Visit to Rock Cemetery, Nottingham

 It was a blisteringly hot day yesterday, when my friend and I visited Rock Cemetery in Nottingham.  It had long been on my mental 'to visit' list but when I saw my internet friend, Linda of Blue Eyed Girl fame's photos recently I knew I just had to go now.

 There were angels galore in this Victorian gothic cemetery, built in and around old sandpits and sandstone rocks.

 I thought I'd share a few of my favourites with you.  The graves were tightly packed together, no paths between them and such a mixture of statues and crosses.

 Whilst it was nice to wander about on a bright and sunny day, I couldn't help but wonder how the atmosphere would change on a say, misty or frosty day.  I feel another trip is needed later in the year.

 Some lovely iron work,

 beautiful carvings,

 and wild flower settings really give much to the overall atmosphere and ambience of the place.

 Unfortunately the couple stripped and sunbathing, together with the family having a barbeque in one of the shallow caves did not add to the experience.  Whilst I am all for the living appreciating the resting places of the dead, these behaviours just smacked of over familiarity and were inappropriate; especially when there was a park next door but I assume no park keepers in the cemetery.

But the cold of an autumnal morning or the damp of a winter's day should soon put paid to such interlopers and am looking forward to my next visit.

A little craftiness for Me

I decided to make something for me for a change, well okay, it was actually a bit of avoidance because otherwise I would have to tackle the task of setting up an online shop on Etsy and just don't feel like climbing that technological mountain today.

So a kilt pin brooch it was!  A friend gave me the guardian angel charm from Lourdes recently and I immediately thought it would look good on one of these brooches.  The other beads came from another friend a while back in the form of broken jewellery and a crystal necklace, left to me by my grandma.  I can't wait to wear it! 

Mountain climbing another day, promise :)

Pssst........ like a sneaky peek?

My other journal is really turning into a labour of love. It's getting even fatter but I don't think it's ready for binding just yet. I thought I'd share just a few pages with you.


I want to use this journal to house some of the many photographs I've taken of cemetery angels and gravestones. Another trip planned soon to Nunhead, one of the big seven Victorian gothic cemeteries that ring London! Can't wait, hope it's a bright sunny day :)

Trip to London Cemeteries Part Two - Brompton Road

After Kensal Green cemetery it was just a short tube journey to alight at West Brompton to go to Brompton Road cemetery. The atmosphere was just so different. Still an overcast, dull, damp day but the cemetery was still a peaceful, inviting space.

I have never seen so many squirrels, racing about, playing and coming up to us, looking for food. Next time I'll take some peanuts although they already looked well fed.

Loved these lions heads on the memorial to the Chelsea pensioners.

This sweet little angel is suffering a bit of subsidence, leaning over.

This tomb for Frederick Leyland, was designed by Edward Burne-Jones, one of my favourite pre-raphelite artists.

If any gardeners out there can shed light on what sort of tree this is I would be grateful as it is just magnificent with it's fruit, a natural christmas decoration. I'd love one in my garden.

I just love this door, with it's scroll work and the patina of time.



Have a peaceful Sunday and don't forget, if you'd like to enter my giveaway there is still time, just go to this link.

Trip to London Cemeteries Part One - Kensal Green

I had a really interesting day visiting a couple of London cemeteries yesterday, the first one being Kensal Green Cemetery.

This was my first visit and I wasn't disappointed by the wealth of angel statues and ornate gothic mausalea, which I just adore,

but the amount of neglect, vandalism and litter really saddened me. The above must once have been a fabulous angel in a very unusual pose but she was such a sorry sight.

This cemetery is hailed as one of the big seven around London and whilst I can see that efforts are being made to perserve and maintain this large site it looks like a lot more work is to be done.

This horse statue must once have been a very impressive sight and indeed still had the power to move me.

This is the grave of Emile Blondin, the man who walked over the Niagara Falls on a tightrope.




The overall atmosphere, with it's litter, lack of respect and regard for the dead, left me feeling very uneasy walking around the site. I would go as far as to say I didn't feel safe. It was a dull, misty, damp day and my friend and I wondered if that was contributing to our general feeling of disquiet so we decided to visit Brompton Road Cemetery, where we enjoyed a great visit back in July, to see if it was the season and the weather affecting our mood. I'll post about that tomorrow but in short, no it was not the weather so I'm not sure if I'll return to Kensal Green, maybe in a few years, maybe never.....

Day Trip to the Big Smoke Part One Brompton Road Cemetery

I had a fabulous time looking around Brompton Road Cemetery in London yesterday. So easy to get to, go to West Brompton on the tube, turn right out of the station and you're there!

There were so many lovely statues it was hard to narrow down a few favourites to share with you.

This cemetery featured in the latest Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jnr and it really has a great gothic feel to it.

Parts of it were wonderfully overgrown and other parts were being kept neat and tidy, but I loved seeing the ivies, bracken, wild sweet peas etc and hearing the crickets chirping away in the undergrowth.

Some great cracked and rusting textures were to be found, these from the side of a tomb.


I'd never seen the likes of this magnificent tomb before and I had to wonder if the body was in this structure or safely in the ground underneath.

Yup, the crow is for real in this shot, he added a wonderful, other worldly feel to the place, keeping his beady eye on us as we wandered around.

Just love the angels and as I've got another journal class coming up I can see them taking centre stage in it :)
It was unusual to find a male statue, a very handsome chap.

Some of the tombs were massive and so ornate. You could look through the bottom of the screen door and there was light flooding through the stained glass windows round the back that have some how evaded the vandels over the years.

I'm a great fan of cat statuary, this one reminding me of the one in Highgate Cemetery.

It was a glorious day and a fabulous cemetery, I'm sure to visit again but going to go on a Sunday when the Friends of Brompton Cemetery have a shop open on site so I can ask some details about some of the permenant residents.

Be back later to let you know about the rest of my trip. Have a great weekend, I'm resting my weary legs as we walked miles yesterday :)

Angel in the Snow

Been wanting to photograph this angel on a church near my workplace for a while, been waiting for snow and today we finally got it!!