Had a quick walk around this cemetery but as dogs were not allowed we’ll probably not go back. There has been an effort to clear the graves in this cemetery and in doing so it seems to have lost something of its atmosphere, although there are patches that remain. There are large grassy areas (great for dogs to run around on; there were a couple of other dogs on a walk while we were there). I don’t get why some cemeteries (like the one up the road from us) don’t allow dogs.
Today we drove to Tunbridge Wells. First we visited Woodbury Park Cemetery, established in the mid 1800s. It’s a lovely Victorian cemetery, quite small, which is well kept. Lady Brisbane’s tomb is here – a cousin of the eponym for Brisbane, Australia. You park in the neighbouring streets for this walk. We then drove round to Calverley Ground (parked in a multi-storey car park across the road from one of the entrances). This park is formal and has a café and toilets. So together they make a good outing for walking Couscous.
We ventured into South London to visit Nunhead Cemetery, where we met a number of other dog walkers. The Friends of the Cemetery say this about it:
Perhaps the least known, but most attractive, of the great Victorian Cemeteries of London. Consecrated in 1840, it is one of the seven great Victorian cemeteries established in a ring around the outskirts of London. It contains examples of the magnificent monuments erected in memory of the most eminent citizens of the day, which contrast sharply with the small, simple headstones marking common, or public, burials. It’s formal avenue of towering limes and the Gothic gloom of the original Victorian planting gives way to paths which recall the country lanes of a bygone era.
