Visit to Babell Graveyard

The first event of the New Year involved a visit to a disused and derelict graveyard in my ward, which had been purchased by a Hong Kong based investor, who has family buried there, and who is promoting its restoration.

Babell Chapel used to stand on Carmarthen Road just below its junction with Gwilym Street, until it fell into disuse and was demolished some considerable time ago. The graveyard associated with the chapel became overgrown with Japanese knotweed and was subject to  anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping. Unfortunately, attempts to interest the Presbyterian Church in maintaining it came to nothing,
and they eventually sold it, along with other land, for a token sum of money.

As the ward councillor I have been trying to get something done about this graveyard for the best part of 30 years. We have had it cleared by probationers, it has been the subject of development proposals twice and there was also a relatives group involved in seeking to restore the area.

I was delighted therefore when it was purchased by Richard Hopkins, who set about researching its history and engaging people to get it back to a manageable condition.. There are records of the lives and deaths of over 3,000 people who died between 1867 and 1995 in this graveyard. Many of the dead would have worked in the local industries of coal mining, steel smelting, copper smelting and tin plating, but there are also designated war graves.

We were joined on today's official visit therefore by representatives of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and a number of army cadets, who were lending a hand with the clearance work. We were also treated to a talk by an ex-serviceman called Chris, who dressed in authentic World War One kit and talked us through what it would be like serving in the trenches.

He also brought along examples of the rifle and bayonet used by servicemen in the Great War as well as a number of grenades and mortar shells, which he passed around for our inspection. Hopefully, they were all deactivated.

The project of restoring this site continues. All Japanese Knotweed has been treated for the second year, repair work to Carmarthen Road retaining wall is complete, a regular schedule of volunteer activity has been established and a grave index has been updated. More details can be found on the website set up for the project.