Heysham war graves undergo makeover

St Peter’s church yard is home to many war graves in memoriam to soldiers who have lost their lives during or after battle.

The cemetery, which overlooks Morecambe Bay, contains 11 war graves, some of which are looked after by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The commission cares for cemeteries and memorials at 23,000 locations, in 154 countries and work closely with local groups for their upkeep.

The war graves at St Peter's cemetery in Heysham which have been replaced by Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Picture by Malcolm Brown.

Malcolm Brown and his wife Maree have been cleaning up the graves and church yard for the past 20 years.

The couple, from Bolton-le-Sands, head to the cemetery twice a year armed with buckets and brushes to make sure the graves are in the best condition they can be.

“One particular grave in there requires quite a lot of attention, it is in the upper church yard,” said Malcolm, secretary of Morecambe and Heysham Branch of The Royal British Legion.

“It belongs to Edgar Kenworthy, leader aircraftman, who fought in the second world war and died in 1947.

“We have to scrub that with bleach, it requires the most upkeep because of its location under the tree, it doesn’t get any weather so it gets quite green.”

The commission has replaced three headstones on the war graves in the cemetery, which all contain original inscriptions.

To find out more about war casualties in the area visit www.cwgc.org/.