I want to be a rabbit – a Graveyard Rabbit!!

Even looooooong before I was bitten by the genealogy bug I was always interested in graveyards.  I always found them peaceful places to walk around (and still do) and some of the stones and monuments were always quite fascinating.  I stopped and read many inscriptions even though the people laid to rest there were not connected to my family at all.

Once the genealogy bug bit me, I had more of a sense of purpose for strolling around graveyards, still finding them very peaceful and interesting but of course I had the added incentive to discover my ancestors, transcribe any inscriptions that could still be read and if there was no stone, at least I knew which graveyard they were buried in and could still visit.

In more recent years it has saddened me to see so many graveyards turned to just grass with no tombs, monuments, headstones, nothing and where the obvious graves still exist it saddens me so much more to see that many younger people these days have absolutely no respect for those that went before us, because they really don’t worry about standing on an obvious grave, throwing their litter on it, and just trampling all over other graves. And some even vandalise graves!!  Why!?  I always tread very carefully so as not to walk over someone lying there and always utter a quick apology should I inadvertently step on a grave.

I talked to the Vicar of St. Mary’s Church, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire a few years ago when we were able to visit and told him that sometimes it was quite difficult to not step onto someone’s grave and I felt bad if I did that.  He knew I was researching my family history and visiting ancestor’s graves and he just said to me that as I meant no harm at all then they won’t mind!!  So since then I don’t feel quite so bad because I don’t mean to trample on any of my ancestors or anyone else’s, but I still utter a quick apology, that’s just me!!

Since moving and updating this blog to here, and joining Geneabloggers and looking at many other genealogy blogs, which I find so fascinating, I came across the Graveyard Rabbit Association and other Graveyard Rabbit blogs.  They are wonderful and it is so good to see all those who are Graveyard Rabbits trying to inform, educate, preserve and generally try to “look after” their respective graveyards they are interested in.  It made me think that I would very much like to do the same.  So I am hoping to become a Graveyard Rabbit and am now trying to set up a blog to do this, as you have to have a blog especially for that rather than a blog like this one which has all sorts in it genealogywise.

If there are any Graveyard Rabbits reading this, I would be very pleased if anyone could give me some advice about doing this (as it is new to me) and any helpful suggestions as to what to include in the new blog I am setting up for this.