The Mayor of Newbury receiving the gift from the Chairman of the Friends, Brian Sylvester. ©FNRC The Mayor of Newbury receiving the gift from the Chairman of the Friends, Brian Sylvester.

Bugs in the Cemetery

The Friends of Newtown Road Cemetery were fascinated at their recent meeting to hear of what we thought to be the colossal range of insect life which thrives in the cemetery.  However, the following was revealed in a talk given by Chris Foster who is not only a Newbury Town Councillor but also an entomologist at Reading University where he is a ‘Teaching Associate’.

We learnt his favourite reason to be interested is that they’re fascinating, wonderful animals in their own right and often rather beautiful.

He went on to point out some reasons for his being concerned about insects – particularly for bird lovers - that at least 100 of our breeding bird species rely entirely on insects to feed their young.

Newtown Road, incorporating moth surveys and a general insect survey done a few years ago, probably gives a total of about 200 insect species. This is not all that many, he said, considering his Newbury garden has yielded 180 in a few years without much effort, or compared to the 1500 or so in a well-studied Leicester garden.

He pointed out, in fact, there are plenty of species likely to be present. NRC is an undisturbed grassland site of decent size and the pool of species to draw from is large – for example, in the whole of the UK there are some 2800 butterfly & moth species, 1600 bugs, 5000 bees, ants and wasps, 4000 beetles and a remarkable 7000 species of fly!

So clearly much more observation and research is called for.

The talk was preceded by a well-attended and mercifully-brief AGM (!) and, being the 10th anniversary of the formation of the group, the occasion was celebrated in two ways.

First, an antique china mug was presented to the Town Council and was received by Newbury’s Mayor - Clr. Elizabeth O’Keefe.  It was a souvenir of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 when the Mayor commemorated the occasion by having these cups made, including his signature.  He was Robert Long and is one of the 38 former mayors buried in the cemetery.

Secondly by the cutting of a cake with candles by the Founding Chair - Dr. Elizabeth Capewell.

Both Elizabeths thanked the Friends, complimented them on their on-going researches, and wished them well for the next ten years.