Category: opinion
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Master-fully Done, Part 1
The e-mail notification came through and I took a deep breath. My course mates and I had been badgering our lecturer for a week or so to get this information and finally, it had arrived. Navigating my way to the university’s submission portal; I clicked refresh and there it was. My first piece of submitted…
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The Closet & The Coffin
For LGBT History Month I’m inviting friends and fans alike to delve into our cemeteries and unearth some queer stories – there are loads, if you know where to look! Today I’m very pleased to post a blog by The Astroholic, himself, Dr Alfredo Carpineti! Alfredo is an astrophysicist and writer for IFLScience; here he investigates the true leanings…
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Gruesome – Or History Made Graphic?
Why go traipsing around a cemetery? Well, it’s no different from going to a museum or an art gallery. So when I come across historical accounts written by cemetery enthusiasts, I have to share their words as I would my own. The following article originally appeared in the Londonderry Sentinel on Saturday 1st December, 1956. Its author…
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From Shadow and Images Into Truth
As part of the celebration of LGBT history month, we’re using cemeteries as a starting point to talk about historical people who have links to being LGBT. Today we examine the question mark that lingers over Cardinal Henry Newman. In 2008 Newman was venerated under direct orders from the Congregation of Saints. For this, they…
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What Becomes of Us After Death?
…Hiram Maxim had an idea. Hiram Maxim is the dictionary definition of an eccentric. An American by birth, he was also an inventor – creating a type of inhaler and a machine gun. You could argue he’s responsible for filling up most of the world’s cemeteries with the latter device, although in his own lifetime when…
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Ain’t It Grand To Be Bloomin’ Well Dead
‘Some people there were praying for me soul I said, ‘It’s the first time I’ve been off the dole!’ Look at the mourners, bloomin’ well sozzled Ain’t it grand, to be bloomin’ well dead!’ One of the most striking things of ‘The London Nobody Knows’, one of the best films about London that has ever…
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Do Animals Mourn Us?
Right, dear reader, prepare yourself for a beast of a post (pun most certainly intended). For some people, losing a pet can be as devastating as losing a human member of the family. Londoners lacking gardens could lay their beloved animals to rest in Hyde Park’s pet cemetery or Ilford Animal Cemetery. In the gardens of Marlborough House…
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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Highgate?
Highgate Cemetery is asking for ideas on how to be a sustainable place of burial for years to come. This is important for many reasons. Firstly, it’s easily the best known Cemetery in the UK and the fact its publically seeking opinion on its future is big news. Secondly, because of its age, the board…
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Big Fat Goths Explore Arnos Vale
‘It seems that there is a rise in tombstone tourism’ started the article. Within the past month or so, awareness to cemeteries as places to visit in the capacity of a social/educational form rather than as a place of remembrance has hit the headlines and I (as well as others) have spoken to various news outlets…
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Your Digital Legacy
by Sheldon Although a third of British adults (32%) think about dying and death at least once a week, 72% of the public believe that people in Britain are uncomfortable discussing dying, death and bereavement. Hopefully, this statistic will be challenged with the exciting announcement that I will be speaking as part of the 1st…
Cemetery Club 