I am going to play you something by Yorkshire-born composer, Haydn Wood. If you are my age it may sound familiar.
It’s a March called Horseguards, Whitehall from his London Suite.
It was used as the theme for Down Your Way that ran from 1946 to 1992 on the Home Service and then BBC Radio 4 on Sunday afternoons. The three longest-serving presenters were David Dimbleby, Frank Engelmann and Brian Johnston. The format was they visited places around the UK, interviewed residents and played their music choices. From 1987 there were different presenters who visited places significant to them. My neighbour, Wally Daly, chose our street, Margravine Gardens. He spoke to a White Russian refugee from the Revolution, a lady who euphemistically specialised in “one-to-one personal relaxation therapy”, Anne Seagrim who served as secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor during WW II and Field Marshal Alexander after that – and many more.
He also digressed to describe Margravine Cemetery and mentioned a headstone to a gold prospector. I couldn’t find it and forgot about it. Like The Purloined Letter (Edgar Allan Poe) it was under my nose but the engraving is so worn that it is hard to read. Here it is.
The stone in part reads “Abe, Abraham George Smith, who was called away June 19, 1923, in his 78th year. For many years gold digger Mount Browne N.S.W.
A kindly and a cheerful heart, A smile for young and old,
A mind content, a cheerful heart, A heart of purest gold.”
In the top right hand corner there is a small sculpture of Abe in his hut taking his ease at a table, his legs crossed, with his rifle propped against the wall beside him.
The Gold Rush around Mount Browne lasted from 1880 to 1893. Conditions were harsh and many people died, usually from cholera or typhoid. Prospecting in some form continued until 2012 when the owner banned it because of accidents.
I also noticed this grave with fresh flowers and a poppy cross. The relationships are unclear but Elisa may have died shortly after giving birth to Alfred. Walter probably was Elisa’s much older husband, who must have been devastated to lose his wife and son in their youth. It is touching that there is someone to remember them.
