Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries

Bird Watching Guide to the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:50:00 +0000

Nunhead Cemetery 2013 Open Day

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:17:00 +0000

Our big sister the FONC are having their annual Open Day on Saturday the 18th May from 11am to 5pm. It's always a great event and the Friends of Brockley & Ladywell will have a stand so we look forward to meeting you there. For more details go to www.fonc.org.uk

Rev John Innocent (1829-1904) - Methodist Missionary to China and Friend to General Gordon

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 23:31:00 +0000

The Reverend John Innocent (1829-1904) was a trail blazing Methodist Missionary to China and friend to General Gordon. Many thanks to Mike Guilfoyle for the following account.

Born in 1829 in Sheffield John Innocent was sent to work as a grinder aged 16 years and made up for his lack of formal schooling by attending night school. His conversion to Methodism set him upon a life long committment to the tenets of preaching and celebrating the Christian Gospel through social action. Having been made a Minister of the Methodist New Connexion, (a branch of Wesleyan Methodism) he moved to Jersey, having married Jane in 1856. Although Jesuit missionaries had brought Christianity to China in the 16th century, China only opened up to Christian Missionaries following the Second Opium War in 1860, Innocent travelled with W.N Hall to establish the pioneer mission field at Tienstin (now Tianjin) before becoming the Nestor (leader) of the mission whilst 'struggling' to learn the Mandarin Chinese language.. One of his achievements there was to found what is now China's oldest hotel, the Astor Hotel in Tianjin.

Shortly thereafter he became acquainted with Captain Charles George Gordon who was serving with British Forces prior to his leading the 'Ever Victorious' Imperial Chinese Army to defeat rebel forces during the Taiping Rebellion. Innocent noted that he had no more generous and sympathetic a friend than the young officer, who later distinguished himself as General 'Chinese' Gordon before finally being beheaded in Khartoum. The missionary expansion suffered many setbacks with periodic anti-Western massacres as at Tienstin in 1870. This event prefigured the major uprising in 1900 against the imperialist ambitions of the Western powers known as the Boxer Rebellion. The widespread outbreak of famine in 1872 meant that efforts at humanitarian relief occupied the work of the mission. The Rev Innocent experienced the sudden deaths of his daughter Annie and son George, through illness, both of whom weere en route to China to undertake missionary work. Returning to England in 1897 with his family he lived for a time in retirement in Nottingham, before moving to Forest Hill.

Innocent died on the 27th November 1904 and the funeral service was held at Trinity Church, Forest Hill. He was laid to rest at Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries on the 1st December and it was stated that 'friends from far and wide followed him to his last resting place. His 40 years of dedicated and heroic missionary work were recognised by many inside Methodism and his biographer G.T Candlin( 1909) commented that " Not many men can be classed with John Innocent, Among Missionaries he shines very much alone'.

His red marble grave (with his wife Jane Innocent) lies along the pathway from that of the poet Ernest Dowson in the Brockley section. Not far from the grave of another prominent visitor to China , the British Diplomat Horatio Nelson Lay who died in 1898 in Forest Hill.

For those readers interested in the life and work of the Rev Innocent .The splendid online biography of John Innocent, a story of mission work in North China by G.T Candlin published in 1909 is highly recommended.

Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries in the snow

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:12:00 +0000

January 2013 update

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:58:00 +0000

NEXT MEETING on TUESDAY 15^th JANUARY at 7.30pm.

This is a GENERAL MEETING at which decisions are taken by all members present, not just committee members. Items to be discussed and voted on will include a Health & Safety Policy and whether the Friends should affiliate to Voluntary Action Lewisham. Also to be discussed will be the guided walk scheduled for Sunday 17^th February

The meeting will be held in the Chapel in the Ladywell Cemetery. Please enter via the gate on Brockley Grove, opposite Henryson Road, and nearly opposite Gordonbrock School. Please wear warm clothes, and take care on the path within the Cemetery.

NEXT WORK SESSION on SUNDAY 20^thJANUARY

10am – 1pm.

We expect to be working in Brockley A-CON (the circular section, divided into quadrants), as in October last year (and January and February). The work is once again cutting back the sycamore saplings which regrow each year. Hopefully we’ll have more success in inhibiting regrowth this time. Please bring your own tools (loppers, secateurs, handsaws) if you can.

Seasons Greetings

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 23:01:00 +0000

Come meet us at the Ladywell Christmas Market

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 16:14:00 +0000

The FOBLC invites you to come and visit our stall at the Ladywell Christmas Market. The Ladywell market is taking place on Saturday 15th December from 11am to 5pm and is taking its inspiration from the BBC show 'Strictly Come Dancing'. Click here for more infomation.

