Headstones and Worms...

PLEASE READ FIRST:

2006-06-06T18:10:00.000Z

Briefly: this site has run from September 2005 to June 2006, and includes sets of pictures from 32 different cemeteries/resting places.
Unfortunately I am unable to continue (explanation given in my main photo blog)
I hope to be back posting by early to mid 2007.
In the meantime please delve in to what I have published already, and if you wish to be notified when I am up and running again please leave me a contact email at:
dulwichrabbler@hotmail.com
Thank you.
In the meantime tell any interested people you know about the work I have done so far.

Welcome to my little photoblog site of cemeteries:

2006-06-05T21:18:00.000Z

There's no rhyme nor reason which ones I pick: just where I happen to come across one when I have my camera.

If you want to read a little more on why please click HERE

And though I'm NOT very technical to say the least, feel free to look through this list HERE, in date order, of all the cemeteries I've covered so far. There is the start of an index on this front page, but it is very muich in the construction stage, so please click above, or just dip into the monthly archives. There really is a lot more to see.

Thank you for looking in, and if you have an interest in cemeteries comments are welcomed, & please look back for updates. Thank you. (And tell your friends in your local 'Friends of Cemetery' group as well!).

Monmartre Cemetery, Paris, France

2006-06-04T23:59:00.000Z

Set off the main road, and not the easiest place to find.
You can see into it from the road that crosses above it,
which makes it so tantalising and frustrating, as you hunt for
the entrance!

The bridge

2006-06-04T23:58:00.000Z

Most people, when in Paris, head for the Pere-Lachaise
Cemetery, famous for being the last resting place for
Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison & Edith Piaf among others.
But, for me, much more beautiful is the Monmartre Cemetery.
The strangest thing about it is the the road that runs above
it, but to me that adds to its appeal.
Once you get over that it is crammed full of amazing
monuments old and new. It's certainly the favourite
out of all the cemeteries I've ever visited...anywhere!

An overview

2006-06-04T23:57:00.000Z

Such a strange cemetery. Sloping, hemmed in, with
a road bridge above dissecting it,as you've already
seen.. The higher part of it allows you to look
the rest of it.
Monuments galore crammed in. Breath taking.

Amazing

2006-06-04T23:56:00.000Z

The individuality of the graves was breath taking.
I make no apologies for taking so many snaps.
Such openness, variety, so vidid, & not conforming at
all to how we might see what the stereotypical final
resting place should be. Oh if only there could be such
originality in English cemeteries!
If you really do love burial grounds then come back and
look at these photographs again, you are sure to have
missed something.

A few military ones to end

2006-06-04T23:55:00.000Z

Sadly I don't understand French, so can't trnaslate.

Brompton Cemetery, West Brompton, SW5

2006-05-24T23:59:00.000Z

Brompton really is a jewel in the crown of London
cemeteries, a rather apt description of it, as it
is the only one managed by the Royal Parks.
I had never been here before, snd it took me a
while to aclimatise and appreciate the magnitude
of the place. If ever you are in London it is
only a few minutes walk from West Brompton tube
station and well worth a visit.

General snaps

2006-05-24T23:58:00.000Z

There were squirrels everywhere! Plenty of notices
saying not to feed them, as they damage monuments,
but still there were visitors with big bags of nuts!

Only the tube line between the graves and Stamford
Bridge: home of Chelsea Football Club.

Many of the graves above were taped off for
safety reasons, and you couldn't actually wander along
them to look at up close.

So much to see

2006-05-24T23:57:00.000Z

This was one of my favourites.

These were on the walls, under the
brick walkways.

I just felt there was so much missing here.

So simple, but elegant.

Words from a bygone era.

This one is for a very famous person...

Military memorials

2006-05-24T23:54:00.000Z

This cemetery is choc-a-block with
military graves. Not surprising with
the military heritage of Chelsea, and a large
number of VC reciprients laid to rest here.

The Pantheon, Paris, France

2006-05-12T22:08:00.000Z

Again not a burial ground from my trip
to Paris, but a final resting place for
their great and good.
A splendid building, and well worth
a visit if ever you go there.

There are many tombs down in the crypt.

