Please feel free to come and explore the churchyard. The temporary 'car park', just off the Oulton Hall drive is recommended for visitors, rather than parking directly outside the church, which tends to create muddy ruts in wet weather.

St John's Church has one of the biggest churchyards in Leeds, if not the county, and it requires a lot of attention. It's a proverbial "Forth Bridge". If you have a family grave there, please help the church by keeping it tidy, and that includes keeping the grass and weeds cut back. In time it is hoped that the churchyard can be opened up a lot more with the judicious removal of branches from some trees and the clearing of ivy, ground elder, and the like. New vistas could be opened up which will not only highlight the beautiful setting of St. John's but will also aid security.

A churchyard the size of that at St John's takes a lot of hard work to maintain, particularly during the summer 'growing' season. We still have one or two volunteers who come along quietly to do 'their bit', and we are very grateful for this. Unfortunately, this year we have lost our two stalwarts, George and (more recently) Graham. We also seem to have lost the services of the team from West Yorkshire Probation Unpaid Work (National Offender Management Service).

The PCC has always relied on volunteers to maintain the churchard, but following the theft of the mowers a couple of years ago, the PCC decided not to replace them, but to pay someone to use their own equipment. But it is too big a challenge for domestic machines. This year we have enlisted the services of A Pulman Groundcare. With the right equipment Adam is doing a great job in keeping the area around the church and in the southern graveyard looking tidy.

In the churchyard there are eight Commonwealth War Graves which commemorate ten men who died in wars of the 20th century. Two of the graves have only come to light through the extensive clearance that is going on. The PCC have agreed for new Portland stone memorials to mark these graves.

Some articles end with: 'Watch this space' and these words also apply to our churchyard. Watch it develop but, better still, come along and get involved with some clearance yourselves.

The Churchwardens.