Julia's Lamb

Julia's Lamb
Originally uploaded by Mr. Ducke

A beautiful photo by Matt aka Mr Ducke. If you like cats, visit his photostream on flickr.

Mary's Pain

Mary's Pain
Originally uploaded by jagr1957

I was browsing on flickr this evening and saw this sorrowful image by Julie Rentsch. It was taken in Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio.

Poignant Grave 1

Last weekend, I visited a churchyard in Kirkham, Lancashire. Here I noticed a gravestone which contained a beautiful representation of a lamb. Around this were the words: Follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. An inscription records: Here rests the body of Mary Butterworth who departed this life October 12 1856 aged 6 years.

There were inscriptions on both edge stones. On the left is recorded the details of a family member - a soldier who died in 1941. On the right is the sad statement: Also those children who died in infancy.

Football Fatality

I saw this grave with a stone football at the foot of it in my local churchyard in Radstock. It marks the grave of Ernest Joseph Hyman who died on 7 January 1927 from injuries received in a football match between the Somerset towns of Taunton and Yeovil on Boxing Day 1926. His headstone records that: "He always played the Game".

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Book of Commemoration

In Lansdown Cemetery, a giant book made from black granite provides an impressive and unusual memorial for Henry Adkins (1853-1930) and his wife Marie Louise (Poulin). She was born in Bordeaux and he in Birmingham.

Another Shattered Dream

A cracked grave vase at Lansdown Cemetery bearing the inscription 'In Loving Memory'. I find myself moved by its damaged condition.

One Man's Dream

Today, I visited an extraordinary cemetery on the north side of Bath. I passed it dozens of times in the past without realising it was there. A chance search on Bing [the newest search engine] for Somerset Victorian Cemeteries provided details of the Lansdown Cemetery.

According to the Beckford Tower Trust who have published a handy illustrated TombTrail, the wealthy collector, author and builder of Towers, William Beckford (1760-1844) created a picturesque landscape garden behind his house that climbed Lansdown, culminating at Beckford's Tower. After his death, his daughter gave the tower and gardens to the parish of Walcot for use as a cemetery. Since 1848, more than 8,000 burials took place. In 1992, it was closed and only burials in existing family plots are allowed today.

The entrance gateway (pictured below) has two doors either side of the main gateway. One has the powerful inscription 'The Gateway of Death' above it. The other carries the word 'Resurgent'.