We'll be sharing with The Ladywell Society, and the master of ceremonies will be this mystery man below. Do come and see us, and if you are able to help with the stall on the day please email geoffrey@foblc.org.uk

Brockley Cemetery inspires Florence And The Machine song

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 09:45:00 +0000

Thanks to Brockley Central for revealing the link between indie rock band Florence And The Machine and Brockley Cemetery. During the course of a recent gig Camberwell born singer Florence Welch said 'It is such a pleasure to be back at the Rivoli Ballrooms and also just to be back in Brockley. I actually spent quite a large bit of time here at one point, 'cause I was having music lessons here and I used to hang out in the graveyard. And actually, strangely a small bit of inspiration came from that graveyard 'cause I did used to do handstands and hang out there. And if anyone knows the lyrics to Only If For a Night - a small portion of it comes from Brockley Cemetery.'

Here is the lyric in question:

The grass was so green against my new clothes,
And I did cartwheels in your honor, dancing on tiptoes
My own secret ceremonials before the service began,
In the graveyard, doing handstands.

And here is the whole song:

Armistice wreath laying

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:28:00 +0000

Thanks to all who attended the FOBLC Armistice commemoration on 11th November.

Commander Archibald Buckle's grave in Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries restored

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:43:00 +0000

The grave of World War 1 hero Commander Buckle in Brockley Cemetery has been refurbished by members of the British Army Association. Sir Winston Churchill has referred to Buckle as one of the “salamanders born in the furnace,” who survived “to lead,to command, and to preserve the sacred continuity”.

His history has been featured on blog here and the grave has been a regular "point of interest" on the FOBLC guided walks.

Representatives of the Friends' group attended the unveiling of a memorial to Cmdr. Buckle on Sunday 14th October at the Garden of Remembrance in Allerford Road, Bellingham.

More Links
Commander Buckle Obituary
War hero's grave restored

Dedication of Gunner Howard memorial

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:04:00 +0000

The dedication to Gunner Howard was attended by Lewisham Mayor Sir Steve Bullock, as well as the organiser Cpl. Tim Needham and Prince Shange, the direct descendent of the leader of the Zulu forces at Rorke's Drift.

Borders in the Literary and Visual Arts of David Jones

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:49:00 +0000

The modernist poet David Jones, whose work was greatly admired by T.S. Eliot and W.S. Auden, and who lies buried in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries is to be featured in a seminar by The David Jones Society in the Dissenter's Chapel on Saturday 22nd September.

You can read Mike Guilfoyle's account of his life here and see below for an interview that Anne Price-Owen of the David Jones Society gave to the BBC.

The event costs £10 and all are welcome to attend. The programme of events is listed below:

The David Jones Society Ladywell Seminar: 22nd September 2012

Ladywell Dissenter’s Chapel, Brockley & Ladywell Cemetery

Borders in the Literary and Visual Arts of David Jones

10.00am Registration & Coffee

10.30am Mike Guilfoyle: Introduction to Ladywell & FOBLC and a brief guided tour around Ladywell Cemetery

11.15am Anne Price-Owen: Brief introduction on the Seminar Speakers

11.30am Sir Steve Bulloch, Mayor of Lewisham welcomes the David Jones Society toLewisham

11.50am Prof William Blissett: ‘David Jones After Seventy Years’

12.30pm Jasmine Hunter Evans: ‘David Jones & Cultural Borders: “To all the natives ofthe whole white (shining, beautiful) Island of the people of the Britons”’

1.00pm – 2.30pm; LUNCH: make your own arrangements locally

2.30pm A.C.Everatt: ‘Footnotes to a Wounded Man’

3.00pm Esther de Waal: ‘Living on the Border: Reflections on the Experience of Threshold’

3.30pm Anne Price-Owen: ‘The Differentiated Sites’

3.50pm Sheila Beskine: ‘The Significance of Borders in the Arts of David Jones’

4.15pm Tea & close of seminar

Before the cemetery officially closes at 5.00pm, there should be time for visitors totake a final wander around the graveyard.

6.30pm Dinner at Ladywell Tavern for those who have pre-booked.

Dedication of memorial to Rorke's Drift veteran, Gunner Arthur Howard

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 10:57:00 +0000

On Sunday 16th September, there will be a dedication of memorial to Gunner Arthur Howard at Brockley Cemetery. The event will take place from approximately 11:30am to 12:15pm. The initiative to fund the headstone was that of Corporal Bugler Tim Needham, Royal Marines, who started a campaign to have the defenders of Rorke's Drift memorialised.

