The Funeral Party

Posted on 28th January 2011

There is something fascinating about graveyards. Rather than being creepy or eerie, I find them quite peaceful. It can be interesting reading the headstones to see how long ago people were buried and some of the dedications.

Recently Dan and I visited the Warstone Lane Cemetery in the Jewellery Quarter, and previously we've visited John Bonham's grave near Droitwich and Ian Curtis' remembrance stone in Macclesfield Cemetery. I've always wanted to visit Highgate Cemetery in London and Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris too. I'll confess that its partly to see where famous names are buried, but I'm also intrigued to see some of the not so famous gravestones, tombs and memorials too.

While attending a funeral several years ago in Cheltenham, I happened to be looking at the headstones as we walked along the path to the crematorium. One stopped me in my tracks as I wasn't quite sure whether I was seeing the resting place of the person I thought it was. The headstone was for Brian Jones and the dates on the headstone did seem to match.

For those who are music fans of the 60s, you will probably remember that Brian Jones was once the guitarist in The Rolling Stones, who died in 1969. My later investigations revealed that the grave was indeed the final resting place for the Stones guitarist.

It's surprising what little parts of history you can discover wandering through a graveyard.

Comments

Funeral for a friend

I love nothing better than a good rummage around graveyards. I think it's knowing that I will be spending a long time in one one day that sparks the fascination. Highgate is on the 'things to do' list too. I discovered Pat Roach's gravestone at Bromsgrove Cemetery. This was of particular interest to me as I stole a Million pounds from Pat when I was young ne'er-do-well... but that's a story for another day. This site is most helpful:

Posted by Dave Le Marchand on Monday, 14th March 2011


Funeral for a friend - the missing link

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9116120

Posted by Dave Le Marchand on Monday, 14th March 2011


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