Munich Air Disaster Victim

Edward 'Eddie' Colman was one of eight Manchester United players killed in the Munich Air Disaster on February 8, 1958. At the time of his death, he had made 108 first team appearances. He was nicknamed 'Snakehips' for his trademark body swerve. A statue of Colman was erected at his graveside, in Weaste Cemetery, Salford, but it was damaged by vandals. After repairs, it was kept at the home of his father. Thousand of supporters lined the route to the cemetery where he was buried. Click HERE for a Blog post about the statue.

Little Pet Lamb

Hubert Rodney Johnson must have been the apple of his parents' eyes as they referred to him as  their 'Little Pet Lamb". The beloved son of Florence and George T. Johnson, Hubert died on 22 September 1936, aged four and a half years. The lamb statue that lies on top of his memorial is very well made. It can be found in Manchester's Southern Cemetery.

Multiple Heads

I saw this group of winged heads on a memorial in Manchester Southern Cemetery. I wondered if they were cherubs but I guess someone will know what term is used to describe them? Years ago, comments on a long lost post revealed that the number of heads varied considerably including one with eight! What is the most you have seen?

Flying Angels

From time to time, I come across this style of memorial. Aldershot in Hampshire, Gibraltar and the Liverpool Road (Birkdale) Cemetery in Southport, Lancashire - to name but three. I like it! These images show the memorial to Joan Mary Bailey in Southern Cemetery, Manchester:

Under Glass

I've been having a think about flowers under glass recently. This was because of looking at a pair of vintage postcards in my collection.

The first shows two examples of flowers under glass placed on graves in 1904. What particularly caught my eye was the base upon which the flower display rested which is inscribed 'In Memory of Fred'. I had seen a number of empty circular bases on graves in Lancashire cemeteries recently and hadn't realised their significance.

The second shows the shop window of T. Charlton Funeral Furnishers. In the window are examples of flowers under glass and, what I haven't seen before, representations of memorials. The first shows a distraught figure cling to a cross similar to the type of memorial often found in Victorian and Edwardian cemeteries. If anyone has seen similar items, I would be interested to know about it. Thank you.

Trumpets Shall Sound!

Poor Betty Heap died in 1888 aged 23 years. Her gravestone in Burnley Cemetery is a mass of inscriptions It gives me an excuse to go back and make careful note of what is recorded. I was also very impressed by this example of a stone mason's art. The wording on the banner that curls it way along under the floral tributes states:

'Trumpets Shall Sound And The Dead Shall Be Raised'

The Stone Infant

The Church of St Michael's and All Angels in the Bronte village of Haworth in Yorkshire has a graveyard that is visited by thousands of tourists every year. There are many poignant reminders of the high children's mortality rate of the time with 40% of children dying before the age of six.

The Haworth Church website records that there are estimated to be 42,000 burials in the graveyard and that many of the graves, from the time of the Bronte family, hold entire families including a number of infants. English Heritage, in its Haworth-Village of the Brontes leaflet, that one memorial records that Joseph Heaton buried seven infant children and that there are many similar gravestones in the village's burial grounds.

Joseph Heaton was a highly skilled stone mason and the memorial he carved for his family is the most visited grave in the graveyard. Locally, the grave is referred to as 'The Stone Infant' for it includes a representation of a child [said to be James Whitham Heaton] laid with its head resting on a pillow. A canopy above shelters the child.

The inscription reads;

SACRED

To

the memory of James William

Son of

Joseph & Elizabeth Heaton

of Haworth

who died

in the 1st year of his age

ALSO three infants of theirs

ALSO James Whitham

Their son died July 19th 1878

in the 2nd year of his age

ALSO Elizabeth their daughter

who died June 19th 1885

ALSO an infant son of theirs

ALSO of the above named

Joseph Heaton

who died March 18th 1914

in his 69th year

ALSO Elizabeth his wife

who died April 22nd 1917

in her 71st year

'Sweet Rest At Last'