#108. I've always loved graveyards. I'm not sure what it is about them that draws me in, but a little while ago I decided to record my musings as I wander round them.
So that's what these Graveyard Musing episodes are, just me and my phone, in a graveyard. And sometimes I go international (like this one) and sometimes Chris joins me (like this one).
Anyway, welcome to another Graveyard Musing from me, Claire Sandys (host of The Silent Why podcast).
In this musing, Chris (husband) and I are wandering around Moorslede Communal Cemetery in Belgium.
Come with us to explore how different graves are in Belgium, and hear our thoughts as we look around a very crowded cemetery in Moorslede, but also a beautiful one we find on the other side of the road.
#108. I've always loved graveyards. I'm not sure what it is about them that draws me in, but a little while ago I decided to record my musings as I wander round them.
So that's what these Graveyard Musing episodes are, just me and my phone, in a graveyard. And sometimes I go international (like this one) and sometimes Chris joins me (like this one).
Anyway, welcome to another Graveyard Musing from me, Claire Sandys (host of The Silent Why podcast).
In this musing, Chris (husband) and I are wandering around Moorslede Communal Cemetery in Belgium.
Come with us to explore how different graves are in Belgium, and hear our thoughts as we look around a very crowded cemetery in Moorslede, but also a beautiful one we find on the other side of the road.
Hello, and welcome to The Silent Why, I'm back with another graveyard musings episode. I'm Claire, host of the podcast. And as I record this, I'm still struggling to get my voice back to normal after a dry throat viral thing that I've had for nine weeks! So if I sound a little bit strange, that's why. Now, for your faithful followers who have been around for a while, or for those of you that love to start a new podcast from episode one, you might remember that I've done a few episodes called graveyard musings. This is because I'm a great lover of graveyards and wandering around them to read the names and the stories on the headstones. They just fascinate me. So while I was doing this at our local graveyard, I thought I'll record some of my thoughts and make them into an episode or episodes, which I did in a three part series. Then a while later, I took graveyard musings on the road and we went international. And I did an extended episode from Belgium where I visited the world's largest cemetery for Commonwealth soldiers - Tyne Cot. Then I did one from a cemetery that I can't even pronounce in north Wales. And now I'm back with another one from Belgium from a trip that Chris and I took at the end of 2023. And there's another cameo from husband Chris in this episode as we wander around a graveyard not far from where we were staying in more sled, more sled communal cemetery. Then over the road from that one, we actually wandered into a very new looking cemetery with a word on the wall that I also couldn't pronounce. However, it turned out when consulting our Dutch friends, it's just the word for cemetery anyway, to hear its proper pronunciation I have to go over to our good friend
Jelger:
Begraafplaats
Claire :
So many A's in that word, I cannot tell you. Do you need four A's?! Anyway, the village of Moorslede, located northeast of the town of Ieper most levels in the German hands for much of the first world war until it was taken by Belgium troops on the 29th of September 1918. And the communal cemetery contains the graves of two Commonwealth airmen from the First World War killed in air combat in November 1917. Now, Chris and I didn't know that when we were looking around. So when we're pondering why there are two war graves there, you're already going to know why. However, I'm still no further forward on who our Lady Bundoran was, or why that pathway went into a brick wall and whether she was actually 600 years old. We came across this cemetery on an evening walk a bit like we did in Wales, and decided that we'd wander around and record some of our conversation again, because the cemeteries in Belgium are not like the ones in Wales or in England. There's a lot to see visually in this graveyard, which we're not amazing at painting with words. So if you want to see what we're describing, head over to the link in the show notes to see my photos and any video that I'll put on the website, plus the giant succulent that I really wanted. So enjoy our musings as Chris and I wander around a Belgish is that a word? Cemetery. Okay, so here we are in Belgium, again.
Chris:
Moorslede.
Claire :
Moorslede specifically. And we've come to visit a cemetery this time that is not a war based one, just one a normal for Belgian people. This is not like a normal cemetery in England. This is very different. How would you describe what you're looking at now? A lot of stone.
Chris:
A mixture of styles. You just walked down a long stretch where it's almost like the coffins if presumed those coffins in there been placed inside a giant marble boxes which have been sunk two thirds into the ground with a third of the box in the huge tablets is a sort of six foot by three foot maybe all laying flat ish slight angle with a little bit of writing. They're quite minimal really much.
