After two years of jumping through all the hoops to obtain permission to install a WC at Packwood church, work commenced in the churchyard to lay a shallow drain with the utmost care underneath the path down to the corner of the car park where a septic tank has now also been installed. Fortunately the church has a digital plan of where all the graves are located but the conditions for proceeding included the oversight of an archaeologist during the excavation . This was necessary in case anything of antiquity and importance might be found. Sadly the only remains unearthed were fragments of an adult human skull which Canon Patrick reinterred with great care near the spot by the church where they were found. The drainage engineers also hand dug the ground underneath a large Yew tree and were able to thread the drain beneath its roots . The external works were prioritised over external ones to take advantage of benign autumn weather. We are hopeful that the project will be complete before Christmas. It goes without saying that installation of a WC will make a significant call on our funds so donations to this project would be gratefully received.

– Caroline Spelman