American Centenarian in Bath Cemetery

In the past twenty-four hours, I have done three cemeteries. Now that sounds awful - done! It's a figure of speech, I know, but what I meant was that I have visited three cemeteries and taken hundreds of photographs . . . So self-criticism over, I thought I would publish a photograph taken this afternoon of the grave of an American who died at the age of 101. My reason? Just because it is the Fourth of July!

Frederick W Cole was born in Constantia, New York in 1885 and he died in Bath in 1986. Quite why he was in Bath, I don't know. I was surprised to see the name of someone else on the headstone - another elderly man named Alan Walter Elphick who died on 17 October 2003 aged 92 years. The grave is in the Perrymead Roman Catholic Cemetery.

A pair of Angels entwined is a thing of beauty

One of the first graves I came across in the Dissenters' Cemetery, yesterday, was this very ornate representation of two angels on a gravestone. The sheer beauty of the carving and the way it has weathered makes this a photograph that I am very pleased to have captured.

Discovering the Childrens' Plot in a Somerset Cemetery

I was photographing a modern cemetery this afternoon, so that I could compare the latter day headstones with those of much earlier times. I spotted a couple of teddy bear-shaped stones and quickly realised that was standing in the middle of a very large children's plot. Now, I have seen Victorian gravestones with up to a dozen children of the same family named who had died of disease in reasonably quick succession, but this was the first time I had been to a section entirely devoted to babies and young children. The ages of those interred made me sad - two days, one month, five months, one year - to list but a few.

This teddy bear memorial has a very striking floral tribute in the shape of a bear laid upon it.



Here, small creatures offer company at this unnamed child's grave.



Jason Cooper's grave was quite ornate and, as can be seen in the second photograph, was covered in, presumably, favourite toys?





A recumbent teddy bear was the only thing that marked an unknown grave.

Angel Serenity

I photographed this angel just a couple of days ago. What intrigues me is that she forms part of the gravestone and is not a separate, standing figure. Her expression is one of serenity - a refreshing change from the usual weeping, mourning angels more commonly seen.

In terms of of photographing headstones and especially something like this angel, there an important thing to remember. Move around and vary the angle of your shot - it makes a real difference. Here are just a few examples to show what can be achieved. I have not included the standard profile photograph or the close-ups of the inscription, the latter to save having to write down the details - as long as the inscription is legible and . . . you are confident of your photographic competence. What you don't want to have happen is that you travel 50 miles to visit the cemetery and then get back to find everything is badly exposed! Of course, everything is so much better now - with a digital camera, you can check if the photo came out straight away.

Good luck and . . . keep making a record of history!

All together Now -Two wives in the same grave

Out with a local art society, I noticed this headstone in a small churchyard at Rodden, near Frome in Somerset. I was struck by the fact it contained the remains of two women who were married to the same man. He had died many years later and was interred with them. As it was noted at the base of the headstone: "Reunited with his Loved Ones." Has anyone seen anything similar before?

Incidentally, and I know many followers of this blog are 'Graveyard Rabbits', does anyone know what the difference is between a gravestone and a headstone? Is there some sort of design feature that makes it one thing or another? If you know, please share it with us. Thank you.