Claire :
Sometimes it's just literally a name. They haven't even got dates. There's no inscription, no quotes. There are quite off photos which kind of put on stone, like marble of the people that have died. Some
Chris:
flowers, not many flowers.
Claire :
No, almost hardly any real. There's a few but yeah, they're sort of planted in actual, like flower planters at the end of the grave, not laid on the stone or the marble.
Chris:
If you if you glance up from them you've then got we haven't gotten to them yet but you've got what looks more like stuff we see in Britain 1800 brick slabs or night crosses, all made of like quarters like concrete. Yeah, so very different.
Claire :
I mean, literally touching a lot of different styles of stone and marble and concrete but they're touching each other side by side. So really packed in
Chris:
if turned around, the ones behind us. Just flushed to the floor. Again, large pieces of stone or marble. Probably about four or five foot by foot, three foot. Different styles it pebbledash pebbledash grave. Yeah,
Claire :
it's so different from their war cemeteries which is so organized and so uniform. This is a very different setup. And they look really expensive. I mean, you know, headstones are expensive. but this is like I don't know something that's the four or five, six times the size of a normal headstone that we'd see in marble in the UK. And then the writing isn't even etched for some of these over here it's like metal that's been like written in metal and then attached to the top of it just
Chris:
to name a birth date and the death date just
Claire :
he just read these two people next to us Willie friends
Chris:
and Maria John shirt cheese. Yeah, they're not
Claire :
then not easy now to put out
Chris:
and quite a few of them as well the surnames aren't the same zoom bits. While you sort of assume I'd assume that most of these are a husband and a wife that's
Claire :
less they put maiden names so they don't take married names here so much I put maiden names on the graves
Chris:
mostly most of them the surnames there's two people's names on there and the surnames are different a lot
Claire :
of these kinds of photos I'll take some photos you can see what I'm talking about but
Chris:
it's almost like there's a law that you can only have on the actual stone slab a name and the dates and anything extra you want to do a separate piece of
Claire :
data almost all got the same metal cross on it with a flower climbing up it or not towards like the flower represents something whether you have the flower you don't have the flower
Chris:
the ones behind you they're slightly different they have completely different properties my translate that to see what some of this text says something Julian do Bush rests here goodbye to Madeline go
Claire :
there's a chance translate
Chris:
beautiful words.
Claire :
Him must be Mr. Or dear. Oh, this is
Chris:
an interesting one. took a photo of it. So 1914 to 1918 the fire cross department Roessler and surrounding regrets warrior Akil Vanderlande Val, something dates the third of March 1974.
Claire :
Okay, yeah, that mean you may have got that regrets warrior translated wrong. That doesn't sound lesson exists.
Chris:
Not directly
Claire :
so I'm wandering to the end because Chris has spotted a giant bug hotel he wants to have a look at
Chris:
what I thought it was like kiosks and sort of pension Judy.
Claire :
No, it's definitely a bug Hotel.
Chris:
Okay,
Claire :
so we're in a more slightly more grassy area a lot more. And oh, there's a grave literally in the middle of the Yeah, this has been lifted. Looks like a hole it's lifted.
Chris:
Looks like we're in the middle of the grass walkway.
Claire :
Okay, so we can see here what's underneath these big marble stones. It's soil they must bury people and then put these big slabs that we're looking at on top of where the person has been buried.
Chris:
I'm not so sure looks like it's been there a while
Claire :
but they'd probably have to wait for the ground to drop
Chris:
must very sandy soil these
Claire :
ones at the end here I've got like a black hoodie color would you call cross? No No The inscription where they put the words it's like a black rectangle which looks like it's made of glass or something and then the words are sort of etched on but in a kind of very similar font 90s
Chris:
Funky off see facts are the only be understood by those in Britain yeah familiar with seats effects and teletext
Claire :
more so slightly distracted by the watering can that's attached to a chain on that pole
Chris:
was hanging for watering plan
Claire :
well yeah, but if it's chained to a pole, oh look, this is Belgium for you. They're just so organized. So the Washington is hanging from a metal pipe just off the ground and to get the morphine can away from it you have to put in a coin like you do on trolleys So it literally got the top of a trolley supermarket that's clever and you put your Euro wherever it is you take the watering can you do your washing you put it back you get your back that is genius. Never
Chris:
seen one of those before.
