A PROJECT is underway to restore a part of Pendle's history.

Volunteers are working to restore the old St John's churchyard in Nelson.

Vicar's wife Rosemary Hartley said the churchyard had become an eyesore, overgrown with weeds and filled with litter.

Members of St John's with St Philip's Church and other local people have been meeting once a week, spring to autumn, to tackle the problem and tidy the churchyard.

Mrs Hartley said: "The area is used by the public and at present many families cannot even find their family graves beneath undergrowth.

"The graveyard has been thoroughly surveyed by the local family history society and provides a wealth of local historical material.

"We envisage that once it is worked on, this site could become a very special place in the midst of a built up area; a place of rest, recreation and conservation and a much-needed environmental haven for wildlife if appropriate planting is done."

Mrs Hartley has entered the project for the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's Grimewatch awards, which reward all kinds of green projects.

If you have done something to improve the East Lancashire environment, why not enter? You could win a prize.

Full details are available from the Grimewatch co-ordinator by telephone on 01254 678678 ext 244, by fax on 01254 680429, or by e-mail on grimewatch@aol.com.

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