Ross’s journey takes him to all manner of places, but perhaps the one that speaks to us today is the most contemporary. Sharpham Meadow is a natural burial ground by Totnes in Devon. A secular place, with slate stones for markers, it is a place of calm and beauty where the bodies of those gone are put into the earth to become part of it. Bridget has buried Wayne there and often visits to chat to him. Ross’s conversation with Wyne’s funeral arrangers is fascinating. The Green Funeral Company offers an alternative path to the traditional funeral directors; one that urges creativity and is elemental in approach. It spoke to me of a way of doing things that felt less rigid and pompous and was for the living as much as the dead. Oh, I love them all. I love the bones of them. But I do feel a certain fondness for the days I spent at Highgate in London. That’s not so much to do with the many famous people buried there, although it is such a treasure house of stories. What I like are the people who work or volunteer there, and who visit the graves loved ones. The gravedigger, the gardener, the stonemason, the tour guide. Highgate is full of great characters, people who are passionate about the place and work to keep it going. That, ultimately, is what my book is about: how graveyards live.

Enter a grave new world of fascination and delight as award-winning writer Peter Ross uncovers the stories and glories of graveyards. Who are London's outcast dead and why is David Bowie their guardian angel? What is the remarkable truth about Phoebe Hessel, who disguised herself as a man to fight alongside her sweetheart, and went on to live in the reigns of five monarchs? Why is a Bristol cemetery the perfect wedding venue for goths? Love the title and I loved this book. I chose it because I found the title intriguing and because graveyards and tombs have a strange sense of wonder and fascination for many people. Freda Mountjoy- Julie Holmes was very good playing the gently sweet, but then subtly sinister Freda. Her costume was also very lovely. Very good diction and interaction with other players. Andy Young played Perry her secretary, a shy imposter! Andy was superb throughout, as the scared, uncomfortable, and nervous man who eventually takes some control. Undressing on stage was comically managed, and well done. Characterisation and diction in all cases were excellent.

Death becomes them

Author tactfully interweaves facts about the cemeteries with personal stories hidden behind the names on stones: Kensal Green's Medi Oliver Mehra, Malmesbury Abbey's Hannah Twynnoy, St Nicholas Churchyard's Phoebe Hessel, or Shane MacThomás, whose life, death, and what follows after, is tied to Glasnevin and its history. Fascinating . . . Ross makes a likeably idiosyncratic guide and one finishes the book feeling strangely optimistic about the inevitable.’– The Observer A Tomb With A View has all the ingredients for a spoof murder mystery and Compton Players served it all up with a dose of humour under the imaginative direction from Tracey Pearce. The audience were kept in doubt as to the outcome, right to the end. The result was a hugely enjoyable evening with guns firing, daggers and blood in profusion and among the grisly happenings there were laughs aplenty.

Since reading this I have taken detours on my afternoon dog walks, walking through the village churchyard, a 13th Century church which has 4 Commonwealth war graves from the First World War and one from the Second. My daughter and I felt it was okay to look, to read the inscriptions, having before felt this rather intrusive. We found families, children, people from the 1700s who we were surprised to find had lived to their late 70's. It's extremely interesting. In the comfort of my own home, Peter Ross took me with him on a journey through great urban necropolises, like London's Highgate and Kensal Green or Glasnevin, to a lesser-known tide-hidden resting place of Lilias Adie - a victim of Scottish witchcraft panic from 1704.Gordon Braidwood’s less-than-reliable solicitor, Lynsey Spence’s wonderfully-judged Nurse Franklin and Ward’s fittingly absurd housekeeper Agatha round out an ensemble that has a pleasing togetherness. clever momentum

A walk through the graveyards of Britain guided by one of the most engaging wordsmiths willing to take you by the hand.’– The Big Issue (*Best Books 2020*) Fascinating . . . Ross makes a likeably idiosyncratic guide and one finishes the book feeling strangely optimistic about the inevitable.'- The Observer The production, directed skilfully by Tracey Pearce, flowed along reasonably well, maybe a fraction slower than it should, but well acted, good positioning on stage throughout and yes, even a colourful, slightly creepy setting. Ross' approach is heartfelt, deeply emphatic and democratic. An entire chapter is devoted to people who were outcasts in life and death: prostitutes, unbaptized children, people who committed suicide. Death is, after all, quite democratic. A strange choice of play maybe, but overall this was yet another successful production for the Compton Players.Ross is a wonderfully evocative writer, deftly capturing a sense of place and history, while bringing a deep humanity to his subject. He has written a delightful book. Enter a grave new world of fascination and delight as award-winning writer Peter Ross uncovers the stories and glories of graveyards. Who are London’s outcast dead and why is David Bowie their guardian angel? What is the remarkable truth about Phoebe Hessel, who disguised herself as a man to fight alongside her sweetheart, and went on to live in the reigns of five monarchs? Why is a Bristol cemetery the perfect wedding venue for goths? A startling, delight-filled tour of graveyards and the people who love them, dazzlingly told.' - Denise Mina Saddest, I found, are the forgotten graves. Those in York, on a patch of grass between two busy roads which house cholera victims from an outbreak in 1832, or the ‘Navvies’ Graveyard which marks the graves of 37 unnamed Irish workers who died of typhus in 1847 while building the Caledonian Railway.