Gunner Howard was a hero of Rorke's Drift, where in 1879, a mere 150 British troops held off 4,000 Zulu warriors in Natal, South Africa. More soldiers were given the Victoria Cross - 11 in total - than for any other battle in British history.

Corp Needham contacted the FOBLC chairman Geoffrey Thurley after he had discovered the unmarked grave in Lewisham. He said: “My interest in the Anglo-Zulu War stemmed originally from seeing the 1964 film, Zulu. I have been fortunate enough to have visited the Rorke’s Drift battlefield in South Africa on a couple of occasions...The very fact that these men fought at Rorke’s Drift makes them of huge historical significance, and I believe they deserve to be commemorated with more dignity than an unmarked grave provides.”

Arthur Howard was born in Eynesford, Kent in 1851. During his time in the Royal Artillery, he was based for several years at Woolwich. He was married, and had a daughter.

He survived to reach the ripe old age of 84, dying in Deptford in 1935, though he did get to read of his own death resulting fom complication as a result of wound by Assegai spear incurred in the battle, a false report that he was glad to put right in this interview with the Daily Mirror in 1930.

For more information on the Battle of Rorke's Drift see here http://www.britishbattles.com/zulu-war/rorkes-drift.htm

JOIN US FOR OUR 5th ANNIVERSARY EVENT

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 20:22:00 +0000

FRIENDS OF BROCKLEY & LADYWELL CEMETERIES

JOIN US FOR OUR 5th ANNIVERSARY EVENT

SUNDAY 22nd JULY

11am - 4.30pm

· Exhibition in the Ladywell Chapel

of photographs of monuments and wildlife

· Guided walks of the Cemeteries visiting the graves of sportsmen, poets,

war veterans and local figures

· Refreshments

Ladywell Cemetery, Ladywell Road, SE13 7HY

Ladywell station, Bus P4

Brockley Cemetery, Brockley Road, SE4 2QY

Crofton Park station, Buses 122, 171, 172

To view the FOBLC 2011-12 Annual Report click here: http://www.slideshare.net/FOBLC/foblc-annual-report-201112

Nunhead Cemetery Annual Open Day

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:32:00 +0000

Please come, it's a great day out and we hope to see you there!

For more information go to www.fonc.org.uk

The Price Isn't Right

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:07:00 +0000

Buried in the Brockley section, close to the Ivy Road footpath, lies Lt Gilbert Arthur Price, a British intelligence officer who died in a dramatic gun battle with the IRA on Dublin's Talbot Street on October 14, 1920.

Republican leader Seán Treacy was also killed in the fight which was a key moment in Irish history, commemorated in the famous ballad that bears his name. The moment was captured in this iconic photo taken by by celebrated photographer Johh Horgan and used in many history books including the cover of Peter Cottrell's respected book 'The War For Ireland 1913-1923.

It supposedly showed British intelligence officer Lt Gilbert Arthur Price engaging the IRA seconds before he was killed in the Talbot Street gun battle. But restoration work recently done on its archives by the Irish Film Institute has revealed that this iconic picture was in fact a still from a 1926 film called 'Irish Destiny'. And rather than being Lt Price the photo features an actor called O'Hara. The story of how this mix up happened was recently the subject of a feature in the Irish Independent.

What happened at the shoot out was dramatic enough without needing the embellishment of this photo. On the 11th of October 1920, Treacy and Breen had been wounded but managed to escape from a house which had been raided by the British. Breen died in hospital, but Treacy was not as badly hurt. Treacy was told to join 4 or 5 members of the Squad for his own protection, but arrived late at the appointed venue on Talbot Street. When he arrived the Squad had gone. British Intelligence men ( MI5) Major Carew and Lt. Gilbert Price, were responsible for the operation at Talbot Street
Two lorries full of British troops hit Talbot Street in a raid on the Republican Outfitters. Lt Price jumped off one of the lorries and ran across the road. Treacy and Price grappled on the street for the control of Price's revolver. There were revolver shors, and a fussilade from the British Troops. At the end of it, Treacy, Price and two innocent civilians lay dead. One cannot say with any degree of certainty who fired at whom, and who killed whom. Treacy is said to have fired at the soldiers, they fired back , killing Treacy, Price and two innocent bystanders. .