Claire :
I was constantly amazed by the organization's this country. We should
Chris:
introduce them on to the home anything that we lose quite a lot on system system after maternity claim
Claire :
case so now we're in amongst the I'd say more grander graves I mean the one Chris's stood next to must be about 15 feet by 15. Because
Chris:
of the king size bed that is is huge, pure marble probably.
Claire :
There's probably like panels, eight.
Chris:
What concerns me slightly is the central panel, which is probably the size of a double bed has slipped slightly to see inside up into Inside,
Claire :
there's no dates on there, you have no idea how old the occupants are inside.
Chris:
Look how classy this one is just a big old flat piece of marble. It just says family, brain br EY N E. And then across and PX which I'm sure was translated to something like classes.
Claire :
I don't know though. It's just like a big box, you will get put in. I am missing the nice words and inscriptions. That's partly sort of what I like I thought they tell stories. These do not tell stories. Well, it's
Chris:
just speak Belgium, or Dutch or whatever, the speaker. It's
Claire :
just a name. You can't get much more from a name, what story have you deduced from that name is true. Whereas at least a quote, give us a bit of an insight. Or, like you said, you know, son, mother daughter. This, this one's very correct, very old looking piece of stone. But then I don't think there's actually anything I'm wondering who is actually an eating on under these, whether they are just all put on top of graves or on the ground. Maybe everything above ground is just sort of for show there's no actual
Chris:
now, mainly 19th century,
Claire :
a lot of very big concrete crosses, like 12 feet tall. I mean, that was about 15 feet tall.
Chris:
Not to move around to the side so we can see what's on these big, the oldest presumably the oldest graves.
Claire :
I do love their photos, lots of photos like weather proof photos, like paper photos.
Chris:
And what looks like a roundabout in the middle of a roundabout.
Claire :
Hydrangeas, they've got hydrangeas everywhere in this country. All nice pink color, which for those who like gardening will tell you something about the soil. All these very old photos very old. So these are buried in Oh 1874.
Chris:
And then 1936 1878 is that 1939
Claire :
These are like things out of horror films. You know, when the stone is like smashed and something rises up. The stone has been cracking before, you can just see the bricks underneath it. There's obviously not actual, they're not directly on
Chris:
these, they tend to go for huge slabs of stone, so many of them have cracked, smashed weather very well. And also something that I've noticed is that so many inscriptions that have been put in the stone have eroded. Yes, they're not very deep. They don't seem to put stuff on these graves to last.
Claire :
That's why it can't work out when you've got a big marble slab like this and a grave. And then you've got two bits of stone or marble that are put a stood on top of it like a stand up PhotoFrame to just leave so you could just pick it up and take it away. And they've got like a little inscription on them. But this one here it says Australia 1940 to 45 which is obviously only five years. So is that a child that's added in? Well
Chris:
look, I've strived for means. So strides are means old warrior 1940 to 1945. So it's really five years now.
Claire :
Yeah, I don't understand why that fit is separate from the actual grave. And there's these little wooden plaques with like, bits of laminated paper attached to them with names and stuff on but need to translate the past have
Chris:
a some sort of survey or work to make clear, keeping a record of the gross
Claire :
it's really interesting how I presume if you're from Belgium. This is like a fairly normal sort of cemetery. But it's so interesting how different cultures do it because for us this is quite different. It's quite alien, as far as cemeteries are seen in England, very ornate
Unknown:
tells you a lot about different countries where they bury their dead just reached the end by
Chris:
a rather high maybe 10 foot brick wall. And there's five quite randomly positioned groves against the wall. So are they there because they're special and we'll get an exclusive spot or because they're outcasts Exactly. Right making the noise. You just looked at what these little wooden signs mean? Yes,
Claire :
it looks like it's a notification or some sort of concession that things need to be renewed. Or I think it needs basically means it needs work. But lots of them have got it. Not even the worst ones actually. Well, those that permission, maybe those
Chris:
that own cemeteries have to they've got a duty of care to make sure that they're the graves are safe, and that no one could be injured in this increasing time of health and safety. So they're clearly putting out notices to say, work has to be carried out to this grave to make it so
Claire :
as an error with just one or two errors, I'm gonna have a look at. Okay, let's do that one. First. There's an error. I could just see through the other graves. It's just this row of concrete crosses, or about maybe two, three feet tall. all look exactly the same with the same plaque. This looks a lot more like the military graves. Oh, in fact, those two are very identical to the graves at Passchendaele. Yes,
Chris:
well, most of the war cemeteries of the Commonwealth War Graves, and they are left hand notes. So they're
Claire :
the ones I described in one of my previous graveyard musings when we went to, to the pattern Dell graveyard. They're like the white stone with it's got all engraved on it. Second Lieutenant, Royal field artillery, it gets kind of their rank and the day age 22 9017. And then there's, there's that cross on it that's quite familiar. And then the stamp of the, of their regiment or something,
Chris:
the military, why those two have been put here and not, yeah, Commonwealth War.
