London Town: Highgate Cemetery

There is a subtle wink John and yet there is no getting away from the fact that Ann and I - tourists both - were there with our paid for maps searching out the graves of the famous along with everybody else. It did play with our minds. Thanks once again for your very perceptive comments. Cheers - Gary

:) His 'new' grave was getting quite a bit of attention on the day we were there and there's no walking past it without noticing it either. His original grave, not far away in the cemetery on the other hand, was overgrown without a single selfie stick in sight. Cheers - Gary

David, I'm glad you are enjoying the poems. I guess it's a bit strange for Northerners like me to show their love of London but I liken it to one big Theme Park with its own transportation system. Places out of the tourist way appeal to Ann and I and Highgate Cemetry was a fascinating, place. On the day we went we heard kids laughing and playing in a school playground from somewhere. Their exuberance juxtaposed with the sereen, tranquil cemetery. I tried bringing it into the poem but settled with what I had.

Thanks Milton. I appreciate your valued comments as always. I just thought I'd try having a go at a little project by grouping a few poems under a common title (and then adding a fancy graphic) using my Poetry Soup space - nothing more. It's not for wider publication..although I'd like to see PS provide the opportunity for Soupers to create a few mini e- anthologies of their own from their poems. Cheers - Gary (NB: The 'fancy graphic' of a book cover I referred to here in the comments has since been replaced)

Hi David. Thanks for the comments. We didn't take the tour and settled for a lovely walk by ourselves - admittedly complete with map and numbers. We prefer that too to the group tours. There were another 2 verses to this poem but I went once again for the 'more is less' thing. Cheers - Gary

We try to get to The Big Smoke (or is that The Big Vape now?) once a year for a few days; pre-Covid anyway. We loved our walk through the east cemetry a couple of years back. You have to book a tour for the west cemetry. Lovely morning walk. All the famous names from history are there and then round the corner there's the grave of Jeremy Beadle too :) Thanks for the comments. I'll take some time to catch up on some PS reading over the next few days. Cheers - Gary

Thanks John. Highgate is the burial place of many famous names from history. Rowland Hill – originator of the modern postal service, Michael Faraday – electrical engineer, William Friese-Greene – inventor of cinematography, Henry Moore – painter and Karl Heinrich Marx are just a few of the names buried there (Marx and his wife's remains were exhumed from the original 1881 grave and reinterred in the more prominent place it is today in 1954) Cheers - Gary

Thank you Caren. It sums up Highgate Cemetry for me. It's a beautifully serene place and I recommend it to anyone who has a spare morning or afternoon while in London. Cheers - Gary