10 July 2011

Reclaiming The Dead

This morning I dropped my wife and a friend over at Southampton Common as they were taking part in the annual Race For Life event. With an hour or so to kill till they were done, I decided to wander around with my camera. One lone man taking photos amongst 7500 pink clad women was likely to gain a few suspicious glances (or worse) so I headed away from the main event and into the Old Cemetery.

Despite having lived in the Southampton area all my life this was a place I had never visited. I was surprised by how overgrown it all was, appearances would suggest deliberately so. Having visited plenty of cemeteries with perfectly manicured lawns and colourful flower displays, this one had a completely different atmosphere. It was as if nature was reclaiming the place, and the dead with it. There was undergrowth rapidly becoming overgrowth, tangling around headstones, almost obliterating them from view in places, and some even breaking graves open. Thankfully, with the sun shining and some jazz tunes playing in my headphones it was difficult to let my imagination run away with me. But no way will I be revisiting the place at night !




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2 comments:

The Black Balaclava said...

Great images. Was this the old Jewish cemetery on Hill Lane.??

Wurzel said...

Thanks, and probably. It is just off of Hill Lane, known as Southampton Old Cemetery , but apparently there is a Jewish section in there somewhere.