Headstones and Worms...: March 2006

The Catacombs, Paris, France.

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

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

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

Headstones...

A mix of the old and the new...

Commonwealth War Graves

A small Muslim section

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

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...

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

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

Monuments from the old section

This one is the painter John Constable

The Harrison resting place

640

What is left of the Parish War Memorial:

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

A helpful plaque tp find 'celebrity graves'

Through the gates...

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'

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

A small corner to remember those cremated

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

St. Mary's Churchyard, Nantwich, Cheshire

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.