I discovered a fault on my Great War website the other day. I needed to look up a name, and he was not found. This surprised me somewhat. On investigation into these Google free sites I found the problem, the Google site. Once, when I began this, it was easy to scribble words and insert pictures. Google, to save a few quid, while making billions listening in to all our chats, changed it to a new system, this does not work easily.
Everything depends on little boxes, but adding a picture to the box, while sounding simple, just does not work! The picture may insert, but it is ten times too big, cutting it down makes the words shrink also!
Therefore, it causes red mist while attempting to fill the page.
On inspection, I discovered the missing man had escaped with several others. This meant digging out the information and reinserting it, and it comes out somewhat differently to what was there before. I will not tell you about inserting that picture! Grrrrrrrrrrr!
However, after perusing the site, making amends elsewhere also, I was glad to have put it all back together for the interest of friends and family who may find it useful.
Doing this, reminded me of the time spent wandering about the two town graveyards, seeking out the men, and one woman, who died during the conflict. The idea of enjoying a cemetery is not one we usually consider, however, it can be interesting to wander round on a good, and quiet day.
Most graveyards can go back to the 1700s, some even further. This often means names are worn away, depending on the material, and occasionally someone has made the effort to clean these up. Most have the famous, the great and the good together whether they like it or not. Many richer folks could wangle a spot nearer the church, sometimes inside it, and the paupers, well into the present day are buried respectfully 'over there.'
Most large tombstones appear to me to be 19th century, when class distinction was important. Having worked your way up to be someone of importance in town you expect a stone to remark on your position. Sometimes looking at such memorials I wonder if these people are still trying to be alive, even when dead.
The other thing that comes to mind in a graveyard is how easily these people have been forgotten. It is rare to see a recent posy left at a grave from over a hundred years past. Many remember the war victims however, but great granny is often forgotten, and a distant relative in a tomb with faded words is not remembered. Sometimes when inspired by Ancestry or the like, we tour the tombs looking for an uncle. My niece did this in Newington in Edinburgh but could not find a mention, even the council did not have a record of the name. I know he is there, I watched as he was buried, and the slow steam train, somewhat apologetically drifting clankingly by as the minister spoke, but no stone have been left there it seems.
Sometimes care is required as on occasion a funeral may be taking place, and it is best to be at the other end of the ground. Some people come and stand at a graveside, a husband, a father, a wife, it is not possible to know, nor is it possible to understand why they are there, but there they are. They may stand silent, some talk to the grave, one man parked his disability scooter at his wife's grave and sat there reading the paper early in the morning. After 50 years of ignoring her at breakfast he did not wish to give up the habit.
Wildlife can be abundant in such places. Birds flit through the trees, squirrels, voles or are they rats? Bats in some at night, the local fox of course, often with cubs, or maybe a roebuck running away from you. Pleasant for us and the wildlife. I did see a small deer give birth in the graveyard closer to home about a year ago, it was not possible to get closer obviously, but the quiet nature of the place allowed mum to have her child.
I do see some problems mind. Recently dead children can have an abundance of toys and gifts left on their grave. Sometimes to the annoyance of neighbours. Some mothers give too much when alive, and even more if the child dies. We can all appreciate the emotions, however, sometimes less is more. A more dangerous concern is stones, frequently very large, falling over while people pass by. Some councils have taken to knocking them all over to prevent insurance claims. This is quite sad, especially when the name might be famous in the area.
I just remembered, Fun posted about Highgate Cemetery the other day, now that is a post on cemeteries worth looking at.
If you can stomach it, I recommend a sunny day wander around a graveyard, especially in a large town. Who knows who you will uncover, that is, don't uncover anyone, just look at the names I mean.
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