Mile End's Ghostbusters

[dotinthesky]

Mile End has a cemetery right beside the tube station, called Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. It's filled with victorian tombs, overgrowth, dead trees and crows that announce the rise of the undead. I feel ashamed for not visiting it before, in the nearly two years I've lived in this neighbourhood. Although it was muddy yesterday, and a figure dressed completely in black glided behind the trees like the spectre of death, I really enjoyed our brief wander down its many paths. I even managed to find my own grave. I was accompanied by i_love_craig and sarahofthedead, who were celebrating their shared birthday by lunching with me (at a fancy Fish & Chips restaurant) before I showed them the area.

I gave Craig and Sarah second-hand horror novels for their birthdays, which I bought at Fantasy Centre on Holloway Road (if you are ever in that neighbourhood, you must pop into this shop and buy something from them; let's help keep alive second-hand book shops!) I got Charnel House for Sarah (about a haunted house) and The Night Boat for Craig (about a haunted boat).

After the cemetery, we took a train to Walthamstow, where the undead never rise out of fear of the hooded figures gliding down its many dilapidated streets. They chose the pub the Pig & Whistle as a gathering place for many friends, who mostly arrived just before 8 p.m. Nobody got drunk, apart from dj_alexander, who insisted on visiting the theladiesloos as often as possible because of a bowl of pot pourri. I didn't get a chance to talk properly to many of those present, but it was great nevertheless catching up with some whom I hadn't seen in a long time.

Feeling Gloomy soon?

Comments

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Both plans sound very good. I've never been to the Highgate cemetery; I imagine many people would it up for visiting it too.

[kixie.livejournal.com]

Fancy dinner on the 31st or something?

And I think I'll post to my LJ about Highgate - I could start a oh so gothic trend of cemetery walks. There's a few in Sarf London I've been wanting to see for ages but never got around to...mostly because it's in South London and they still don't have electricity there, but I'm sure if there's a group we will be safe from the roving gangs of knife-wielding, barbarian maniacs. ;)

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I could start a oh so gothic trend of cemetery walks.

Excuse me, I've already started that trend! :-P

Let me check my diary at home, re. 31st, and I'll let you know; but I think it shouldn't be any problem. Has to be a fairly low-expense dinner though... I'm still kinda poor. :-/

[kixie.livejournal.com]

Ha! I've been wandering around cemeteries since I was 15, and I have the pictures to prove it! ;P

Low expense is fine - Wagamama's, perhaps?

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I've been wandering around cemeteries since I was 8 (when you were 1? or 2?) so thereeeee! Well, not wandering as much as demanding that my aunts take me there because I wanted to see ghosts. :-)

I also grew up in Brasil right beside one of Sao Paulo's largest cemeteries. We used to go there collect wild berries, or slide down its hills on cardboard boxes. We had to stop that when some of my friends got mugged and punched one day. Oh, our maid used to nip down there with our building's bad boys for some pot smoking (but we only clued into this when we were teens.)

Wagamama's perfect.