Tomb of Napoleon, Paris, France

2006-05-05T22:03:00.000Z

A bit of a departure from my usual
posts, but I thought this was
worthy of inclusion on its own.

This is his actual casket.

I thought this was superb.

St. Leonard's Churchyard, Streatham, SW16.

2006-04-21T23:59:00.000Z

From these photos it's hard to believe this church
right on the busy Streatham High Road, one
of the main traffic arteries through this part
of South London.

Looking at this snap you could be in a Middle England
village parish church almost anywhere.

A few shots...

2006-04-21T23:58:00.000Z

which is all I could take really. Not sure how big
it is, but if you base an acre on the size of an average
football pitch, then this one isn't more than 3 or 4
acres in total.

You know those 133 buses that always teminate
at 'Streatham St. Leonards Church', well this is it.

Strolling around the churchyard...

2006-04-21T23:57:00.000Z

doesn't take long, but still very pleasant.

I wouldn't have a clue to describe this one
architecturally, but I did like it.

The fallen railing made this snap for me.

West Norwood Cemetery, SE27

2006-04-09T23:59:00.000Z

I was looking forward to snapping away here
with a number of listed monuments. Unfortunately
I hadn't got too far, no more than a hundred yards or so,
when a jobsworth quasi-security guard type employee
approached me and asked if he knew me. No! He then
asked me to stop taking photos, I asked why. He said it
was against regualtions & I'd been spotted on the cameras.
(Hmm, they can take snaps of me, but...)
He asked to to come along to the Cemetery Office to confirm
this with the person in charge, which I did. I meekly
accepted it, as I didn't want to argue, but I'm sure
they're wrong. And there are no signs up saying you can't.
Lambeth Council should be ashamed of themselves if it's
true...but I'm not sure if they are as I never got a
reply to my complaint.

The Commonwealth War Grave

2006-04-09T23:58:00.000Z

Just by the main entrance at the main road.

Private Lawrence: One of the fallen from the
Football Club I support.

Just through the gates...

2006-04-09T23:57:00.000Z

Sadly not allowed further than this point!
(But don't worry, I will return some time to
cover the rest)

The Catacombs, Paris, France.

2006-03-29T22:14:00.000Z

Awesome is a frequently abused word in the English
language, thanks to its misuse by hordes of American
tourists. But if they were to visit this place in Paris
then I would concur with those visitors from across
the pond. This underground maze is truly worthy
of that word.

That's MY ice hockey hat! ;-)

This was the diorientating exit. It's about half
a mile away, in a side street, from the entrance.

Nunhead Cemetery, SE15

2006-03-21T23:59:00.000Z

I am a member of the friends group here. It's
only a couple of quid a year, & you get a great
quarterly newsletter. This cemetery is still used
for burials, despite having been 'claimed by vandals'
for much of the sixties & seventies. It is now partially
left overgrown as a nature reserve. Well worth a
visit in fine weather (when not too muddy!) for the
cracking views towards central London alone.
The only thing that lets the place down is no decent
signage at the entrances, hence these signs on the
gates, which aren't really fitting for such a grand
South London final resting place.
There is an annual open day organised by the
Friends of Nunhead Cemetery. The 2006 one
is on Saturday 20th May.

Inner city wilderness

2006-03-21T23:58:00.000Z

You can really lose yourself in this oasis that is
Nunhead...

Headstones...

2006-03-21T23:57:00.002Z

A mix of the old and the new...

Commonwealth War Graves

2006-03-21T23:57:00.001Z

A small Muslim section

2006-03-21T23:57:00.000Z

all from within the last few years, I assume as
part of their faith they have their own area
'consecrated' by Immans.

The Leysdown tragedy

2006-03-21T23:55:00.000Z

occured in 1912, when a group of local boy scouts
perished in the Thames estuary, off of Sheerness.
A replacement of the orginal memorial stands in
among some of the military plots, & is in the last
photograph in this sequence.
There is an excellent booklet on the sad affair
from the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery.

The shell of the Chapel restored...

2006-03-21T23:54:00.000Z

Gutted in an arson attack in the seventies, the
chapel shell has been restored, & is used on open days,
memorials & so on, for open air services, & fitting classical
recitals & the like.

