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.