Located three miles to the south of Manchester City Centre, the magnificent Southern Cemetery is the largest municipal cemetery in the United Kingdom and the second largest in all of Europe. Over the last four years in which time our daughter was a student at the Manchester School of Art we have driven past the cemetery en route to the centre. On those occasions I could only wonder at the place as the mass of aged headstones seemed keep pace with the car for an eternity. It was, from the first time I saw it, high on my list of desirable cemetery visits.
Mo completed her Fine Arts degree this summer (with an MA commencing this September). Time had come to leave the hustle, bustle and buzz of central Manchester and move out to more affordable accommodation in Burnage (Gallagher territory). Thus on the occasion of our most recent visit to the city Gunta and I opted to stay in nearby Didsbury rather than in Princess Street in the centre which has been our usual area to stay.
Friday morning saw weather that would be perfect in any corner of the country, let alone Manchester, the sun shining in a cloudless sky in that unique late summer/early autumn way. The kind of weather that sets a cemetery off like no other. Now, our daughter’s boyfriend, John, has a personal connection with the cemetery (as do half the residents of Manchester to be honest given its scale). His Mother and paternal Grandparents lie in the grounds and so we purchased a plant in one of the several florists whose trade is supported by Southern Cemetery.
It sounds like a very strange thing to say about a cemetery, but I felt that there was something about this place that celebrated life. Unlike many large cemeteries in towns and cities where the development of the area can understood by looking at the age of the graves in a given area, in Southern Cemetery there is much more of a feeling that modern headstones are in close proximity with the older ones. As such there are not large swathes of the site that are untended and unvisited. As mentioned, it was a Friday morning and I would describe the place as busy, very peaceful but well, yes, busy. As we passed the North Chapel, a funeral service was in progress. Elsewhere, would be mourners were frantically trying to establish the whereabouts of other funerals taking place that morning, having in all likelihood underestimated the enormity of the site. We saw families in good spirits carrying balloons en route to the grave of a young relative. Really, in this place of death and remembrance there was evidence of life abundant. In this spirit, recognising that bereavement affects both young and old, within the grounds are post boxes for letters to heaven and letters to the angels for children to post. There are also children’s trails through the cemetery and even traces of humour if you know where to look!
All of these things to my mind are perfectly designed to make the cemetery, if not a joyful place, far less of a place of doom, gloom and unconquerable sadness.
Another thing that struck me about Southern Cemetery was its modesty. Manchester’s first millionaire, business man and philanthropist, John Rylands has the biggest memorial in the cemetery. Indeed it is quite large, but in comparison with some of the memorials that grace the garden cemeteries of London it is not so showy at all. Legendary Manchester United manager, Sir Matt Busby, lies a bounce of a football away from John’s family’s plot. As can be seen from the photo, his headstone includes his family only and makes no reference to football at all. Contrast this with memorials in Germany, where the grave’s occupant’s worldly achievements are commonly spelled out like a curriculum vitae in stone for any passer to see!
Another notable resident is the painter L.S. Lowery. Such an understated memorial. He is commemorated on a side panel of his parents' grave with just mention of his name and dates. The only clue to his illustrious past and fame is a small collection of worn and weathered paint brushes left by admirers of the man and his work.
It doesn't take much for me to recommend a visit to most cemeteries, but this one is truely exceptional. Walk its paths and who knows you may even see Morrissey. The Smiths' track, 'Cemetery Gates' is widely believed to be based upon times he spent within the grounds.
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