Saint John-at-Hampstead, NW3

2006-03-15T23:59:00.000Z

This church brings back memories for me. Over
twenty years ago I worked in a pattisserie in nearby
Heath Street, & often sats in the graveyard eating
my lunch in the nice summer days. Oddly enough
I never ever ventured into the newer section across
the road, until this visit.
If the church is open pop into the office, they have an
excellent booklet on the burial ground on sale for
only a fiver.

These photos are of the older section, around the
church building itself.

There are some memorials inside the church

2006-03-15T23:58:00.000Z

Monuments from the old section

2006-03-15T23:57:00.000Z

This one is the painter John Constable

The Harrison resting place

640

What is left of the Parish War Memorial:

2006-03-15T23:56:00.000Z

I certainly don't remember how long this has
been in such a state, but I vaguely recall it
being in a bit of a mess when I was last there
in the late eighties.

Across the road is the extension

2006-03-15T23:55:00.000Z

A helpful plaque tp find 'celebrity graves'

Through the gates...

2006-03-15T23:54:00.001Z

crammed with old graves, this is one of the most interesting
small churchyards I've ever wandered around.
Take care though, it can be quite muddy & slippery in
winter, like when I visited.

'Rubbing shoulders with the famous'

2006-03-15T23:54:00.000Z

With Hampstead being such an
affluent part of London, if you were
buried here you could quite easily
have been laid to rest next to a Lord,
a famous actor, or politician.
I took quite a few snaps here, for quite
a small area, but I did enjoy my visit
here.

Military headstones

2006-03-15T23:53:00.000Z

A small corner to remember those cremated

2006-03-15T23:52:00.000Z

I loved the epitaph on this plaque. What the
word 'beautiful' was meant for...

St. Mary's Churchyard, Nantwich, Cheshire

2006-03-06T23:59:00.000Z

I certainly never planned taking pictures here!
I've never been to Nantwich in my life, & doubt if I'll
ever go back...I was up there with the Dulwich Hamlet
Supporters' Football Team, who were playing a match away
to Crewe Alexandra Supporters'. Crewe is four miles
from Nantwich, and this small burial ground was
across the road from the park pitch where we were
playing. I just couldn't resist a peek... The church itself
wasn't in sight of the graveyard.

Headstones...

2006-03-06T23:58:00.000Z

Such a sad one of infant mortality.

This one was a bit different...

Vandalism gets everywhere...

Some snapshots

2006-03-06T23:57:00.000Z

Memorials from cremations

A couple of war graves....

2006-03-06T23:56:00.000Z

City Cemetery, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

2006-02-27T23:59:00.000Z

Widely perceived as the 'Protestant' burial place
is City Cemetery, here in Belfast, though Catholics
do share the hollowedground. Separated by a brick
wall. Not that you'llsee it mind, it is actually built
UNDERGROUD!

Overgrown in places...

Some places just should not be vandalised...
hopefully the kid who did it will realise their
mistake as they get older.

There can't be many graveyards with a stream
flowing through them.

A few old Orange graves...

2006-02-27T23:58:00.000Z

Maybe I wasn't searching too much in the drizzle,
but I thought I'd spot a lot more. The 'Republican'
Milltown Cemetery was far more overtly political.

A selection of plots...

2006-02-27T23:57:00.000Z

This modern one caught my eye
only because that's the surname
of my landlord!

Here is a close up of the inscription on the grand
plot from above:

Such an old fashioned name for an institution!

Showing their age...

Note the death in America: one of the many
forced in find a new life across the Atlantic.

Sadly this vandalism looks very recent.

No point reading this one out loud ;-) Sorry!

Oh dear...the tacky Thompson family...

Note that bust in the bottom right of the grave.

Surprisingly there were very few
designed like harps, which is why
I noticed it.

War graves

2006-02-27T23:56:00.000Z

As a city with such a strategic & huge
dockyard it comes as no surprise to
see so many War Graves, from those
who made the ultimate sacrifice in
the Merchant Navy. Not ones you
usually see.

These grey ones are all Merchant Navy, as
opposed to the traditional Commonwealth War
Grave white ones.

