Letter: Great day ruined by state of graveyard
I visited Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale recently and was impressed with the Iron Bridge spanning the Severn and Coalbrookdale, and all the things Abraham Darby left us for posterity.
I walked over the Iron Bridge and visited the museums nearby and was again impressed by it all. Towards the end of my visit I decided to visit the graves of the Darbys in Coalbrookdale to show my respect to these great people buried there.
I followed the directions from a signboard to the graveyard. When I got to the graveyard the sight I saw completely spoiled my day, I could not believe the state this tiny graveyard was in.
There was a piece of paper in a plastic sleeve pinned to the railings that surrounds the graveyard informing where the people who were buried there lay.
I ask you, is a piece of paper the best the local authority could do? The graveyard itself was rutted and uneven with bare patches everywhere.
It would be nice if the local authority could smooth out the graveyard and turf it, as all the gravestones have been taken up and fixed to the surrounding railings.
There are a lot of visitors from all over the world who visit Coalbrookdale and the surrounding area. What must they think when they see this untidy forgotten burial place with the people who started the Industrial Revolution laying there?
J Greensil, Bewdley