Claire :
So those are the only two guys that we can see in the whole cemetery that look like that. And then next to that, is a plot that's got all of these little crosses and names. But they're people who died in the 2000s. So it doesn't 18 to 11 doesn't force they're not necessarily war related. But there is a plaque here, which maybe Chris can translate. It starts with Ross Platts, which we've worked out means resting place. And then underneath it said, disasters. Oh, LV, middle is short, which actually translates to resting
Chris:
place sisters, Our Lady of the Middle Ages. So
Claire :
these are women. They've all got the words austere in it, which must mean sister, my local NASA. Yeah, these would be nuns. And then there's two or three in a tight range, a flower bed. seems unusual.
Chris:
Maybe that a special request to be? Yeah, nice away from the rest.
Claire :
Also, what's interesting about the nuns Graves is that there's five empty ones waiting for nuns,
Chris:
mostly finance,
Claire :
I presume? Yeah, I presume sisters and nuns out here. Maybe they just like what's a medical system? You know what the hospitals? This is this.
Chris:
I'm not sure that's what these are four.
Claire :
And this one here,
Chris:
this is a really unusual
Claire :
piece of sculpture of crosses that are all intersecting each other into one big sort of piece of concrete and described that they will. But next to it is this 10
Chris:
blundering 10, Bunder and 12. From 1269 to
Claire :
1980. Then there's like a pathway that leads away from it into a brick wall. Because he's walking on it, and not sure if that's allowed, but he's gonna take his Google Translate
Chris:
10 Bunder and go
Claire :
at Our Lady 10 vondre. And on lace, I don't think she lived from 1269 to 1980. Lady, she'd have seen a lot in that lifetime. Do some math. How old was she when she died?
Chris:
Wells 600 611 years old.
Claire :
I mean, that does deserve a special sorts of monument, I suppose. Yeah, we're no further forward on that one. So now we've moved to the other area that stands out as being very different. This is this is more like, expect things to be in Belgium when you talk about being organized. So there's lots and lots of marble posts that are about 12 inches wide, three inches deep. A couple of feet high. And they've almost all want to say oh yeah, got almost got photos of the person who died on them. Mostly with across the name and then maybe dates. Sometimes there's two people and they're all very modern. So they've all died 2005 onwards. Ish. Tell
Chris:
you what this makes me think of the fire has been buried here. What photo would you choose of me?
Claire :
It's a big thing, isn't it? It's not just something that's put up on the screen at your funeral. This is what you want people to see. And interestingly most people have gone through very serious photos. There's not much here that makes you smile or laugh. Well,
Chris:
Jack's who died in 2022 Looks mischievous might rightly say to his family. Why do you choose the one with the blue curtain behind my head? says oh,
Claire :
oh, John Pierre might be, you know, frustrated that he wasn't even looking at the camera.
Chris:
Well, he's clearly at some sort of bird spotting. Hut. Yeah.
Claire :
I don't know Wilhelm doesn't look like he was he knew his photo was being taken. Oh, looks more like Shawn Mitchell from EastEnders. Ludwig looks like Don't take my photo Oh, look at what he thinks he looks happy. slightly stretched sideways I think they might have tweaked the image and accidentally stretched him great picture he's got a look of mischievous about him.
Chris:
Oh, no picture on trends.