This was very sad. I've NEVER
seen one vandalised before.

Here they are mixed with the more common ones.

From the other side of the world, this caught my
eye because, give or take a year or two, I know an
old boy of the same age today, called Bill Kirby!
(The one I know if from South London mind!)

Even though a grave is a grave...

2006-02-27T23:55:00.000Z

and we are all equal in death, you are never
allowed to forget that this is a place divided.
These murals were all snapped from within
the grounds of the City Cemetery, on the road
that runs down the side of it.

St. John the Evangelist Churchyard, Burgess Hill, West Sussex.

2006-02-23T23:59:00.000Z

A few individual graves

2006-02-23T23:58:00.001Z

I just liked the odd surname on
this one

It looked beautiful the way the moss
had grown into the lettering

If only this one could talk I think there'd be
some tales to tell...

Some panoramic snaps

2006-02-23T23:58:00.000Z

Military plots

2006-02-23T23:51:00.000Z

From the traditional modern
Commonwealth War Grave type..

...to this unusual individual one.

To the War Memorial across the road

2006-02-23T23:47:00.000Z

Milltown Cemetery, Belfast, Northern Ireland

2006-02-10T23:59:00.000Z

Milltown: famous all over the world for being the
final resting place of the Hunger Strikers, but still
very much a 'normal' working cemetery. Also
'infamous' for the Loyalist terrorist attack on an
Irish Republican funeral for the three dead volunteers
killed in Gibraltar in 1988, when three mourners
were shot dead in the 10,000 crowd.

It was a drizzly overcast day when I visited, so
the sloping hillside setting didn't look as
beautiful as I'm sure it could be.

This is a mass grave for victims of a flu epidemic.

I loved this carefully crafted grave.

A bin set on fire, still vandalism here, despite the
possibility of being kneecapped if you're anti-social
in the wrong place...(I think that all still goes on
anyway).

A few individual graves that caught my eye

2006-02-10T20:26:00.000Z

This one simply because one of the girls behind the
bar at my football club is called Sally.

Ditto: one of my mates from football is a Hickey.

And a fellow fan is a Griffin as well!

The famous Irish sense of humour!

A nickname, or how he died?

Shame they never achieved their dream...

I must say I thought this one looked bloody
awful!

Traditional, and home made.

It may officially be part of the United Kingdom,
but it will ALWAYS be Ireland to many.

Where the Hunger Strikers lie

2006-02-10T20:18:00.000Z

This is a National Moument, and as someone
who has always been a supporter of the Republican
cause, it is somewhere I have always wanted to
visit and pay my respects.

Irish Republican memorials

2006-02-10T20:15:00.000Z

This is another Irish Republican memorial, and
shows the Troubles go back a lot further than
the most recent war than flared up in the late
sixties.

One of the splinter groups

2006-02-10T20:14:00.000Z

This is the Irish National Liberation Army
memorial. It doesn't quite seem right that it's
tucked away, with that ugly corrugated iron
fence behind it.

Proud to be Irish...

2006-02-10T20:11:00.000Z

Burial Grounds, Terezin, Czech Republic.

2006-02-02T23:59:00.000Z

Terezin is a small town about an hour from Prague
by bus.

This is the National Cemetery is situated outside the Small Fortress,
and is the National Memorial to Jews exterminated by the
Nazis in the Second World War. The Jewish Cemetery is about
a mile from this spot.

Icredibly moving, with no name.

Inside the crematorium museum area

2006-02-02T23:58:00.000Z

This is the old crematorium at the Jewish Cemetery,
and there is a small permanent exhibition on mortality
and burials in the Terezin Ghetto inside.
(There was a sign saying no photos, but I managed to
sneak these).

Some funerary items on display near the Jewish Cemetery.

2006-02-02T23:57:00.000Z

The Jewish Cemetery

2006-02-02T23:56:00.000Z

Terezin- Soviet Soldier's Cemetery

2006-02-02T23:55:00.000Z

This is part of/adjacent to the Jewish Cemetery.

