30 December 2016

The final post of the year, and the end of the project, showing the changes that take place down there over the course of twelve months.  My hopes of some white on the ground to add some seasonal charm have been put paid to by climate change.  It's actually pretty mild out there today.  So the scene is much is was back on 1 January, 53 Fridays ago.

But very different to how it was all looking in mid Summer, as this post from 24 June shows.

It even looked slightly different on Xmas Day, with the aid of some actual sunshine adding a bit of glow to the scene.  Including some spectacular skies.

And there were several visitors come to tend the graves of loved ones, including this right below our balcony.

Yesterday I had a late afternoon walk, the sun low and providing a bit of lens flare on some shots.

I revisited the grave I first featured in my 5 February post (which also featured a rare glimpse of snow....).  Back then I'd expected that there would be a headstone appearing within weeks.  But over the following month the only change was a gradual decline into obscurity.  The flowers withered and vanished, the turfs didn't take and the grass on the barely visible mound became sparse.  It's only that baldness that marks the spot from the land alongside now, and will gradually vanish from memory.

That one was squeezed in to a spare gap, but there's still a surprising area of green space in the graveyard as a whole.

And still some Winter greenery.

Plus a lot of visiting seagulls.  This one looks at home here.

I made sure my path took me to revisit the Stillbirth Memorial I've featured before.

I hadn't really noticed last time that round the back of the above there's a small stone against the wall.  You can just about make it out here....

....and close up it looks like this.

With, a bit further along, another 'hidden' memorial.

Both with quite fresh flowers.

I also poked my nose into another corner where I've not taken pictures before.

And past the memorial to the Gretna disaster once again, having featured it in more detail in the post of 10 June.

I still like finding odd or outdated names on inscriptions around the cemetery.

But just walking around, always looking for new viewing angles, is an enjoyment that will stay with me for some time to come.

And a final Celtic Cross to end on.

Many thanks if you've been one of the (few) people who have taken a look from time to time.

That's it, one full year of changes photographed, a year of life above, and sometimes in, the graveyard, and an end to the 'project'.

Probably.

Unless there's a decent bit of snow in the next few weeks....