Things are really taking off at the Wildflower Meadow Eco-cemetery!
Cubs and Beavers distributing wildflower seeds in spring 2024
Community orchard
The community orchard at the bottom of the eco-cemetery (close to the B923) has lots of apple trees, as well as some plums. The trees are still maturing, but they’re already producing lots of delicious fruit, and everyone from the community is welcome to help themselves.
The Eco-cemetery
The main cemetery site is now looking really beautiful, and really living up to its name. The wildflowers had a lot of help in the spring from the 6th Fife Cubs and Beavers, who came to help us spread wildflower seed across the site. The flowers have established really well, adding to the biodiversity of the site, with lots of additional plants and insects moving in this year. We now have signs installed all around the site, so that people know where we are; in due course there will also be a noticeboard installed at the main entrance off Red Path Brae.
The Welcome Garden
We’ve been working hard to bring the Welcome Garden to life on the patch of land behind Oak Street; this was bought by KCLA from the developers (Lovell) in 2022 and is planned as a more cultivated memorial space next to the wilder eco-cemetery itself. Work on the site has started, and the main path from the arrival area across to the cemetery site has now been completed, thanks to a generous donation from Collier Quarrying & Recycling, of stone and gravel from the local Goat Quarry. In laying foundations for the paths, our contractor has also used the leftover stones and bricks that were recovered from the topsoil last year. Now, our partners at The Ecology Centre have started landscaping and planting the garden on either side of the path. We have funding for this work from Edinburgh Airport Community Fund, Fife Environment Trust, and the Black Rock Race. We are taking a phased approach to developing the Welcome Garden, so neighbours will be able to see the site gradually coming to life over the coming months.
Car Park
Also crucial to our plans for the eco-cemetery is the car park, which has now been completed on the teardrop of land next to the Welcome Garden, between the curving driveway and Red Path Brae. This work was made possible by a Climate Adaptation Grant approved by Fife Council.
Coming soon!
Fife Council are also crucial partners in arranging interments at the site, and we are hard at work finalising our agreement with them. Once this is finalised, we will be ready to start hosting burials in the eco-cemetery. It’s been a long journey, but the end is in sight!
A view of the Wildflower Meadow Eco-Cemetery in summer 2024