Falls Road Garden of Remembrance, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

2006-01-29T19:54:00.000Z

Now technically this is not a burial ground, but I
feel it IS closely enough linked to be included here.
It is a Republican memorial on the Falls Road.
I saw a similar memorial further up, and off of,
the Falls Road, which I took a few snaps of. I have
included them on my general photoblog, and you
can look at them here.
(Though my politics unashamedly lean with the Irish
Republican cause, the only reason I do not include a
Unionist/Protestant memorial is for the simple reason
I was only in Belfast for a weekend, and did not have
enough time to venture into the Protestant Shankhill
Road area).

Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, London, EC1

2006-01-27T19:59:00.000Z

I came across this place through taking snaps for
"The Way We See It", which was a right bonus, as
I was not even aware that this burial spot existed!

This is the entrance on City Road.

The bottom left of this board tells you there is
a booklet available on site (closed) and from the
City Information Centre, by St. Pauls Catherdral.
Next time I'm over that way I'll purchase one.

Some individual plots

2006-01-27T19:18:00.000Z

This is a detail from the resting place,
in the next two snaps as well, of
John Bunyan, and has a museum dedicated
to him in Bedford.

The resting place of William Blake.

And Daniel Defoe, most famous for
writing 'Robinson Crusoe'.

And general panoramas

2006-01-27T19:16:00.000Z

This is from outside, the Bunhill Row end of the
grounds.

This is the landscaped park area, with headstones
around the edge. A lovely place to sit and enjoy your
sandwich for lunch in the summer for lots of
local office workers.

St. Paul's Church & Burial Ground, London, WC2

2006-01-11T00:14:00.000Z

Although a burial ground, there is actually very
little to see here.
Of interest to most are the memorial plaques to
a host of thespians inside what is known as the
'Actors Church'.

The gardens here are the burial grounds. There
are many plaques to those departed from the acting
fraternity, many of whom have had their ashes
scattered here over the years.

Another view of the gardens

The headstones in these pictures are the ONLY
ones left in the entire churchyard.

Camberwell New Cemetery, London, SE23

2006-01-06T23:59:00.000Z

This is where my mum & dad are buried, their grave
is in the most recent part, reclaimed land from the
Honor Oak Sportsground, and next to the
crematorium I featured a few days ago.

Some general panoramic views

2006-01-06T23:58:00.000Z

This one actually from outside on the road Brenchley
Gardens It is 'Brenchley Gardens' that most local people
refer to the cemetery as.

Surprisngly I'd never been up to this old part,
on top of the hill, with the views towards central
London.

This small ones from the early fifties were all
grouped together. I wonder if they were some sort
of 'paupers grave' area?

Still room, among the old, for some recent burials.

Commonwealth War Graves

2006-01-06T23:57:00.000Z

With the usual 'wall', but no actual group burial
area, though I spotted a few individual headstones
dotted about.

Here is one on its own.

"Called to higher service"

2006-01-06T23:56:00.000Z

The catchphrase for dying used by the
Salvation Army, who have their own plot here.

Second World War Civilians Memorial

2006-01-06T23:55:00.000Z

The three old Boroughs that now comprise the
Lonodn Borough of Southwark (Southwark,
Bermondsey, and Camberwell) were heavily bombed
during the Second World War.

A selection of graves...

2006-01-06T23:51:00.000Z

Was he a boxer himself, who maybe lost more than
just a fight, but his life for the noble art, or just a loyal
fan?

Lots of religious icons on graves

A small grave, with a lovely personal touch.

I just fancied this with the chapel behind...

A young mans death...probably a half
decent sunday morning footballer, if you
could hazard a guess from this.

The flowers, as well as the informal message,
caught my eye here.

Nice horse & cart on the stone.

Infant death...

No one cares, or no-one left to care?

Always seems more of a loss than a 'natural' death.

I have no idea what this one is about.

Slightly more unusual than the ones
around it.

Another of the war ones.

Long lives indeed!

A famous sportswoman, though I couldn't
recall her name.

The metal cross looked so unusal, homemade I
presume.

Some personal ones to finish...

2006-01-06T23:35:00.000Z

This is my mum & dad. Personally I
don't like the colour, the style of lettering,
or the actual wording...but I didn't have much
say in it. I am the youngest of four, who
listens to me eh?