Claire :
They have got a inscription thing instead from
Chris:
Sasha Harris and Dylan
Claire :
Franz it's very angry that he died at all because a lot of frogs
Chris:
so clearly these can't be burial spots ashes, the ashes both in large large flashes
Claire :
and would also tell me that more modern people are getting created they're not getting buried
Chris:
so Okay, look at this couple here. So this is a couple photo it's quite rare. They to have like a stripy blue backdrop, and then you Jemaine here. So I think and Wilfred as well. I think I was unfair to Jack and criticizing families choice of curtain backdrop. So either there's a business here in Belgium where you can go and have a pre death photo taken against some blue curtains to get when you predict I think it was like a family photo. Someone's using computer software with the photos that are submitted, and they've opted for blue to change the backdrop I'm
Claire :
a bit sad for Chris Dion It looks like she might have got arrested some time and they used the mug
Chris:
shot nobody ever wanted picture
Claire :
really is these don't have drones got like he's like a sort of military uniform on an old guy. So oh, okay, I've got to say I haven't I haven't seen as anyone any young people but there's a there's a line down the back here. It's definitely well there's one greater there's definitely a child
Chris:
a lot more angels and statues on me this long. Yeah,
Claire :
look. So that's like March to May 1990. So these would be the children but interestingly they're still got quite bigger knightstone grades this one here that's got like a bright pink glass bit in it with like a rabbit and a moon little girl the end of the month look it's almost a year I was born again I lived a few months Shipley What a great name Shipley first name last ship your second yeah ship Do you think Yeah. Since that wall
Chris:
was just a big patch of leaves,
Claire :
maybe that's more like kind of a natural burial missing grades just Yes, a gap in between all the marble but all you can see is grass and some sort of plant growing.
Chris:
One of the things that strikes us about this part of the world in Westland is in Belgium is how different all houses are they don't get a street where all has the same every house is individually. And partly this I guess due to the fact that it's so new. There's so much of this area was flattened in the First World War bits of a second world war. So so much of it has been built me so maybe shouldn't be too surprised that a graveyard like this there's so much variety in how the graves look. There was one particular style that of all follows well
Claire :
massively stands out is the amount of pictures I have never seen this many photos and they're all propped on top of the grave. Looks like photo frames in marble everywhere. Very visual.
Chris:
I haven't seen that before. You've got another section of sisters.
Claire :
Oh yeah, again, concrete crosses all in a row. Identical.
Chris:
This there's two rather large waste bins over there so I'm not sure he gets a corner with the waste bins. Got one last bit to look at before we exit
Claire :
cuz this one, what would you
Chris:
describe these blocks against the wall? How would you what do they? Like?
Claire :
Yeah, imagine a brick wall and it's got built into it. Locker doors that are made of what looks like glass from a distance, we can see words on them. There's flowers on the floor, some are hanging off the front of the doors. My guess is this is another ashes. Space. Very nice looking succulent and that pot there. I'm one of those myself. Okay, so it's actually marble. Yeah, I thought they were. Yes. And it's got the name and the dates on it again. Nothing else. Oh, and across, across on them. And
Chris:
the most recent as well. I think that's 2023. That's the most recent one I've seen. Yeah.
Claire :
Again, quite a lot of mobile photos on.
Chris:
So presumably in these square hatches? You place an urn? Yeah. Screw on that. Marble. And
Claire :
there's some blank ones here. Not many though. Hopefully you can't really add to it. Can you? I do really want that succulent.
Chris:
It's your little chips. Yeah.
Claire :
I guess the further you go down the older they are. If there is flowers, I tend to be fake. Someone says to people money though mostly one
Chris:
interesting design idea. And so different to
Claire :
look at what? Okay, this is the most modern grave I have ever seen. 1959 2011 Piette has outdone himself herself himself. It's a great slab of marble, like normal one all got that bug. It's about two inches tall. Goes like the whole length of the grave. And then on top of it is six metal posts, Poles new poles. And then there's a curved bit of glass that's sort of attached to the poles hovering about six inches off the grave. We'll get a photo I don't know how to describe it. But it's pretty incredible. And the fact that glass is so clean tells me someone's looking after it well as well. That is really unusual. And
Chris:
some sort of transcription that follows. Yeah,
Claire :
it goes all the way around the outside. Coming to you now with a live Google Translate Bob
Chris:
sweet until it starts writing. Right?
