THERE are fears a graveyard could fall back into a state of disrepair if more volunteers to help maintain it are not found.

The Heaton Graveyard Community Project says it is “desperate” for helpers, to ensure the site can be enjoyed for years to come.

The initiative began back in 2003. Led by Margaret Gray, now 75, volunteers cleaned up the overgrown graveyard and made it a safer place.

Mrs Gray decided to start the project after spending years looking out of her window at the unloved site.

At the time, she said it was a mass of jungle which attracted fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.

The aim was to restore it back to what it was initially - a graveyard full of local and social history, commemorating the people who put so much into Heaton and Manningham areas in days gone by.

But now with only four volunteers, the project is concerned the graveyard could go back to rack and ruin.

Mrs Gray said: “We are pretty desperate at the moment for helpers.

“I am afraid that since the baptist chapel closed four years ago we have nowhere to hold events and raise funds and, hopefully, attract new volunteers.

“It is such a shame that it will eventually revert back to secondary woodland without being managed.

“It really is a tranquil place for sitting and reflecting in the heart of the village.”

Mrs Gray said the graveyard is a haven for wildlife and fauna, where numerous species of birds can be spotted alongside foxes, hedgehogs, frogs and more.

She added that much of the hard work, including the memorial gardens the World War One and World War Two memorials, gates and history trail, have all been completed.

“I would dearly love to see the project continue and be handed over to safekeeping for future generations,” she said.

“There are many interesting local families represented in the graveyard, many just simple village people, who made Heaton the village it once was.”

The graveyard was opened in 1824 as a baptist burial ground, but was extended in 1868 when a further portion of land was purchased from the Rosse family who lived at Heaton Hall.

The architect was a local man named William Tetley, of Chellow Grange, where the family had farmed for generations.

Descendants of William Tetley will be visiting Heaton next month.

According to the Heaton Graveyard Community Project, there are more than 1,100 graves and 8,630 people were interred from 1868, with the last burial taking place in April 2007.

It’s also the resting place of several thousand paupers and their children, who were buried in communal graves.

Volunteers meet fortnightly throughout the year on Saturdays between 10am and 4pm.

For more information about how to get involved, visit www.heatongraveyard.co.uk. New volunteers are welcome to join in as and when they have the time.