Drone's eye view of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries

One of the regular attenders of the Friends group Open Days is Bob McGowan and his family and it was following a chat at this years event that Bob asked if the friends group might like to take the opportunity of having a drone survey of the cemeteries undertaken. As Bob's company Helidrone utilises drones as part of its core professional practice this offer was eagerly accepted and having cleared this with Lewisham Bereavement Services (who fully supported this endeavour) we spent an eventful couple of hours with Bob on a hot summers day with the now familiar buzz of a drone circulating over the cemeteries with the remarkable aerial footage now freely accessible to better map the cemeteries and offer some fine perspectives on a landscape not seen before with such clarity.

Ladywell Chapel & porch from south

Ladywell Chapel & Porch from west

Heroes' Corner

Hither Green Sydenham Memorial

Brockley Cemetery

Base of former Chapel, Brockley

The Deptford Poisoner, Amelia Winters, is the subject of the 5th podcast by Mike Guilfoyle

Known as the Deptford Poisoner, Amelia Winters shocked late Victorian society with a string of brazen murders in order to claim their insurance.

The fifth in a series of fascinating stories behind the epitaphs at Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery in South East London. Presented by FOBLC's very own historian Mike Guilfoyle and made by Tempest Productions.

The medals awarded to Gunner Arthur Howard, one of the heroes of Rorke's Drift, have gone on sale for £50,000

The medals awarded to Gunner Arthur Howard, one of the heroes of Rorke's Drift who lies buried in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries, have gone on sale for £50,000 according to the Daily Mail

Gunner Arthur Howard's South Africa 1877-79 medal is being sold at auction

In September 2012 a new headstone for Gunner Howard was unveiled thanks to a campaign by Corporal Bugler Tim Needham, Royal Marines, who started a campaign to have the defenders of Rorke's Drift memorialised.   

Marcus Budgen, head of the medal department at Spink & Son, said: 'The story of Gunner Arthur Howard, the luckiest man of Rorke's Drift, had almost been lost to time. This hero of the legendary defence sadly died in obscurity and was buried in an unmarked grave. It took the best part of a century for him to be remembered and celebrated.'

Headstone for Gunner Howard Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries

Friends of Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries Open Day Sunday 7th July 2019 11.00am - 4.30pm

Author Sarah Crofts will be appearing at the Open Day at 12 noon to sign copies of new book celebrating the life of Thankfull Sturdee (1852-1934) Deptford Photographer.

Members of the Friends group attended a recent guided walk and fascinating talk on the life and work of the Deptford Photographer Thankful Sturdee (who lies buried in Brockley cemetery)

This was followed by a book launch at the well known Deptford Hostelry, 'The Dog and Bell' where the author Sarah Crofts signed copies of her new book about Thankfull Sturdee. The book features most of his Deptford photos long associated with this prolific local photographer along with some other previously unknown photos and newly discovered information about his life and career.

Thankfull Sturdee took the photographs of the original Fowlers Troop and the Deptford Jack in the Green

You can also see materials relating to Thankfull Sturdee, including prints of his photos, at the Lewisham Local History and Archives Centre.

Mary Ann Bevan: the Ugliest Woman in the World. The latest instalment of London Epitaphs, a collection of fascinating short podcasts based on the headstones of Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery

In the 1920s, Mary Ann Bevan was known as the Ugliest Woman in the World but the story of how she came by the title is a tragic one. The third in a new series of true stories based on the gravestones of Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery in South East London. Read and researched by Mike Guilfoyle and made by Tempest Productions.

Mary Ann Bevan took up the title of being "the ugliest woman in the world" to feed her children