total? We, as a society, like to laugh at the concept of faith, and particularly Christianity, at any given opportunity. Yet, you suddenly feel that they owe you a sense of morality also.
What an extraordinary, arrogant, abusive and, sadly, ignorant reply. Hiding behind your fake name (why is that?) one wonders if you have ever visited Bethel Chapel and Cemetery in Swansea, UK? Many of us may agree that burial of a body is an outdated concept but, for previous generations, it was the last honour one could pay to a respected relative or friend. So we are left with their mortal remains and do we just let them have a new housing estate or factory built over their graves… some only a few years old? Cemeteries and graveyards can give great solace to grieving relatives and also give a sense of history and help us make sense of the past. Snide sneering comments about the value of money do you no credit: they merely show how out of touch you are with reality. That’s not a “small town mentality”, just mental. Yes, I have used the services of tree surgeons and gardeners and yes, the scale of the problem at Bethel Cemetery is daunting but we certainly feel the trustees of the chapel should contribute a sizeable share of the £400k they are raising from what seems a fire sale of assets worth much more than that to help safeguard the mortal remains of generations of their former worshippers now buried here. Instead they seem to want to take the money and run, bury their heads in the sand and refuse to even talk to the relatives about our very reasonable concerns. For the leaders of a Christian chapel, they seem happy to behave in a decidedly un-Christian way.
Thanks Robert. I’ve replied on here individually to the earlier posts by Fiona Blundell and David Huxtable, to let them know about the meeting organised by The Friends of Bethel Cemetery for next Wednesday 26 October. The meeting will take place at St. Paul’s Parish Centre, Sketty, Swansea, from 5.30 pm to 7 pm and will aim to provide an update on the situation regarding the sale of Bethel graveyard.
Wonderful to hear that every attempt to bastardize everything about Bethel has come to no fruition.
Hedd.
Perffaith Hedd.
I’m currently travelling to Swansea for the weekend so I will be visiting Bethel Cemetery to hopefully tidy my GG grandparents grave and I believe my GGG grandparents are there too and maybe my G Grandfather who lived on Carnglas Road . I’m hoping I can find the graves , that’s my worry that I may not find them .
Wishing you every success Fiona, I hope the weather will brighten up a little for you!
Just seen your updates on ‘Find a Grave.com’, looks like you’ve had some success!
It’s good that you have the photograph – I’ve just seen it on “Find a Grave.com” I do wish you success in finding the grave. At least the rain has just stopped here in Swansea, that’s a small blessing! I guess you’re aware of the Facebook group that’s been set up lately “The Friends of Bethel Sketty Cemetery”? It appears there may be another descendant of George Blundell who has joined and posted on the page. Good luck,