Wild Flowers

This is probably my favourite time of year in Overleigh Cemetery as the wild flowers burst out. At first glance people might think the cemetery is overgrown and neglected, and yes it is hard to walk around if you are looking for a loved one's gravestone. But this is more than made up for by the wonderful...

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Winter in Overleigh Cemetery

The cemetery takes on a magical atmosphere as winter snows lay upon the ground and dusts the trees. ...

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Springtime in Overleigh Cemetery

Most of us associate cemeteries with death and the loss of a loved one and therefore not somewhere that you would want to go to unless you have to. I like to think of cemeteries in more of a positive light - somewhere beautiful and peaceful to lay our loved ones to rest. Nothing demonstrates this...

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Mariners

It is very easy to forget now in our modern world, that Chester was once a port. The most we expect to see now on the River Dee are pleasure cruise boats or rowing boats. It is only once you start to walk around Overleigh Cemetery and see 'Mariner' mentioned many times on the inscriptions that...

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Storm Doris Clear-Up

I finally got a chance to have a proper look at the damage done by the trees blown down during storm 'Doris.' I had not been able to get too close as the tree surgeons had quite rightly taped off parts of the cemetery while they were doing their work. Amazingly the majority of gravestones survived....

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Storm Doris Aftermath

Just as I thought spring was in the air and I was looking forwards to being back in the graveyard recording the gravestones and their inscriptions storm 'Doris' steamed in. I went to have a look today to see if any damage was done and was dismayed to see the devastation. Two large conifers were...

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Hello. My name is Chris Kemp and I am a Taphophile.

Sounds like I am admitting to some dark secret. It is dark in a way but not really a secret. There are lots of others like me but we don’t tend to gather in groups although there are some out there who do. What is a Taphophile then? A person interested in cemeteries, funerals and gravestones....

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