As we begin this New Year of 2024 I hope you will permit me a little self-indulgence.
This blog is dedicated to remembering the ordinary people of Swindon. There are more than 550 stories on the Radnor Street Cemetery blog. Stories about shopkeepers, boilermakers, loco drivers, coachmakers, fitters and turners and the women who, perhaps surprisingly, were social workers, J.P.s, magistrates and business women, as well as wives and mothers.
We have readers from across the globe, although this might just be Noel, who has done a lot of travelling in 2023. Our cemetery walks led by tour guide Andy (who manages to fit them in around his cricket watching calendar) continue to attract on average 50+ people. Our team of gardening volunteers continues to grow under the leadership of Jon. There are 104 Commonwealth War Graves, which the team care for in their role as Eyes On, Hands On volunteers. In recent months they have discovered the graves of veterans of the Crimea and Boer Wars and even the Zulu War.
It is hoped that Swindon Borough Council, in this new era of heritage awareness and appreciation, will recognise the importance of Radnor Street Cemetery and join us in preserving the history of this special place.
The inspiration for this blog has come from several sources – firstly The Gentle Author who has been writing the Spitalfields Life blog for more than 14 years, posting daily stories about London’s east end. Then there is Sheldon K. Goodman of Cemetery Club fame, a cemetery aficionado par excellence. And finally my friend Mark Sutton who sadly died in 2022.
Radnor Street Cemetery 