To think it's not weird, creepy or disrespectful to go for a walk around a cemetery

[JuvenileBigfoot]

Told a friend I went for a walk in a local cemetery. She thinks it's creepy and disrespectful. I think it's a nice quet place to take a walk.

Admittedly I also like looking at old headstones, but I feel like reading the names and dates is acknowledging that person's life and is not disrespectful.

The cemetery in question is old, and no longer accepts burials but is open to the public. However, I've also walked around open cemeteries.

What do you think? Creepy ot not?

I did it often when I lived across from one. My DD (6yo) loved it also! We would read the names and dates and DD would admire some of the flowers etc.

Where we live now has a small cemetery, no path going through it. So we’ve only been once and probably won’t go as often!

I find them peaceful and grounding, not creepy at all. The dead can't hurt us.

We like walking around cemeteries, it’s interesting.

My grandma used to live in a road facing the wall of West Norwood Cemetery in South London, where she is now buried. As teenagers my friend and I would go for a walk there and explore the vaults in the Greek Orthodox section.

I used to live near a cemetery and walked there often. There's a big field next to it so I walked my dog in the field then we used to sit on a bench in the cemetery. I obviously didn't let my dog crap in there or go near the head stones. We kept to the paths walking through and by the bench. My dog was kept on a lead at all times. The council encouraged people to respectfully walk in and around the cemetery in the day it was locked at night. People walking in the cemetery actually reduced the amount of antisocial behaviour and damage in the cemetery. There's a volunteer group that keeps it nice now and they are still encouraging people to walk and sit in the cemetery. Part of it is an old victorian and onwards cemetery and part is still used.

They say you die twice:

Once when you take your last breath and once when someone says your name for the last time/ last time you are remembered.

Where my dad is buried, they have a day of the year where people are invited to go around and say out loud a name on a grave. I think it's kinda lovely

Oh I love that!

Not at all creepy.

Well, virtually every great poet in history has done it, and quite a lot of visual artists too….

But would you take a short cut home through a cemetery when it's dark...or Halloween?

I find them fascinating.

I find it lovely to look at all the old gravestones.

I feel an immense sense of peace in cemeteries, especially old ones. I love looking at the old names and family relationships. It's something I've done since I was a child and I don't see it as creepy at all, as long as you're quiet and respectful.

All that time and thought and money gone into engraving head stones - it is disrespectful not to go and read them

Highgate Cemetery is well worth a visit. Incredibly peaceful, and a beautiful place to be buried.

Dead bodies are everywhere underground anyway, over the millennia, maybe under your house just deeper down.

Graves are not creepy, that is a sad attitude I find the ones with pics on particularly interesting.

Not. It’s peaceful, quiet and somehow feels safe (ish). I read the headstones too. My father and grandparents are buried/ashes are there.

It is fine.

Me and my mum visit her parent's plot a couple of times a year. We takes the dogs (it is a beautiful memorial woodland), and also have a look at other plots. Many have trees on that families can buy and have planted, and it is nice to see how much bigger they are year on year.
One year, we went just after Xmas, and a lot of plots had decorations on. One had a lit up 'Ho Ho Ho'. It made us laugh, but maybe there was an in joke somewhere with the deceased about it.

What I have always found a bit distasteful is the goths who go to Whitby and drape over graves for photos. Look, but don't touch.

If headstones weren't meant to be read they wouldn't have inscriptions on them!

We often visit cemeteries when we go abroad - Pere Lachaise and the old Jewish cemetery in Prague were so interesting

I think it's extremely respectful to the dead. I often on cycle rides stop for a break and a stroll if I see an old cemetery.
Last year one gravestone was of a very young man killed in WW1. It just said his ship was mined (blown up).
It took me down a big rabbit hole of research and learning about where he was at the time (Russia) Unfortunately the records came to a full stop for several reasons but for a few weeks I talked about that young man to other people and thought about his life and his family's.
It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gone in for a walk. I think it's nice.

The Victorian cemetery near me has it's "open day" (=big fete) soon and actively encourages visitors with tours and events, as do many other older cemeteries.
Not weird at all.

I work next to a beautiful cemetery and often walk round it at lunchtime. I also like visiting cemeteries when I'm away. Don't think it's weird!

I like looking at the gravestones and exploring the history of the place and people there.

I lost my mum two years ago. I often take a picnic blanket and a coffee and look over the beautiful view. Completely peaceful and serene. I do a lot of thinking and chatting to my mum!
Sometimes I take a little walk around. You're not being unreasonable, I think they're lovely places to be.

I love walking round graveyards and reading the headstones. Used to walk through one every day to get to school. Now there's one across the road from DD's school so whenever I go there for parents evening or whatever, I have a little wander round the graveyard first.
I especially love to visit the graveyard on Independence Day (Finland), Christmas Eve, and All Saint's Day as people put candles on the graves so the whole place is a sea of flickering candles - its beautiful, peaceful, and thought-provoking. DD lights a candle for her dad and puts it at the marker stone for those buried elsewhere (there's always a crowd of candles there) and I light one for my grandparents.