Pete Shaughnessy, an old school
friend, a few years older. Sadly took
his own life by throwing himself in
front of a train.

A can of Guinness by his headstone. Many years
before, when we were both drinking, I was a bit
depressed, and he picked me up. We 'agreed' that if I
died before him he'd pour a can of lager over my grave,
& I said I'd do the same with him with the black stuff.
At his funeral, on Christmas Eve 2002, out of sight of
his father & sisters I did just that. Other friends have
carried on that 'tradition'.

This is the stone for Anton Formosa. He was a
year older than me, and died after being hit by
a car at the top of Court Lane, Dulwich in 1976.
He was in my sisters class.
It was the first funeral I ever went to.

This is the full view of his family grave.

I always make a point of visiting these two graves
whenever I pop up there to 'see my mum'.

Honor Oak Crematorium: my local!

2006-01-03T16:48:00.000Z

Part of the Camberwell New Cemetery, known to
all locals as Brenchley Gardens, where it is located
in SE23, though the Crem entrance is in Brockley
Way,SE23.

This is the Brockley Way gates.

Part of the gardens of remembrance, from behind
the chapel.

Around the gardens...

The old Camberwell Borough Council crest, over the
windows of the chapel, became part of the London
Borough of Southwark in 1965.

By the entrance to the chapel.

Around the memorial gardens

2006-01-03T16:44:00.000Z

To the right, through the railings you catch a glimpse of
the newest part of the adjacent cemetery. Land claimed
from the Council sportsground, on the left. It won't
be too many years before there's a local fight:
football pitches v. graves.

Flowers left from recent cremations...

And inside the chapel:

2006-01-03T16:42:00.000Z

This is where I hope to be cremated,
my ashes then partially laid to rest on the
pitch at Dulwich Hamlet Football Club, & sent into
orbit in a firework display from the terraces!
I've lost count of the amount of services I've been
to here over the years.Well into double figures.
Hopefully my own won't be for a long time yet...

St. Marys Churchyard, Rotherhithe, SE16

2006-01-01T00:20:00.000Z

This church has historic connection with America,
for it is from near here that The Mayflower set
sail, with a cracking riverside pub, of the same
name, right outside. Buried in the churchyard in
a box tomb, is Prince Lee Boo.

This Gothic-style memorial is dedicated
to Edward Blick, the rector from
1835 to 1867.

This modern sculpture of St. Christopher,
erected 1995, in memory of Christopher
Jones, who was the Captain of the Mayflower.

The war memorial

I'ts a very small churchyard, & the gates were
locked, so I couldn't actually walk round the church.

I would guess the ground is still used to scatter
loved ones ashes...

Across the road...

2006-01-01T00:17:00.000Z

There's a small park, maintained by the
local council.

I would guess in the old days there was a proper
little burial ground stretching this far...

You can see the actual church across the road,
on the right.

Sprava Olsany Cemetery, Prague, Czech Republic

2005-12-23T23:59:00.000Z

I think I've got the name right from
this sign at one of the entrances.
I first visited here in October 2004,
and returned with my digital camera,
for this set of snaps, in October 2005.

These are in no particular order...

2005-12-23T23:41:00.000Z

other than I am putting the general plots
before the military ones towards the end.
I took a lot as the styles of headstones, and
some of the forms of burial are different to our
British cemeteries.
I'm not an expert-to say the least!- and
I've, as per usual, just snapped what caught
my eye. I

If anyone ever looks in who can speak Czech
I'd love some translations!

This caught my eye. Was the deceased just
someone who liked motorbikes? Or a sport star?
Or a keen sportsfan of motor biking?

Memorials such as these were
sprinkled about. This place would be
our 'pride and joy' back home, I think.
Not quite a Highgate or Nunhead, but
certainly something to be very proud of.

I assume this is the main chapel.

Very modern...with the almost 'model village'
style memorial in front of it.

I would guess this chap worked in a circus.

Grander floral tributes than what we're used to
in England.

I like this modern style of a picture etched on,
rather than an actual photo itself.

This chap was a writer of some sort...

Another example of a modern etching.

