Milton Road Cemetery, Weston-super-Mare

Weston-super-Mare Cemetery

Having been let down the other day by finding no available toilets in Ashcombe Park a thought crossed my mind as to where the nearest available conveniences might be.  This morning – an overcast dismal Saturday – I decided to check out my theory and hey presto SUCCESS.

A little further along Milton Road from Ashcombe Park is the cemetery.  Just inside the front gates is an old toilet block.  It is concealed nicely by trees and if I had not consulted the chart of the cemetery I would not have realised these facilities were there.  Admittedly they cannot be compared to the refurbished loos in Grove Park but for anyone “caught short” they are better than nothing.  

Weston-super-Mare cemetery, Milton Road Toilets

My prime mission accomplished it was then time to set off around the cemetery taking photographs and seeing whether any headstones caught my eye in regard to making interesting stories.  The cemetery itself is certainly a photographer’s paradise with some areas being allowed to flourish in a natural state.  The delicate wild flowers and grasses gently blowing in the breeze were a delight to behold.   

The cemetery mouser idled by and we exchanged morning pleasantries.

A few minutes later I noticed two very large fledgling seagulls tottering down a path.  I stopped and chuckled at the sight but thought twice about trying to photograph them.  All of a sudden, above my head, I was aware of tremendous squawking and out of nowhere 20+ seagulls were circling and swooping.  Several decided to dive bomb and the sound of their powerful wings just inches above my head was terrifying.  My only defence was to wave arms in the air and dart to the nearest clump of trees for cover. 

However, the adventure was more than worth it because I did discover a number of headstones offering clues to interesting stories. As the delicate flowers have been mentioned above lets start with a story about the FLOWER family.

The FLOWER family of Weston-super-Mare

In the 1880s Joseph FLOWER worked for the Great Western Railway as a plate layer.  He and his wife, Annie, lived in Weston-super-Mare and their two eldest sons were Edward and William.  On 14 August 1902 Edward joined the GWR as an Engine Cleaner and two years later progressed to Shunter and Fireman.  With advancement came a move from home and by September 1905 Edward was living in lodgings in St. James Street, Penzance with a friend who was a GWR railway driver. 

On the morning of 29 September 1905 Edward was the Fireman on the 12.30 from Penzance.  As it approached Redruth Station little did he know that on the "down line" stood a cattle truck with its doors swinging open.  As the 12.30 passed by a door of the cattle truck hit the front of the train tearing the side and making an almighty row.  Instinctively Edward pushed his head out to see what all the commotion was about – he knew no more.  Death was instant.  To make matters even worse the driver of the train with the cattle truck was none other than Edward’s friend and room mate from Penzance.

13 years passed and England was in the midst of war.  Edward’s younger brother, William, had joined the Army Service Corps – Private DM2/179282.  Armistace Day was 11 November 1918 but William did not live to see it.  He died in the Military Hospital in Croydon just 3 days earlier. 

Edward and William lie together in the cemetery in Milton Road.