"Salford Council Shame!"
Salford Council Shame !
Salford City Council have stooped to a new all time low ! A burial ground which contains the remains of a World War 1 soldier and victims of the 1885 Clifton Pit Disaster was sold by Salford City Council to a private profit-making company. An historical site containing the remains of 313 Swintonians sold in their disposal of the land.
Mike says "The site should have been preserved for our children's education about the towns past and in respect to the deceased and surviving relatives".
Friends of Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground
Mike Moulding has encouraged the formation of this group as he believes this is the best chance of preserving the burial ground for future generations. Vice-Chair & campaigner of "Friends of Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground" Gillian Welsh says "We want as many surviving relatives as possible to be found, hence why I have asked Mike to include all surnames of the deceased to be included in his material in the hope as many relatives as possible come forward. It is possible that in the event that no relatives come forward any remains of the deceased may be reinterred in the one larger grave to save them money!"
Surnames of the Deceased
Booth, Basson, Lloyd, Jones, Lamb, Grundy, Barrett, Royds, Harding, Mannion, Lansdale, Humphries, Neild, Bradburn, Higginson, Clarke, Boardman, Walker, Worrall, Redford, Brookes, Owen, Snape, Thorley, Whitehead, Broadbent, Driver, Henshaw, Lingard, Jones, Johnson, Waring, Pike, Hobson, Holland, Burrows, cadman, Milne, Lea, Cheetham, Cordwell, Burton, Henshaw, Barlow, Gee, Gregory, Evans, Blears, Lee, Higginson, Greenhalgh, Davis, Lee, Smith, Sharples, Worthington, Collier, Bradburn, Crooke, Ormrod, Wolstenholme, Johnson, Musker, Batley, Bate, Cron, Hirst, Price, Higson, Cooke, Royle, Longworth, Pearson, Pollitt.
If anyone believes they maybe a relative of the deceased currently resting at the former Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground on Swinton Hall Rd then please ring me Mike Moulding on 0161 7948483 or email michael.moulding@btinternet.com for more information.
Circle of Remembrance 24th March
Due to unforeseen circumstances has been cancelled.
Clifton Pit Disaster 1885
On the 18th June 1885 an explosion in the Trencherbone mine killed 178 men and boys, to whom there is a monument in St Augustines churchyard in Pendlebury where 64 victims were buried. Mike Moulding can confirm that there are several victims of the Clifton Pit Disaster of 1885 now resting at the former Swinton Unitarian Burial ground on Swinton Hall Rd, which, if Asda get their way, will be removed for their new supermarket.
World War 1
Also buried at the former Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground is Private Wilbraham lomax Blears, Kings Royal Regiment 13th Battalion, formerly 5491 Manchester Regiment.
"In Flander's fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrell with the foe:
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields."
by John McCrae 1915
Online petition to oppose the removal of the burial ground :-
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/no-to-disturbing-the-dead-at-the-swinton-unitarian/
Click the link and follow the instructions.
For information - Mike Moulding's father & grandfather had long established association with the Royal British Legion in Lancashire for around 35 years.
RIP - All those resting at the former Swinton Unitarian Burial Gound.