I haven't a clue who Mr. Batek was, but nice
monument.

Recentyl used? About to be used? Monument nicked?
Or just taken down because it was unsafe?

Or they ran out of money...Who knows?

Mausoleums and the like...

2005-12-23T23:36:00.000Z

I'm not an expert on necro-terminology, so I'll
assume these are classed as mausoleums anyway.
On my previous visit many of these had scaffolding on
them, and were being restored. More work to
do, but on some it's a job well done.

Note the brand new roof.

This was a bit different, I'll bet there's
a local tale behind it.

This ruin is open to the elements...

This is the other side of it.

You could almost re-inter the bodies, and convert
some of these into flats!

Jan Palach

2005-12-23T23:34:00.000Z

The Czech student turned himself into
a human torch in a protest against at
the invasion of his country by the tanks of
the Warsw Pact.

Vending Machine

2005-12-23T23:32:00.000Z

for memorial candles. I was surprised
to see they weren't vandalised. Such a
simple idea.

Various snapshots...

2005-12-23T23:11:00.000Z

This appears to be some sort of Russian
chapel. Perhaps from their Orthodox religion?

I would guess these are for cremations.

A couple of modern style graves

There were a few of this type dotted around, with
just the signature of the dead person on the stone.

Some sort of military memorial...

These were the style of street signs throughout
the cemetery.

"Microwave ovens"

2005-12-23T23:07:00.000Z

as I nicknamed them. Or "wall to wall television".
Once you get used to them I quite liked these,
for you to keen urns of ashes in. Many had photos,
flowers, and keepsakes inside them.

The Commonwealth War Graves plot

2005-12-23T22:45:00.000Z

I wondered about this one when I first came here.
This being the only First World War headstone.
I couldn't understand why it was here. By clearing away
the plant growth in front I partially got my answer.

A lont time ago, far from home,
but never forgotten.

Soviet military memorials

2005-12-23T22:38:00.000Z

Again any translations would be welcomed.

This soldier died on 24th October....exactly
21 years before I was born.

A Czech feminist icon

2005-12-23T22:34:00.000Z

Jozka Jaburkova, a communist journalist, and
Prague City Councillor, commemorated by
the military plots.
Died at Ravensbruck concentration camp in 1942.
A Czech film called "Zastihla Me Noc", translated as
'I was caught in the night', was made about her
in 1985.

The Czechoslovakian Army:

2005-12-23T11:07:00.000Z

This is a communal burial plot.

These are actual graves,

But these white crosses merely for appearance.

Walthamstow Cemetery, Queens Road, E17

2005-12-16T00:25:00.000Z

Back in London, I was in this area to watch football,
so just picked this from the old A to Z, as it was quite
near to the tube station. It's run by the London Borough
of Waltham Forest. Hemmed in on three sides by housing,
sods law, I walked the 'wrong way' round from my
approach, going almost full circle before going through
these gates.

The chapel was in the middle of the cemetery,
it was closed, as they always are nowadays, unless
there's an actual burial taking place. I wonder if they
were ever kept open in the 'old days'?

There was no real military plot here, this was
the nearest to it.

No reason to snap this one, I just fancied a close up
of an old Victorian headstone.

It's a rather dangerous place to walk across, clearly
suffering from major subsidence.

There must be a great local story behind this
headstone.

An old water pump.

A 'd0-it-yourself' plot by the look of it.

I wonder how tiny this 'little bush' was
when first planted by the graveside?

I'm not sure what this memorial was about, dating
from the Winter of 1946/47. I must try and find
out one day...

This was the only mausoleum type erection in the
entire cemetery, the writing on the side reads:
In memory of Harriet Hooke, who died on the
28th June 1913, aged 74 years.
She must have come from a very grand family for
a memorial like this.

Just over the tops of the houses you can see how the
area has changed over the generations, with the
minaret from the local mosque in view.

And finally this was one of the few that was a bit
different

The War Memorial:

2005-12-16T00:22:00.000Z

There wasn't an actual Commonweath
War Graves plot here in Walthamstow, though
there was this memorial, and some
individual headstones, if you managed to
spot them.

A peacetime death here. Again you wonder about
what exactly lies behind the inscription.

