Save Compos Memorial Garden

But would it not be good to know where all the money was going?

At one time, they were going to put in a memorial garden
up by the church where Compo's buried.

At another time, they were going to put in a memorial
garden down on Huddersfield Road near where it splits to
Greenfield Road and to Upperthong.

Seems like at one time they were going to put in a memorial
garden in the park where they took down the shelter.

So ..... which is it?? Seems like before you throw money about
you should know where it's going???
 
cciaffone said:
But would it not be good to know where all the money was going?

At one time, they were going to put in a memorial garden
up by the church where Compo's buried.

At another time, they were going to put in a memorial
garden down on Huddersfield Road near where it splits to
Greenfield Road and to Upperthong.

Seems like at one time they were going to put in a memorial
garden in the park where they took down the shelter.

So ..... which is it?? Seems like before you throw money about
you should know where it's going???
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The memorial garden that is under threat is the one by the side of Bill Owens grave in St Johns churchyard Upperthong. This area currently comprises of a memorial stone with a pair of wellies on it, a stone dedicated to Bill Owen by his children and various bushes with a walkway up to the grave for visitors. The area is important because it helps to seperate the actor from the character. Plus it is sadly the only memorial plan for Bill Owen/Compo that was fulfilled.

I cannot and will not divulge who is allegedly responsible for the upkeep of this garden in an open and public forum because I am not in possession of the full facts so could members please respectfully stop asking either directly or leading questions as to who it is.

Again I am not asking for anyone to hand over any money at this time just to register your support for keeping this memorial garden dedicated to Compo in it's current form for the future enjoyment of others and offer any practiical advice or ideas that you may have for setting up a fund, volunteer force etc in the future should it come to that.
 
brendalovescompo said:
If someone wrote an article in the local newspaper it may shine some light on the subject , and the person or persons responsible for the $ to care for the garden will pay the bill, and or secondly may start a fund to take care of it. Like Marianna mentioned , paypal to where fans across the world could donate.
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Thank you for replying and your idea Brenda, this is something I'm considering but due to the sensitivity of the subject I would need permission from the Church Council at St Johns, Upperthong as they may not want the spotlight put on them so to speak. However I'm sure that the people of Holmfirth are unaware of the situation and this would highlight it.
 
barmpot said:
I agree that this is a delicate matter and there are facts which we do not know. My comments were merely meant to illustrate the type of difficulties facing the church, the PCC and the priest there. What I do know is that for it to continue they need a firm undertaking that no further costs fall on themselves. Of course there may also be legal obstacles such as ownership of land, and covenants in the setting up of the original garden - as I said a veritable minefield for the unwary.

All we can ask is to keep us updated and if something is feasible then let us all know.
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Hi Barmpot I know your comments were meant as helpful and I apologise if that didn't come through in my reply to you. Sadly my discovery of the situation has been at the eleventh hour as it were so I'm working against the clock as it were to try to whip up enough support before it's too late.

May I contact you privately to pull on your wealth of experience regarding being involved in something like this should I manage to get enough interest?
 
onyx(John) said:
I didn't know it existed. You would imagine the local chamber of commerce would or should be interested in the upkeep. Local businesses must benefit greatly from the influx of visitors that come and spend their money in the town. A memorial garden to Bill Owen could easily be sold as one of the local attractions to be seen by visitors.
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Apparantly provisions for it's upkeep were put in place at the time it was errected unfortunately those arrangements seem to have fallen through in recent years leaving St Johns with a maintenance bill they neither wanted or agreed to pay.

Due to it's location (At the side of Bill Owens grave and in a churchyard were other people are buried) there has to be a balance of respect for the relatives of the other people buried there which is why I do not think that the church of St Johns would suddenly welcome hordes of visitors to it's churchyard also the memorial garden is modest in size keeping with the rest of the churches memorials. This reason of respect for others is also why it's location isn't heavily advertised.
 
I would be more than willing to give up some of my time to help with tidying up the garden. I look after the maintenance of a church and graveyard and its not easy!
I live in South Wales so would need some notice of when the tidying up can be done.
 
Welshy said:
I would be more than willing to give up some of my time to help with tidying up the garden. I look after the maintenance of a church and graveyard and its not easy!
I live in South Wales so would need some notice of when the tidying up can be done.
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That is a more than generous offer.
 
Just read all these posts. Surely all the local businesses who use losw, for their gain, to push trade, could be approached for donations. I expect plenty of people still visit Holmfirth because of losw.
Speak to the local media
 
Benzade said:
Hi Barmpot I know your comments were meant as helpful and I apologise if that didn't come through in my reply to you. Sadly my discovery of the situation has been at the eleventh hour as it were so I'm working against the clock as it were to try to whip up enough support before it's too late.

May I contact you privately to pull on your wealth of experience regarding being involved in something like this should I manage to get enough interest?
Click to expand...

PM sent
 
A good idea there is statue for Captain Mainwearing in Thetford so why not one for Bill in a town he helped to put on a sound commercial future.
 
Just caught up on all these threads and I understand all the concerns over the memorial garden. It seems like a bit of a minefield to me looking from the outside without the full facts. I am sure a lot of us would be more than happy to help in one way or another but would need to know a lot more.
 
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