Remembrance Sunday Wreath Laying

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:24:00 +0000

Jane Clouson memorial

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 09:04:00 +0000

Jeff Hart led a well attended tour of the cemeteries last Saturday. One of the highlights of any visit is the Jane Clouson memorial.

Lionel de Jersey Harvard: Brockley's Ivy League link

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:26:00 +0000

Lionel de Jersey Harvard was the only descendant of John Harvard (who gave his name in 1638 to the prestigious Ivy League University in the USA) ever to attend Harvard University. The direct descendant of John Harvard's brother, Thomas he entered the University in 1911 having gained a place with some assistance from Harvard president Lowell when he learned that Lionel was interested in attending. (NY Times entry)

Born in Lewisham on the 3rd June 1894 he attended St Olaves Grammar School and St Saviours School(Southwark) before entering the University after spending time working as an Insurance Broker. His arrival having sailed from Liverpool was well publicised and he appeared a popular student. Addressing the assembled graduates after his own graduation he stated that 'I have had four years here full to the brim of happiness'. Known as 'Johnny' to his contempories. he had planned to become a medical missionary on graduation. Two days after graduation he returned to England to enlist and in September 1915 he was gazetted to the Granadier Guards. He had attempted to enlist in 1914 but was unsuccessful. Having married Mary Barker shortly before he went into training in Chelsea with the First Battalion of the GG and went to Flanders in February 1916. The regiment was then occupying positions in the Ypres Salient, transferring to the Somme front where he received a bullet wound in the chest at Les Boeufs. Following his promotion to First Lieutenant in June, 1917, he rejoined his battalion in France.

In July he was back at Ypres and took part in the taking of Pilkem Ridge and other important engagements. In the Cambrai advance he saw heavy fighting at Fontaine Notre Dame, and later in stemming the enemy's onrush when the British line was pierced. At home he had now, besides his wife and his parents, a new born son Peter, With the great March Offensive in 1918 he was in the front line at Arras, having been commissioned as a Captain, when on the 30th March he was killed instantaneously by a shell explosion and was buried in the civilian cemetery at Boisleux-au-mont near to Arras. A superior Officer said of him after his death that he was 'One of the most conscientious and fearless Officers that I have ever known'. His only brother Lieutenant Kenneth O'Gorman Harvard' 2nb Batt GG (a second brother died in infancy) was killed by a sniper at Pilkem Ridge on the 1st August 1917 and is buried near Langemarck.

Lionel Hall is named after him at Harvard University and the annual Lionel de Jersey Harvard Fellowship was founded in his memory in 1928 which enabled students from Harvard to spend a year studying at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University (John Harvard alumnus). His easily located family grave lies a few yards from the Dissenters Chapel at the ladywell side of the cemetery.

George Lacy Hillier: Amateur Cycling Champion at ALL(!) distances, 1881.

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 18:04:00 +0000

As the Tour De France begins, the FOBLC remembers George Lacy Hillier who was the cycling superstar of his time. He was born in Sydenham in 6/6/1856. The attached a picture of him, was taken about 1878, when he lived in Chichester and raced for the Chichester and District Bicycle Club.

Among various honours, he was for many years the English champion over all the then recognised competition distances, and also competed on the continent. Probably his most famous race was the 10,000 metre race on the Leipzig track in 1885, where he not only won the first prize but broke the record for that distance.

Hillier went on to be a magazine editor and writer and was also member of the Stock Exchange, like his father before him. He was an important figure in the planning and raising the finances to build Herne Hill Velodrome, the last of the many famous Victorian racing tracks. There were plans to tear this famous track down but it has now been saved. For more information about the Velodrome see the links below.

Hillier died in 11/02/1941 and is buried in the Hillier family vault in the Ladywell Cemetery.

http://www.hernehillvelodrome.com/about/history
http://www.freemantransport.com/blog/2009/12/herne-hill-velodrome/

Thanks to Geoff Margetts, a cycling enthusiast based in Germany, for the information.

ANNUAL REPORT for 2010-11 TO THE AGM OF FRIENDS of BROCKLEY AND LADYWELL CEMETERIES JUNE 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:49:00 +0000

The Friends group was formed in July 2007, and now has a membership of 51 as at the end of March 2011. Although about 40 members live in and around South-east London, others live further away, including Canada.

The Friends group had 7 open meetings during the year, excluding the 2009 AGM, plus one other committee meeting.

