I live opposite a small park
that is popular with dog walkers; we’ve lived in our house for three years and
have only just taken advantage of this amenity now that we are dog owners. In
this little park there are several graves. I don’t know if this park used to be
a big graveyard and these particular graves were left behind for some reason,
or if they started a graveyard and couldn’t be bothered following through with
it. Our house is one of a block of four Victorian three floor houses, and the
graves are dated from that same era. While walking Jack this morning I took the
time to read the inscriptions. What struck me first of all was the age range of
the deceased, people in their thirties and forties. I know the mortality rate
was lower in those days, but it is weird to think that at my age I would be on
my last knockings by now if I had lived during those days. However, there are
two people who died at sixty four and eighty, they must have seemed ancient.
These days the area I live in
is rather nice, not overly posh but not a rough area. This graveyard has made
me wonder what sort of an area it used to be back in Victorian times. The
graves look quite nice and have stood the test of time and the elements, so
this wasn’t some pauper’s dumping ground by any means. What has really stirred
my interest though is the history surrounding these forgotten people. Do they
have any living descendants? Does anyone visit these people or has time
forgotten all about them? While Jack ran off in pursuit of his ball, I started
to formulate an idea in my head regarding these dead Victorians. There’s a
brilliant project here somewhere; a kind of take on the Who Do You
Think You Are? format but the subject isn’t the presenter but a set
of strangers with no back story. It is only a remote possibility but there
could still be descendents living in Nottingham, or at least there might be
living relatives left. I don’t really want a lot from this, just to do some
research on the people to possibly find out more about my neighbourhood and the
people that used to live here. Maybe my house was occupied by one of the people
that Jack and I run past every morning and teatime. The idea of finding out
something about them would be cool, but it would be really cool to be able to
have a cup of tea and a slice of cake with a great-great- grandchild and try
and find out something about them.
If I was the malicious type, I
would blame Jack for the fact that I am full of cold. When Mandi first said she
wanted a dog I was dead against it and told her that if she did go ahead and get
one then it would be her responsibility to take it for walks and that I wanted
no part of it. Of course I am a big softy and can’t believe I waited so long to
get a dog as Jack is an absolute delight and I tend to take over when it comes
to exercise. We go to the park in the morning to play with his ball, and again
at teatime (he can find his ball by sniffing for it when it’s dark). I take him
out for a walk around the block at around midnight too, for one last toilet
opportunity (him not me). As a result I am now full of cold that I can’t seem
to shake off.
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