The day was warm, the light perfect and once again I remembered why I liked the place so much.
It is that mix of history, the abundance of nature and that sense of tranquilly.
All of which makes it somewhere that draws you in.
For most of course it is to visit the graves of family members but there are regular talks and walks focusing on the monuments of the good and great and more than a few given over to spotting the varied wildlife.
And many of those guided tours will end at the memorial to those civilians who died during the Second World War.
It is on the eastern side of and the simple and modest monument records the names of those who died and are buried in the cemetery.
They were killed on December 23 1940.*
Mr Hopkin was 31 his wife 29 and their two children were just five and two.
And close by on the following night Marjorie and June Hall died in Heron Street in Hulme.
Now 75 years separate us from the events of those December nights, long enough for many of the survivors to have also died and with them the vivid memories of the blitz and the subsequent bombing that went on into the middle of the war.
All of which makes it important I think to pause and visit memorials like this one along with the Tree of Remembrance in Piccadilly.**
And even in this year of anniversaries which began in the August of 2014 with the start of the Great War continued with the great battles of the Western Front, concluding in December with the Manchester Blitz it is still easy to become blasé about the loss of life and the small individual tragedies as well as the big events.
So I will take time off again to visit the memorial in the cemetery and combine it with a visit to the permanent exhibition in the Remembrance Lodge by the gates.
I was there yesterday with David Harrop who maintains the exhibition from his collection of memorabilia spanning both world wars along with material from the history of the Post Office.
Most are the everyday things that would have come through the letter box and were happily discarded when the war ended including a leaflet on what to do after the bombing and letters and postcards. There are even a few souvenirs bought as part of a war drives to raise funds for charities.
And this porcelain piece which may postdate the war.
Pictures; from the collections of David Harrop and Andrew Simpson
*Greater Manchester Blitz Victims, http://www.greatermanchesterblitzvictims.co.uk/index.php
**In Piccadilly Gardens at the Tree of Remembrance, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/in-piccadilly-gardens-at-tree-of.html
My mother Esther Peel nee Brown was the half sister of margaret clelland Hopkins, who was killed on 23/12/40 with her husband John their two children and Margarets daughter by her first marriage Mary Wilhelmina Forrester who was aged 10. My mother recently died aged 91 and always told us about Maggie who was Scottish, I will make a point of visiting the Southern cemetery and laying some flowers down for my mum in memory of her sister and her family. God bless them all xx Hilary Mitton
ReplyDeleteHi Hilary. I'm going to visit the grave with my neice, later this year x
DeleteThank you
ReplyDeleteMy grandads 8 family members all died at 77 wilmott street during the blitz their last name is Muirhead, my grandad survived but was buried under the rubble for days
ReplyDelete