7 “work sessions” have taken place, including two in conjunction with the Council’s Nature Conservation Department’s Nature’s Gym. Work has varied from ivy clearance from the chapel to scraping grass from the paths near the old toilets to filling builders’ bags with leaves. Numbers have been steady at 3 or 4 members for rather uninspiring but essential work to complement the work done by Cemeteries’ staff. The loss of labour from Envirowork and then Glendale plus the expected cuts in the Bereavement Services’ budget and possibly staff losses means that the level of maintenance carried out by the Council is expected to fall.
The development of the bird hide has been put on hold.
The group has discussed restoration of memorials, including the Hither Green & Sydenham airship deaths memorial in the Ladywell Cemetery, but recognise that specialist skills are required.

One of the advances in this year has been the advent of public guided walks. Jeff Hart kicked off with one in April for FONC members; this was followed in May by one as part of the Brockley Max Festival. Including these, a total of 6 have been held. Thanks are due to the members who have led these walks, and the members who have come along in support. Knowledge is built up with each successive walk, and members continue to research and pinpoint particular memorials of interest.

A highlight of the year was the dedication of a new memorial to Ernest Dowson, decadent poet. Members assisted Philip Walker who instigated the project; over 80 people attended the dedication in August, and the event featured on national news.

The group again took part in an Armistice evening event organised by John McKiernan. The evening was again well attended and despite lack of funding was a success. John McKiernan attended a feedback session with the Group. He also updated the group on his future plans.

We held our first Remembrance Day event, laying wreaths at the two war memorials and picking three relevant points of interest in between.

Our second noticeboard was installed in the Brockley Cemetery in July. Colin Burgess and his colleagues are to be thanked for carrying out the work.
The noticeboard was the result of a successful application made to the Ladywell Ward Assembly for a further grant of £1000 from the Locality Fund.

The group had stalls at the following events in the year: at the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery Open Day (May), and Gordonbrock School Annual Carnival (June), and at an event in Ladywell Fields organised by Living Streets and the Council’s People & Rivers Project. This Project also organised an evening nature walk in the Brockley Cemetery, led by Nick Bertrand, in September. A number of Friends attended despite the short notice.

The group is represented on a committee of local groups, granted funds from the Council’s Ward Locality Fund, developing a walking tour map of Ladywell, which includes part of the Ladywell Cemetery. The group is also represented on the Council’s Biodiversity Partnership.

The Friends remained a member of the National Federation of Cemeteries’ Friends, and attended the 2010 AGM hosted by the Friends of West Norwood Cemetery.

The website and BlogSpot, managed by Patrick Napier, continues to be the channel for enquiries from within the UK and abroad about friends and relatives buried in the Cemeteries. Members of the group have assisted in identifying and photographing particular graves, and writing them up for the Blogspot. As a result members have been able to supply information to enquiries from Australia and Canada, and in turn have been supplied information from people who have particular interests.
It is hoped to develop a publishing programme using the research information.

I would like to thank members for their continued enthusiasm and support over the past year; also to Jeff Hart, the Co-ordinator of Friends Of Nunhead Cemetery for his guidance, and to Nick Pond and Jessica Kyle of the Council’s Nature Conservation Department for their advice; also to Colin Burgess, Irene Kemp and Shirley Bishop, the Council Officers responsible for the Cemeteries for their co-operation in the past year.

Geoffrey Thurley
Chair

BROCKLEY MAX GUIDED WALK

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:05:00 +0000

Around 40 people joined members of the Friends’ group in a guided walk round the two Cemeteries on Saturday 28th May. Appreciation was shown by attendees, and about £53 was donated towards our funds. Many thanks to all who shared the guiding, and who contributed to this successful event and of course to Brockley Max

First to the Corinthians: the story of England goalie Harry Albemarle Swepstone

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Tue, 17 May 2011 22:14:00 +0000

Thanks to Mike Guilfoyle for uncovering this story of a notable sportsman buried in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries

Harry Albemarle Swepstone (1859-1907) who was born in Stepney, East London, made his England debut against Scotland in 1880. During this match he was beaten by a 'cannon shot' from the Scottish 'Rooney', Centre Forward George Kerr. Harry had the dubious distinction of conceding 18 goals in six international matches as England goalkeeper between 1880 to 1883. When the famous Corinthian amateur football club was formed in 1882 to improve the flagging fortunes of the England football Team (sound familiar?!) and challenge the then supremacy of the Scottish Football Team, he suggested the name, which was accepted unanimously. The football club later came to be known as the Corinthian-Casuals in 1939, and was based in Tolworth after moving from Crystal Palace.

