Visit to Highgate Cemetery

The forecast for Monday 23rd September wasn't good, but thankfully it mostly stayed dry for our tours of Highgate Cemetery. 

The grave of Douglas Adams - author of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'Madeleine, Paul and I met, early(ish), at the East side and had a short wander, finding the graves of the actor Corin Redgrave, an avid reader called Horn (whose gravestone looks like a Penguin-published book), the author Douglas Adams (decorated with a potful of pens, ornaments bearing the number "42" - the number from which the meaning of life can be derived, per his 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' - and other items), the television and radio presenter Jeremy Beadle (a gravestone of giant tomes leaning against a bookend) and Malcolm McLaren, the rock-artist, clothes designer and boutique owner. We also encountered a black cat which, if you're superstitious, is supposed to mean good luck for 7 years. 

The CatacombsWe then joined Brian, Kathy and Lynne in the courtyard of the West side, ready for the midday tour to start.  Our guide, Peter, was excellent - entertaining, engaging and enlightening, although he had warned us at the start that, if he didn't know an answer to a question, he'd probably make it up. With him, we heard about Selby (a horse-carriage driver who won a bet, which is how a lowly carriage driver could afford to be buried at Highgate), saw the huge memorial commemorating various members of the Mears family (who had owned the Whitechapel Bell Foundry), stopped at "grave site number 1" (a lady who had died of consumption), visited the grave of Maria (whose husband based her tombstone on the top part of the Albert Memorial), saw a pyramid over a young child's grave and a gravestone carved with a pelican, symbolising a mother's sacrifice.Up the hill, we paid our respects to the singer/songwriter George Michael, learned a lot about polonium 210 at Alexander Litvinenko's grave marker, stopped at the largest grave plot in the cemetery (the family of a Naval man), laughed at a deep family grave that has the word 'Entrance' engraved on the front of the mausoleum (Peter doesn't know if the word 'Exit' is inscribed inside). We then visited the Egyptian Avenue and the Circle of Lebanon (minus the mature cedar tree, which had to be chopped down in 2019) and heard about Wombwell's touring menagerie (his mausoleum is topped with a marble, sleeping lion) before being able to enter the catacombs which are only opened to people on a guided tour. Amongst other coffins, we were shown Robert Liston's, the first surgeon in this country to knock patients out with ether when performing operations, leading to modern day use of anaesthetic. The Egyptian AvenueBack outside, we visited the tomb of Tom Sayers, a bare-knuckle fighter whose funeral was said to have been attended by 10,000 people; Lion, his faithful dog, had pride of place in the funeral procession and a marble replica of the dog rests in front of the mausoleum. Immediately next to it his great grandson is buried and, apparently, the family wanted his memorial stone to be bone-shaped, as a nod to the dog next to him; the conservative Trustees of the cemetery wouldn't allow it.Nearby we saw the 'horse grave', linked to Queen Victoria's horse slaughterer. Nice.  Down the hill, we stopped at Michael Faraday's grave, which is probably far more pronounced and certainly has a bigger headstone than he seemingly wanted for himself, and gave thanks for his contribution to all our lives with regards to the application of electricity.  Our tour finished, back in the courtyard, half an hour later than expected so we certainly got our money's worth. Tom Sayers' mastiff 'Lion'

We met with Sue, Ken, Diana, Fozi, Trevor and Eileen, briefly, ahead of them being on the 2pm Tour, then retreated to the cafe at Lauderdale House, in neighbouring Waterlow Park, for lunch and a cup of tea.  Helpfully, we were inside when the heavens opened.  We found out later that, as the 2pm Tour was only just starting, their guide gave his initial intro whilst they sheltered under the colonnade in the courtyard, so they didn't get too wet!

Karl MarxAfter lunch, whilst the 2pm Tour was underway, the rest of us toured the East side, starting with the area that Madeleine, Paul and I hadn't covered in the morning: the grave of Reynolds, who masterminded The Great Train Robbery, Karl Marx's newer resting place (the bust of him, on top, is unmissable), Paul Foot the journalist, Max Wall the comedian, authors George Eliot (whose grave has multiple pens pushed into the earth) and Andrea Levy and, after a lot of hunting, the (toppled) gravestone marking the spot where the actor Roger Lloyd Pack is buried, complete with a small doll holding a broom, depicting his 'Trigger' character from Only Fools and Horses, placed on it. 

Whilst the others walked down to look at the graves that I'd seen in the morning, before heading for home, I went to meet the second group who were just finishing their tour and then had another walk around the East side with them. In addition to the graves mentioned above, we also saw Rod Stewart's parents, a pop artist called Patrick Caulfield (whose headstone has the word 'DEAD' carved in cut-out letters), the memorial to Sir Albert Barratt (who we can thank for licorice allsorts), Karl Marx's original grave (covered with stones, entry tickets from the previous day, money including coins, a £5 note, some dollar bills & Chinese yuan and a booklet with the word DETOX on the front) and the headstone marking the last resting place of William Foyle, who co-founded the bookshop. Patrick Caulfield's grave and headstone

Whist four of them headed for the cafe in Waterlow Park, Eileen and I popped back in to the West side; she wanted a longer look at George Michael's grave without the crowd around it, whilst I wanted to see the memorials to architect Edward Blore (who designed the facade of Buckingham Palace, which I visited only a few days ago), author Beryl Bainbridge and Charles Cruft, the chap who started Crufts Dog Show.  As we left, three foxes were in the Courtyard, eagerly anticipating being fed by one of the staff. 

A cup of tea / coffee, plus cake for some, at the cafe rounded off our visit, before we headed down the hill back to Archway station. 

Jill S,  23rd September 2024