St. Mary's Churchyard, Battle, East Sussex.

2005-12-15T00:04:00.000Z

Snapped this church, just across the road from the
site of Battle Abbey, though it's not quite
as old as that! Just a very nice, average, English
churchyard.

This is strange...too much like slapping on the
polyfilla for my liking.

'gentleman': what a quaint description. I wonder
what he really did for a livng?

What would this chap made of being on a ph0toblog
almost two hundred and fifty years later?

Infant mortality....

Good natural usage for a bench.

Couldn't quite make this out...but does it really
say 120 years old?

Remembering Battle's Battles:

2005-12-15T00:01:00.000Z

Here is the War Memorial.

The Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague, Czech Republic

2005-12-14T00:15:00.000Z

This really is one of the most amazing burial grounds I
have ever seen. In the Josefov quarter of Prague, it
dates back to the fifteenth century! 1478 in fact. People had
to be buried on top of each other due to lack of space.
It really is in a small area. There are about 12 layers,
and over 12,000 gravestones. 100,000 people are thought
to have been buried here, the last one being Moses Beck in
1787. The most prominent graves for Jewish people are
those of Mordechai Maisel and Rabi Low (sorry I missed out on
snapping this one myself!)
You can only visit it as part of the whole Jewish Tour,
which costs around a tenner, if my memory serve me right.
I make no apologies for including so many snaps that look
so similar. Just look at them in awe.
(There are two other Jewish burial grounds in Prague.
The remains of the Zizkov Jewish Cemetery stands at
the foot of the Telvision tower there. I've seen it in the
past from up above, but never set foot in it. The other, a
bit further out of town, in the Jewish New Cemetery, in
the Praha 3 district, this is much larger, and much less
visited. I never had time to fit this in on my trip, but
have been there before. I will snap it for you when I
return to Prague next year.

Thes bit of rock are rather old...

This plaque explains.

I was lucky I was 'out of season' in late October, and
there weren't too many tourists to crush the experience.

In the Jewish burial tradition, stones and paper, are
left on top of the headstones. I don't actually know
what this signifies and would be interested to find out.

And here are few snaps from the past...

2005-12-14T00:08:00.000Z

taken in the Ceremonial Hall adjacent to the burial
grounds. It includes a small history of Jewish burial traditions in
Prague.There were more pictures on display,
but I only took a few as you weren't supposed to take any.
Traditionally Jewish tradition froms Burial Societies, or
Heurah Kaddishah. I don't know much about them, and could
find little on the Prague one, but here is an American society,
where you can read a little about a modern day one, & more
info on Jwish burials from Israel.

And this is an old uniform from the old burials...

Greenwich Cemetery, Well Hall Road, SE9

2005-11-09T12:06:00.000Z

As it says on the board below, this was opened in May 1876. I'd never been here before, and there are some magnificent views of across London from the top of it. There are two Gothic chapels, and a 1930's lodge here. There is a Great War Heroes corner, and a Commonwealth War Graves section, as well as many individual military graves, with the close proximity of the barracks at nearby Woolwich. I've read there is also a Norwegian section, for refugees of World War Two, but I didn't notice it on my visit.

This was just inside the main gates.

One of the chapels

And here is the other one

Now some general snaps of the place...

Very recent, obviously an Arsenal fan

I love these headstones that tease you,
without telling you the story...

Part of the large immigrant Vietnamese
community of south-east London.

I don't know the 'architectural' description
of this, but I like it.

Those great views...

And back to one of the chapels

I liked the 'old beauty' of this one

I wondered over the symbolism
of this one.

First and Second World War memorials at Greenwich:

2005-11-09T09:59:00.000Z

Ditchling village, East Sussex

2005-11-02T21:29:00.000Z

These are taken in the parish
graveyard.

This was rather unusual in that
it was carved from wood.

A soldiers resting place, but he
was not listed on the village
memorial.

Signs of decay, but I think that adds
to their beauty.

Ditchling War Memorial

2005-11-02T21:01:00.000Z

Keymer, West Sussex

2005-11-02T20:35:00.000Z

A neighbouring parish of Ditchling.

The war memorial, by the main road.