Murder of a Blackburn Babe

Sweet little June Anne Devaney was just one month short of her fourth birthday. The child had been hospitalised at Queens Park Hospital, Blackburn, due to a bout of pneumonia, but after ten days confinement was on the mend and due to head home the following morning. Heartbreakingly, she was never to return. In the

Layton’s Links to the Bloodiest Battle

The Battle of the Somme, where more than a million soldiers were killed in four months of machine gun warfare. Numerous British battalions were entering battle for the first time, and General Sir Henry Rawlinson issued an order that infantry troops were to advance at a walking pace in evenly spaced lines. Although many experienced

Return to Churchtown, Lancashire

Probably my favorite churchyard, situated around the north and south sides of St. Helen)s church, containing several sandstone headstones that have received a Grade II designation from English Heritage. They date mostly from the 18th century.There is a sundial that dates from 1757 & within the church there is the chamfered shaft of a sandstone

St Ann’s Churchyard

The Church of St Ann, Manchester, once had its own graveyard encircling the rear of the building.The site was used for interments between 1712-1854, which were stopped due to the Burial Act, putting a halt to burials being carried out in already overcrowded church yards.The burial ground was partially cleared in 1842 and the majority

Easter Saturday Tour @Layton Cemetery, Talbot Rd Blackpool

Seaside Suicide

As dawn broke on the bitterly cold morning of Tuesday 16th December, 1930, two drowned bodies were discovered washed up on the beach, at South Shore, Blackpool, Lancashire. The couple were later to be identified as James Smith (aged 68) and Lily Lavinia Francis Ferris (52 years old.) James Smith was known locally as a

Cemetery Tour

Click the above link to reveal a cemetery slideshow from today’s tour 🖤🪦 Today’s Gruesome & Grisly tour was a pleasure to host, heartfelt thanks to all who attended 🖤

Lament of Lovesick Lizzie

If you were to visit the picturesque village of Chipping in the postcard pretty Ribble Valley you would be forgiven for thinking you had stepped back in time. Chipping can boast the oldest shop in the United Kingdom (which dates back to 1668) The grade ll listed Woolfen Hall, made from slobbered rubble, three almshouses

Walking between the stones (a taster tour)

youtube.com/watch A taster walk around the cemetery . . . We hope you enjoy it 🪦 Learn something of the stories beneath the stones, walk with Juliette Gregson, Heritage Photographer, and I as we share a little of its history . . .

Love Never Dies

Edward Rifle Mann & Helen Wolstenholme Layton Cemetery is located in the seaside town of Blackpool, within the county of Lancashire. A holiday destination situated on the NorthWest Coast of England. Opened in 1873 when the council decided its parish churchyard was replete with burying. This sprawling Victorian necropolis contains many notable graves. If you