Kenilworth widower's dismay over state of wife's grave

Peter Buckle, 63, of Frythe Close, lost his wife Wendy in 2011 after battling a deadly brain tumour. She was just 54.

Wendy was buried in Kenilworth Cemetery off Oaks Road, and Peter visits daily to tend to her grave and keep it looking as nice as he can.

But when he visited on Tuesday last week (March 6), he saw the ground nearby had been churned up with tyre tracks as a result of contractors driving over the grass. It appeared nothing had been done to try and tidy up the area.

Peter said: “It’s just absolute laziness. This is a very special place for the citizens of the town.

“To see the ground being churned up like that - it almost brings me to tears to be honest.

“There’s quite a lot of people who visit the cemetery every day, and every one of them moans about it.”

Peter raised the issue with Warwick District Council leader Cllr Andrew Mobbs, who he has known for more than 25 years.

Cllr Mobbs made sure the contractors were informed of the damage very quickly. They got in touch with Peter and told him work to repair the ground would start on Thursday March 8.

But as of this week, the work has still not been completed.

This is not the first time Peter has seen problems at the cemetery.

In August last year, a lawnmower clipped Wendy’s headstone and took a chunk off of it.

Although the damaged headstone was taken away quickly, it took a month to repair.

And there were problems with the ground next to Wendy’s grave becoming muddy and slippery two years ago. Contractors tried to deal with the mud by putting artificial turf over it, but it has now been churned up again.

Peter said this latest problem ‘topped them all’.

He also believes these incidents were unecessary and could have been prevented if contractors had been more careful.

Cllr Mobbs said he sympathised with Peter’s feelings over the situation and aimed to get the ground repaired ‘with the utmost urgency.

He added: “I more than share Mr Buckle’s concerns. It’s not acceptable in certain circumstances when cemeteries are maintained to the best possible level.

“I’m grateful to Mr Buckle for alerting me to this problem.”