The blue bands are on any headstones that Birmingham City Council have deemed unstable/unsafe. The plot owners/relatives have been advised to have the headstones secured, otherwise the Council will have them laid flat. The majority of the headstones in question seem very stable, so I’m not sure how they came to that conclusion. Witton Cemetery was declared “full to capacity” in 2013, so only burials in existing family plots have been made since then. So at least it doesn’t look like old graves are going to be cleared and reused. (I understand that grave plots tend to be “purchased” for 75 or 99 years.)
Before ww2, after about 30 years you needed to show that you maintained the grave to stop it being reused, and the only way to do that was to put a gravestone on the plot. As a lot of people couldn't afford to do that, many old private graves were reused for further private burials or for public burials.
I know witton very well. There are a lot of sections that don't have any gravestones because Witton was mainly used until WW2 for unmarked public burials.
That's still common practice in the uk, most open cemeteries now are maintained by local authorities, and are used for people of different faiths or no faiths, and each religious group has their own section in each cemeteries.
You accessed this cemetery through one of the auxiliary gates. The main entrance to the cemetery is magnificent with a huge Gothic Lodge. Which lead you into the first part of the cemetery with the most magnificent angels and tombstones ever the part you were in really is the newer sides which is nice, but it’s nowhere near as interesting as the main entrance you missed the magnificent grave cast in the shape of a lighthouse That is spectacular with doves on it … You should gob back and do another video . I used to walk my four pug dog round this cemetery twice a day for five years when I was living only around the corner from it
My grandfather's grave is there, some letter we found says "it's on the hill-side of Witton Cemetery to the north of Birmingham. Not sure how to find his grave or information. Anyone lives or can visit? His name was Samuel K Khan. I would really appreciate.
HMS Galatea sunk after it was hit by a torpedo from a German Submarine just off Alexandria, Egypt. 15th December 1941. 469 men, including Arthur, lost their life.
