Anyone walking through St Mary's churchyard, Ross-on-Wye, recently will have seen that the grass in some parts of the churchyard has been getting long whilst other parts are cut quite short.

There have been lots of comments on social media from people concerned that, as this is the start of the growing season it will be an ongoing issue.

The Rev'd Sarah Jones, the Rector of St Mary's Church, Ross has talked to the Ross Gazette about the problems the church council faces and has appealed for the community to rally round.

"We really need some help", she said as she explained the problem. "When a churchyard is closed and there can be no more burials taking place in it, the local council has the responsibility for maintaining it and cutting the grass. The area closest to St Mary's is closed and therefore a council contractor cuts the grass. It is flat and there are no memorials or kerbs jutting out and so a ride-on mower can be used to do the task quite quickly.'

"The area nearest to Crossfields Car Park was re-opened many years ago. This meant that residents could be buried in the churchyard, which I know was a great comfort to them and their families. However it means that the responsibility for grass cutting falls to the local church.

"Until recently the Town Council arranged for their contractor to cut the grass as a service to the residents of Ross. However their budgets have come under enormous pressure and they simply can't afford it. The council has been super but now we are on our own and we simply can't afford to cut it as often as we would like."

St Mary's has engaged a contractor to cut this area of the churchyard but it is very large and it has not proved possible to keep it as short as the grass in the Closed Churchyard. In addition, the Open Churchyard has many graves with kerbstones which means that it needs to be strimmed rather than cut with a ride-on mower. This, of course, is a much more time-consuming, and therefore a more expensive job

Sarah told the Ross Gazette:"We have a team of volunteer gardeners who do great work and some help from Community Payback but they just can't keep on top of it. It's very frustrating for them and for everyone. I know that the people of the town care about the churchyard and I need to ask them for their help."

The church is organising a working party on Saturday, May 30th at 10.30am. They would appreciate any help that people can offer, especially if they could come with wheelbarrows to help move the cut grass, strimmers or gardening equipment and help for a few hours. If you are unable to help physically perhaps you would send a donation to pay for more hours from the contractor?

Cheques can be made out to Ross PCC General Account and the money will be ring-fenced for work in the churchyard if you put that in a covering note.

If you can help in any way please contact the church office at The Rectory on 01989 562175 or by email: [email protected]">[email protected]

The Ross Gazette is backing St Mary's as we know just how important this part of Ross is to so many residents who have relatives and friends buried in the churchyard. Offers of help or donations can also be made at the Ross Gazette office on Broad Street.