Graves – I Walk Alone

Highgate Cemetery – so much to see so little time

When I planned my Highgate Cemetery visit, I’d imagined a quiet, contemplative stroll, stopping now and then to read an inscription on a grave. At the gate of the East Cemetery, it was clear this would be an unfulfilled dream. Thanks to the train delays, I had too much ground to cover and no time. Despite the information sheet and a map of the famous graves, the chance of finding more than one or two seemed slim. All I could do was wander in the general direction of the most famous grave, that of Karl Marx, and enjoy whatever I stumbled upon along the way.

May in the old cemetery

As it’s Halloween, I thought I’d share some more tales from the Old Cemetery, although the walk in question was on 21 May, so it was more sunshine and flowers than dark spookiness. Bright pink rhododendrons were bursting out everywhere I looked, and the cemetery was resplendent. It would have been easy to be lulled into a false sense of security, but the shady corners still had a slightly sinister aura. These and the graves in them were what interested me, along with the secrets they keep.

The last Elizabethan Sunday – Overton

I spent the last Sunday of the second Elizabethan era in Overton, a chocolate box worthy Hampshire village between Andover and Basingstoke. Obviously, I didn’t know it was the last Sunday in Elizabeth II’s reign. Truth to tell, I didn’t know much about Overton, either. My knowledge extended only as far as the Overton Five Mile race I’d come to photograph, and the Bombay Sapphire distillery we’d passed on the edge of the village. Actually, I only knew about the gin factory because I’d noticed the polished metal cylinders as we passed. A little Googling told me the distillery had moved from Cheshire to this disused paper mill, Laverstoke Mill, in 2014. The visitor centre looks well worth checking out, if you’re a gin fan.

More tales from the Old Cemetery

August had become September, and there was a hint of melancholy in the air. The flowers brightening the Old Cemetery had turned to fluffy seed heads, and the green leaves would soon turn brown. The first grave to catch my eye emphasised my sombre mood. It belonged to two little sisters, Alice Maude and Violet Foote. Alice taken at three years and four months and little Violet at seven days. Their deaths were more than a century old, but I couldn’t help thinking of the grief that must have weighed down their parents.

Bluebells, witches and a family grave

The Common looked glorious as we walked towards the last parkrun of April. Everything was fresh, green and bursting with life. The air was crisp and rich with the smell of spring, freshly cut grass and damp earth. It was one of those mornings that make you glad to be alive. Of course, my main aim for the morning was visiting the dead, like I do most Saturday mornings. I was especially interested in the bluebells I’d heard were bursting out everywhere in the Old Cemetery.

Birthdays, bees and blossoms (plus a few graves)

Saturday 2 July 2022 was Southampton parkrun’s 10th birthday. Sadly, event number 448 did not have the brightest, sunniest weather. The wind was whistling across the flats so much the balloons wouldn’t stay still for my photographs, and looking at the clouds, I couldn’t help wondering if we would all stay dry. The possibility of getting wet didn’t appear to have deterred the runners. As the magic hour of nine o’clock approached, more and more people arrived, and the Common began to fill with lots of smiling faces. Soon the crowds began to gather at the start line.

Harbingers of spring

When I was a child, we had a forsythia bush at the side of the house. Each year, the first sight of those bright yellow flowers on the bare stems brought joy to my heart. It told me winter had been defeated by spring once again and the warm days were coming. These days, the magnolia is my harbinger of spring. There are several on my walk to the shops, and seeing the furry buds burst to reveal delicate pink or white petals brings the same joy, for the same reason. Now, in mid March, as I plodded up the hill, there were two magnolias bursting with blooms under a deep blue sky. It may have still be cold enough for hats and scarves, but it felt like a sign of new beginnings all the same.

Its all in the name, Hailey

Time was always going to be against us on our whistle stop tour of Witney but we packed a lot into our one afternoon. The one thing we hadn’t managed to do was visit Hailey, the place where my great great grandmother, Mary Ann Beechey, My great grandfather Elijah Haley and my grandfather’s brother Harold were born. It is also the place that gave us our family name, Haley. The spelling may have changed over the years, although many of the old records are spelt Hailey, like the place, but this really was where my family story began. Commando had a trick up his sleeve though. As Hailey was less than four miles from our hotel, he decided to make a little detour on our homeward journey. I was unreasonably excited when I saw the sign saying we were entering Hailey but traffic meant we couldn’t stop for a photo. Undaunted, I whipped out my phone and took a rather blurred and wobbly picture through the windscreen. It would serve as proof that we had actually been there.

A hint of normality

On 14 March 2020 when we all said goodbye at the end of the four hundred and first Southampton parkrun none of us could have guessed that it would be more than sixteen months before we’d see parkrun number 402. In those sixteen months, the world had changed. We had all become conditioned to wearing masks, keeping our distance, touching nothing and disinfecting everything. The logistics of organising an event with hundreds of people running in close proximity, queueing for tokens and handing over barcodes was a nightmare.

Boundary stones and a visionary man

Southampton is a city of green spaces. Right in its heart there are areas of greenery galore, including the Common, the big central parks, the parks around the docks and all the tiny green squares hidden away in odd corners. One of the largest green spaces is Southampton Sports Centre, nestled between Lordswood and Bassett. The Sports Centre is right on the edge of the city so it’s not somewhere I often walk but, in May 2020, Commando was finally put on furlough and had an early morning run planned with his friend Rob, who lives close to it. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to go along and have a wander on my own.

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