On Monday 28th October, the Glasgow Midweek Group headed to Barrmill near Beith in Ayrshire to install stepping stones. I think this has been one of the more unusual projects we have worked on: our task was to help improve public access to an historic burial ground for victims of cholera.
Thankfully, cholera has been eradicated in this country by good water sanitation and hygiene but this terrible disease is still common in parts of Africa and Asia, causing over 100,000 deaths a year.
In 1832, some 40 residents of Barrmill died from this water-borne disease within a few weeks of each other and their bodies were buried in a communal grave known as a cholera “pit”. Sadly, no record of their names exists and they were probably buried without ceremony.
The burial site is located in a field near Southbrae Farm and, although looked after in the past, it had become neglected. In 2012 Barrmill Conservation Group built a stile and a footbridge to allow easier access to the site; they also installed an information board nearby.
Our task was to further improve access across the field by installing plastic stepping stones made from recycled materials. The work had been started by the Midweek Group on a previous visit but we were not prepared for the muddy conditions that awaited us!
The Group worked hard to dig deep, square holes to sink the steps into so that they would sit flush with the ground; as the field contains livestock (fortunately the cows had been moved to another field that day!) it was important to make sure the animals’ hooves wouldn’t get trapped in the steps.
After several days of heavy rain it was no surprise that the area we were working in quickly turned to sticky, slippy mud which slowed us down; on top of that, we hit a seam of hard rock which made it impossible to dig some of the planned holes.
But, despite the conditions, the Group did a sterling job finishing off the project. To renditions of “Mud Glorious Mud”, let’s just say we had to do a LOT of cleaning tools and wellies in the nearby burn once we had finished!
(Picture 1 shows the Group beginning work; Picture 2 some of the plastic stepping stones before installation; Picture 3 one of the steps in the ground and Picture 4 the finished pathway. The burial site lies beneath the two trees in the background.)