To enjoy wandering around cemeteries and graveyards?

[Rhine]

Just that really.

People think I'm odd, but I find cemeteries and graveyards fascinating places. I love wandering around and reading the headstones, especially the really old ones. In my town we have a massive old cemetary, its pretty much full up now but some of the graves date from the 1870's onwards, they have those huge ornate headstones with the big statues on them. You can tell the people buried there must have been from well to do families, it's facsinating.

It's so peaceful and tranquil in there, and there's lots of lovely wildlife to be seen as well.

The general opinion of others seems to be that cemteries are creepy, and that I'm odd for finding them interesting places.

YANBU I love it too. When I had a free day, one of my favourite places to go was to the cemetery near my house which has old catacombs built for the cholera epidemic. It was always quiet, very atmospheric, very interesting. I loved it!

I love how quiet they are. I did make the mistake of going to Spring Grove last Sweetest Day (do you all have Sweetest Day?) and saw four weddings going on there, but other than that, lovely and quiet. I like to go to cemeteries to practice using my DSLR camera. There's so much to photograph; monuments, trees, water, wildlife.

Driving or walking past a large one makes me feel a bit more aware of mortality than I enjoy, but actally going in and being in it properly feels better. One of my earliest memories is of todldling through one with my DM when I was only just able to walk, and really liking the green chippings in some of the grave areas (not sure what they are called, sorry).

Not just you, I find they have an amazing power of place.

YANBU, I'm really into tracing my family tree so find all the gravestones fascinating. Our beautiful local church is a cut-through into town and there are benches in the graveyard for people to sit on, which sounds weird but really isn't. I used to live in London and loved the huge cemeteries there like Highgate. I really like the gravestones with interesting inscriptions, I live in Yorkshire now and the gravestones here tend to last quite well so most are legible, and it seems to have been a 'thing' to write huge amounts of detail on them in Victorian times round here, giving occupation, parents names, details of where born and died. They're really fascinating.

They're fascinating and a direct and simple link with our ancestors, both individually and collectively.

They tell us about fashions in memorials and cultural expressions of dying, death and mourning and have real importance as sanctuaries for wildlife in often highly urban surroundings.

I have visited graveyards all over the world; alongside food markets and pharmacies, they are usually top of my list for a swift insight into the local culture.

I really like the gravestones with interesting inscriptions

Me, too. I came across one once that had the woman's info, then said, "May God Have Mercy on Her Soul." It makes you wonder what she got up to when she was living.

i really like the gravestones with interesting inscriptions

My DF wants 'I told you I was ill' on his gravestone!

Not odd at all, I bet that comment came from one of those people in society who fits the mould of 'normality' and finds anything outside this mould strange. Eg, finds it weird people going to cinema alone etc..

I love them! We have one near us which is in a beautiful churchyard, surrounded by streams, big oak trees, squirrels, birds etc.. It's so peaceful to walk around. And so humbling.. It doesn't feel creepy but there is a certain magic there, so many lives are buried below you, people with many memories, knowledge, skills, experiences.. People like us.

I've found many people just can't handle anything death related, particularly after my dad died.. They just can't talk about it. I think it's good to be comfortable around it.

Forgot to add.. hate the ones of young people and babies though, so sad.

What's your favourite cemetery? I like the one near to Moulin Rouge which I think is better than the cemetery which is home to Jim Morrison..

The Ninth Ward cemetery is superb too. Monumental graves and family tombs the size of small houses. Then there's the little cemeteries in Mexico where I used to watch Day of the Dead ceremonies.

The one I'm dead in. Bring it on.

I love a good graveyard, I find them endlessly fascinating, and yet sad too. I recently popped into the churchyard in the village where I grew up and felt like I was amongst friends as I recognised so many village names although it was also sad to see some names of people I knew.

arnosvale.org.uk/

Beautiful place, lovely tea shop, great walking trails, tiny museum...always wanted to go on one of the guided walks...

No! I love a walk through a graveyard. We were in Washington and. Went to see JFKs grave in Arlington.....of course, I'm old enough to remember when he died (I was 6) and I remember watching the funeral and seeing the grave with the Eternal Flame.

I love a good graveyard - I often end up jotting down details from graves then looking on Ancestry to piece together the person's life. I live in an area with a lot of mining heritage so there are a lot of tragic accidents, often involving fathers and sons, uncles, neighbours etc.

If you like Epitaphs, this little book is fascinating and very cheap on Amazon
www.amazon.co.uk/Discovering-Epitaphs-Geoffrey-N-Wright/dp/0747803242/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440507716&sr=8-1&keywords=discovering+epitaphs
Also, this is a very readable start to understanding graveyards
www.amazon.co.uk/How-Read-Graveyard-Peter-Stanford/dp/1441179771/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440507972&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+read+a+graveyard

The churchyard in Crail is one of my favourites, there's a headstone with seven or so children, who all died in infancy in the late 18th century, it always makes me thankful that I live when I do and my children have grown up with a NHS and advances in medical science. I love nunhead cemetery as well, overgrown, green and peaceful.

I'm sure the vast majority of graveyard bingo collectors are respectful of their surroundings, I always say 'excuse me' & 'thank you' if I tread on a grave by mistake, or have to very gently step off the path to see an interesting inscription.

I remember walking through a graveyard with DH reading all the names on gravestones and considering them for impending baby names.

YANBU I was going to mention Arnos Vale by me too. It's beautiful and they hold everything from baby naming ceremonies to forest schools.

Ireland has some cracking graveyards.

I would love to go to Highgate but they dont allow you to wander around the old bit on your own.