The world famous Brazilian Corinthian Paulista club founded in 1910 was inspired to adopt the name, following an historic football tour undertaken by the London based club. Real Madrid adopted the Corinthian's white shirts for their iconic strip. The team now play in the Isthmian League Division One South. Harry also played for Pilgrims FC and was an FA Cup winner in 1879/80. A solicitor by profession he practised at Bishopsgate and served on the FA committee in 1883/84. Harry died on the 7 th May 1907 and is buried with his wife, Emmie and daughter who pre-deceased him aged just 10 years old. The family grave(which is sadly neglected and damaged) lies a few yards from that of the newly restored grave of the poet Ernest Dowson in the Ladywell section of the cemetery.

For more see:

http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamPlyrsBios/PlayersS/BioSwepstoneHA.html- facts & figures + brief life story

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rugby_pioneers/473413891/sizes/l/ -England Football Team -1881-HAS -Fourth from left standing..

http://footballpubcast.clubfans.co.uk/2011/01/08/the-story-of-corinthians/- for more on the history of the Corinthian-Casuals..

NUNHEAD CEMETERY'S ANNUAL OPEN DAY – SATURDAY 21 MAY 2011 11.00-5.00

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 21:58:00 +0000

Admission to the Open Day is free and there will be woodcraft demonstrations, birds of prey, choral performances in the open air chapel and, for 2011, a sculpture show in the mausoleum. There will also be guided cemetery tours and other attractions including face painting, and the celebrated 'Bug Hunt' for children and refreshments.

The FOBLC looks forward to welcoming you at its stall there!

The cemetery is in Linden Grove, SE15 with Nunhead rail station nearby. Bus routes P12, 78, 343, 484 .

The 100th anniversary of the tragic sinking of the SS Yongala and its Brockley connection

noreply@blogger.com (Patrick Napier) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:15:00 +0000

It's exactly 100 years today since the coastal trading ship SS Yongala sank in a tropical cyclone off the coast of Queensland, Australia on March 23rd 1911. The disaster became known as the 'Townsville Titanic' as all 122 passengers and crew were lost. The only body recovered was that of a racehorse called 'Moonshine' washed ashore some days later. That loss had a profound impact on Townsville which at that time had a population of just 15,000.

There is a Brockley link in the person of 21 year old Robert Walton Cook who was a crew member on the ill fated voyage and whose grave lies in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries.

The centenary of one of Australia's greatest maritime mysteries has been marked with the Yongala story appeared on ABC News, a national current affairs program in Australia. Click here and select Play Video, to see the fascinating history of the Yongala "What Lies Beneath".

Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries

Bird Watching Guide to the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries

Nunhead Cemetery 2013 Open Day

Rev John Innocent (1829-1904) - Methodist Missionary to China and Frie​nd to General Gordon

Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries in the snow

January 2013 update

Seasons Greetings

Come meet us at the Ladywell Christmas Market

The FOBLC invites you to come and visit our stall at the Ladywell Christmas Market. The Ladywell market is taking place on Saturday 15th December from 11am to 5pm and is taking its inspiration from the BBC show 'Strictly Come Dancing'. Click here for more infomation.

We'll be sharing with The Ladywell Society, and the master of ceremonies will be this mystery man below. Do come and see us, and if you are able to help with the stall on the day please email geoffrey@foblc.org.uk

Brockley Cemetery inspires Florence And The Machine song

Armistice wreath laying

Commander Archibald Buckle's grave in Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries restored

Dedication of Gunner Howard memorial

Borders in the Literary and Visual Arts of David Jones

Dedication of memorial to Rorke's Drift veteran, Gunner Arthur Howard

JOIN US FOR OUR 5th ANNIVERSARY EVENT

Nunhead Cemetery Annual Open Day

The Price Isn't Right

Remembrance Sunday Wreath Laying

Jane Clouson memorial

Lionel de Jersey Harvard: Brockley's Ivy League link

George Lacy Hillier: Amateur Cycling Champion at ALL(!) distances, 1881.

ANNUAL REPORT for 2010-11 TO THE AGM OF FRIENDS of BROCKLEY AND LADYWELL CEMETERIES JUNE 2011

BROCKLEY MAX GUIDED WALK

First to the Corinthians: the story of England goalie Harry Albemarle Swepstone

NUNHEAD CEMETERY'S ANNUAL OPEN DAY – SATURDAY 21 MAY 2011 11.00-5.00

The 100th anniversary of the tragic sinking of the SS Yongala and its Brockley connection

Rev John Innocent (1829-1904) - Methodist Missionary to China and Friend to General Gordon