GET INVOLVED with ACTIVITIES
There are many things to get involved with, from tours and trail walking through to the FSSC AGM. You can keep an eye on our Facebook page or follow our blog to see when our next event is.
WALKS AND TRAILS
Waitemata Local Board has done excellent work on putting in new signage and restoring some paths. The Auckland Council have a large amount of information about what walks and trails you can explore in the Cemetery. You can find this resource on the Auckland Council website here.
David Verran, historian, conducts wonderful tours of the Cemetery at various times of the year. Tours can be arranged for large or small groups and to suit different abilities upon request.
The Friends of Symonds Street Cemetery (FSSC) organises walks and activities in the Cemetery mainly from November to May. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for dates and times.
PRUNING AND PLANTING
Under the leadership of Delphine Lomas and with the leadership from the wonderful Heritage Rose Society; FSSC organise two pruning sessions a year- one in July for the multi-flowering roses and another in February for the flowering roses. We invite all Friends to participate in these, not only are they fun but also informative. We learn about heritage roses, how to prune, and why each variety has been planted on a particular grave. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for dates and times.
CLEAN UPS
With the help of Waitemata Local Board and Auckland Council Park Officers we hold several clean up days a year in the Cemetery. These clean up days are based around light work such as picking up rubbish, clearing light debris from the graves and paths and light weeding. Parks Officers organise the heavy tree pruning and removal of large broken branches etc.
Look on our Facebook page for dates and times. We are always looking for help and it is also a very good way to become familiar with hidden parts of the Cemetery.
ROSE TRAIL WALK
The Rose trail will show you many interesting parts of the Jewish, Presbyterian and Catholic sections of the Symonds Street Cemetery.
To walk the trail will take about 30 minutes. Follow the red markers. It is the most accessible part of Auckland’s oldest public cemetery. Most of this trail does not follow formed paths. Make sure you wear appropriate footwear, especially in winter, and please do not walk across the graves.
There are two more self-guided trails on the other side of Symonds Street. The Hobson Walk covers many important graves in the Anglican and General/Wesleyan sectors. Bishop Selwyn’s Path and the Waiparuru Nature Trail have more detail about Grafton Bridge and the ecology of the forested gully.
There are many more fascinating stories about graves of interesting people, and social, historic and ecological themes. You can access more information on the STQRY app- downloadable in the app store. Otherwise the Auckland Council has a created a comprehensive guide which is downloadable here.
