A Bouquet of Flowers survives the Whirlwind

Today, I visited Blackburn Cemetery in Lancashire to look for the grave of a British Giant. I did not find it, but I did find areas of desolation where overzealous adherance to Health and Safety has resulted in the flattening of gravestones to prevent them toppling onto unwary visitors. All over Britain, the same has happened - it makes me think a whirlwind is 'unnecessarily' tearing great swathes of destruction across our Victorian hertitage. Most disheartening! That said, I did notice one beautiful work of rememberance lying on the grass. This hand clutching a beautiful bouqet of flowers is the first of this type I have ever seen. Exquisite!

Only a Postcard

It is just a postcard of a Victorian cemetery in London which was posted in 1904. It depicts the marvellous Kensal Green Cemetery. What makes it interesting is the message on the reverse.

"Knowing you are of a morbid turn of mind, I send you this. Whenever you have a fit of the blues, just gaze on it. It is like balm to the troubles which are soon gone."

Phoenix Rising!

I was revisiting a series of photographs that I took a few months ago in the spectacular Bath Abbey Cemetery.  I was intrigued by what I took to be a large bird atop a large column that marked a grave.

Closer scrutiny revealed it to be a representation of a Phoenix - the mythical, sacred firebird. The reason for its inclusion became clear when I looked at the inscription on the grave. It marked the grave of John Monk Lambe who died in 1865. The inscription noted that he was formerly a Paymaster in the Royal Navy who served on HMS Phoenix - a wooden paddle sloop launched in 1832, converted to screw propulsion in 1845, and sold in 1864. I wonder if his will included a request for a phoenix rising from the ashes be included on his memorial?

Proud of a Job well done!

Quite a rare photograph of grave diggers by a recently dug grave. Is the more smartly dressed figure on the right the foreman? It. is interesting to see their tools - the spades, a long-handled shovel and the besom brush that was used to brush the soil from the grass around the grave.

Is there a Murderer among the Mourners?

 At the graveside of the recently deceased, a group of mourners gather to pay their respects and admire the floral tributes laid on the ground. But, what's this? A policeman stands among them. Was the deceased a victim of some terrible crime? Is the poisoner within the throng? I don't know, but I wish someone had recorded what was depicted on the back of this card. If I knew which cemetery it was, that would help.

Double lifeboat disaster ends in the death of 27 crewmen

Coxswain William Johnson looks out to sea atop the memorial to the 1886 St Annes lifeboat disaster which stands on the seafront at St Annes in Lancashire.

When the Hamburg-registered barque, Mexico went aground in a gale near Southport in Lancashire on December 9, 1886, two lifeboats were lost while making rescue attempts. The Eliza Fernley from Southport capsized with the loss of 13 of her sixteen crew, while the St Annes lifeboat, Laura Janet was launched to assist. At some point, this craft was overturned by waves and all fourteen crew members drowned. It was the largest loss ever incurred by the Royal National Lifeboat Institute. All the crew of the Mexico were later saved by a third lifeboat.

Fingers pointing Upwards

In revisiting my folder of images taken in Fleetwood Cemetery earlier this year, I came across one of the most ornate representations of a finger pointing heavenwards I have seen. It is on the headstone that marks the grave of Richard Price who died in 1875.

I then came across another on the grave of Matthew Till who died in 1920. Here, the message clasped in the hand is pretty stark. It simply states: "We Shall Meet".