Resting in peace

Let’s get away from the here and now, shall we? I’m so glad I have so many pictures from last year that I haven’t posted yet, as the days at the moment are so same-y and uneventful. On a balmy late September Sunday, my friend D and I walked over to Highgate Cemetery to go exploring. It’s so odd to think back just a few months back during the pandemic, when compared to now everything felt so relaxed, even though we still had to socially distance. One perk due to Covid was that you were allowed to walk around on the west side of the cemetery on your own, which you otherwise only can visit on a guided tour. D, who seems to have been to most of the interesting places in London retold me the facts she could remember from having walked the tour years ago.

The west side is more hilly and wild, and is the oldest part, opened in 1839. It’s also the most prestigious part to be buried in. If you want to read more about the cemetery’s interesting history, click here.

We walked around with a map, and decided on a route. I’m posting the order of what we saw on the way.

It was so interesting to see the difference in styles of the grave stones. I found Lucian Freud’s very understated and elegant.

The Egyptian Style was very popular in the 1800’s, and walking up Egyptian Avenue felt like something straight out of Indiana Jones or Tombraider. Not surprisingly lots of films have been shot here.

Loved the font and the colours on this tomb.

And how apt are these words for EXACTLY RIGHT NOW?! It’s a bastardised stanza from Lord Tennyson’s In Memoriam A.H.H. 54. I’m not even sure I read what it said when I took the picture, I just liked the font and the placing of the text. Kind of nicer to see the words now, and take them in properly.

This circular vault area is called the Circle of Lebanon, as when the cemetery was built, there was an old Lebanese cedar tree in situ already, and they decided to keep and build around it.

Sadly it was deemed unsafe to keep in place as it had completely rotted inside, so it came down in 2019, and a new one was planted in its place, which you can see in the middle of this picture. Not quite the same, but give it time.

The catacombs section was closed which was a shame. It would have been very interesting to have seen inside.

Different styles of headstones. Patrick Caulfield’s DEAD one has to be the best one ever. Straight to the point, no messing about.

Crossing the road and entering the east side, the atmosphere changed significantly. Less wild and more tightly packed.

And much flatter with wider avenues. Felt a bit like a car park compared to the west side.

No cemetery is complete without a cat, right? Looking at these pictures I’m transported back to what was such a chill and interesting afternoon, and I can feel the summer heat from that day all over again. It’s actually still open, even in lockdown, and it would be cool to see what the atmosphere there is like in the middle of winter. Let’s see if I can can get my lazy arse over there before spring.