Important Notice Please Read!

A note from the Vicar of Tanworth in Arden.

As those of you who have visited and chatted with me will know, as well as being the vicar of this beautiful village, I am an active musician and therefore have huge respect for Nick Drake, his music and his many followers. I count it a privilege to be serving in a church that has such important links into the world of folk music, and my own band plays one of his songs, Place to be. However recent events mean that I need to make this appeal regarding Nick’s grave.

There is a very large wooden plaque attached to the oak tree under which Nick is buried appealing for people to remember that this is a family plot in the midst of an active graveyard, and which asks people to please respect the grave and the surrounding area. Recent incidents have made it clear that although the vast majority of people do treat the site with respect, this is most definitely not being heeded by everyone. Please, you are always welcome to visit Nick’s grave and traditionally, items such as plectrums or small floral tributes have been left close to the gravestone. The churchwardens and I are happy to occasionally remove some of these if the grave becomes untidy due to there being too many or flowers dying.

So when you visit, I would like you to ask this question. If it was your family’s grave, or a member of your family was buried nearby, how would you feel about what had been left there? Would you feel honoured, or would what you find be upsetting? If Nick were my brother I would find plectrums, flowers and the like to be deeply moving. The vast majority of people clearly take care, and we truly love having you to visit, but recent events, had they not been discovered and discretely dealt with, could potentially have caused tremendous upset both to Nick’s family and to the families of all those buried nearby.
An idea was suggested to me this morning which I would like to post here. When you come, why not bring a single crocus bulb, and just quietly push it into the soil around the oak tree (please not into the grave, that is for Nick’s family). Gradually, over the course of a few years, the oak tree will be surrounded by a ring of flowers, planted quietly by those who have done so to honour a musician who has touched so many lives.

We truly love visitors to visit and pay their respects and the church is always open during daylight hours with a space reserved opposite the organ to sit and perhaps light a candle, meditate, pray or simply be still.

I urge you to continue to respect Nick’s grave and I look forward to welcoming you all back in August 2009 for the next gathering.

Paul Cudby