Claire :
Not sure Google Translate photos helping us out on this. Love until it hurts. It makes more sense.
Chris:
go too far and strive. By force nor by wha
Claire :
it's bit tricky because the weight curves.
Chris:
Something about dishonor apparently. I don't
Claire :
believe that, it seems to some sort of like Comey.
Chris:
Yeah, I don't think my translate app is particularly accurate.
Claire :
Two found a weird day. Okay, so we've found a wall, a small sort of triangular wall was a big headstone in the middle and there's just lots of plaques with names on them. Tiny little ones, just with literally the name and the dates. And then lots of flowers beneath that. And then little stones that are propped up on the ground, some with photos on again names and dates. And at the top, it says spread Meadow is the translation. And as Chris pointed out, there's a big piece of grass behind it that's sort of cornered off
Chris:
is this broad meadow. So we reckon this
Claire :
is where people can spread ashes and then just have a plaque put up for their for their loved one instead of actually having the urn here
Chris:
in UBC. And then the middle of the grass, what looks like a recent spreading of some ashes.
Claire :
That's another option.
Chris:
There's just a little way to walk into it. So if you want to spread the ashes just on this section and put your name plaque by the size of a name badge on the wall, you can
Claire :
see, we were just leaving the graveyard and we crossed the road and it was this big new yellow hold that had some words on it. And we thought what's that? So we held up our Google Translator camera and it said cemetery. So we crossed the road and walk through the gap in the wall which kind of went round and it's all very well landscaped beautiful walkway with these lovely yellow stones. It leads you into a middle bit where there's going to be a wall or a water feature. And then you keep going through more walls and there's a new graveyard. And this is obviously where they're burying people from now onwards, but you can already see the way they're structured. It's going to be pretty beautiful,
Chris:
very, very attractive.
Claire :
So obviously people who die From now onwards are being basically planted again, being buried in this new cemetery. But yeah, it's beautiful the way they're starting to landscape it already, there's areas you can see that are going to go in and hedges that will curve around to give some privacy to those graves. And there's also some areas of like concrete, they've created the structure for new grades to go in. And we can't quite work out what that's about, because it looks like it's all concrete.
Chris:
It's like a concrete grid. But elegantly done. Whether they dig through the concrete when they're putting a coffee
Claire :
shop, I'll put some trades on the blog, so you can see what we're talking about. But yeah, it's really lovely. And it goes out into open sort of countryside beyond. It's, yeah, it's quite stunning. This, this feels like how, again, Belgium would do something from the start, if they were starting a new secretary, this has got a lot of thought going into it. It's not just oh, we've got a field, let's start burying people, the whole structure of it. And a lot of architects design care, respect a lot of respect, that what they're doing, the main
Chris:
thing you've got mentioned, is that there's two standards with new watering cans and new token systems. So each stand holds for watering cans. And you can have them just gently in the wind. hollow plastic knocking sounds is the authentic artistic installation.
Claire :
And they were attached with the same trolley system we put your coin in will get your watching, can you fill up at the tap, and then you take it back again. It's just genius. I'm absolutely blown away by this simple yet effective idea for people not stealing watering cans. So we're going to head back to our accommodation now. And try not to come across any other cemeteries on the way get distracted by. But yeah, overall, I'm very impressed with the variety here. What's the thing that sort of surprised you the most about these two cemeteries?
Chris:
We'll see this year through the variety the different styles, very little uniformity, like you mentioned, with the war Commonwealth War Graves around us in this region, which had just the pinnacle of uniformity. And there seems to be quite the opposite. Very different styles very different tributes lack of lack of tribute to many lots of photos,
Claire :
cuz even this new one, like I said, the graves are all quite different again, but yet they've also got that section with the marble posts where they're obviously putting people's ashes. They're all the same. Quite regimented. Yeah, it's interesting. The photos are the thing I think stand out most for me a lot of photos and very little words about the people that have died sight. It's not a priority at all more about the face than the story.
Chris:
You're the photo on your No, I
Claire :
don't want to. I haven't found a photo of me yet that I would like on my headstone to get
Chris:
choosing. If that changes me we'll do a photo shoot most blue curtains behind us.
