Vale Memorials

This month, as promised, I want to talk about a course that I ran in Glynneath for memorial masons from as far afield as the Midlands on the vexed subject of ‘Memorial inspection and testing.’
This was one of the most enjoyable and interesting training days that I have ever taken part in. Partly because of the interested and interesting masons who attended and partly because of the excellent facilities and welcome provided by the Glynneath training centre.

The day was divided between a morning classroom session in the training centre where I outlined the issues and various laws governing memorial safety and inspection; and where all present gave their opinions and experiences. This resulted in a rare thing a rolling debate in which opinions were not only held but formed and reformed.
After lunch in the Java bean we all reconvened in the cemetery surrounding Addoldy Chapel (thanks to Martha Cowley for all her help) and spent a very useful afternoon doing visual inspections of memorials and learning how to focus risk assessments when assessing a cemetery prior to inspection.

Now I realize that these courses may seem to be a good excuse for a day off but in fact they ensure that all masons have a deep knowledge of the issues and give accurate, ethical advice to cemetery staff and customers alike.

In closing I have had a number of customers lately comment that they have had flower containers stolen from their memorials. In most cases the flower container has not been stolen at all but rather it has been blown out of its container hole and has been probably put in a bin by a passer by. This is the reason that we use 6” weighted flower containers that cannot be blown out of a container hole. Happily these flower containers are not compatible with other standard flower container holes so stealing is unlikely.