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Hidden behind weeds... my grandparents’ grave
• MY father, Bill Bayliss, died recently and was buried at Islington and St Pancras Cemetery in Finchley. A large number of my extended family are buried in that part of the cemetery.
Members of my family who were at my father’s interment were shocked and distressed to discover that the area has been allowed to become completely overgrown with thick weed and bramble, to the extent that it took 20 minutes of hacking away with branches to identify my grandparents’ grave.
I emailed Islington and St Pancras Services on November 9 to make them aware of this unacceptable state of affairs, and to seek reassurance that it would be addressed as a matter of priority. I also emailed the council chief executive, asking her to ensure I received a prompt response from the appropriate department.
At the time of writing, over two weeks later, I have yet to receive the courtesy of a reply or even acknowledgement. To add insult to injury, Councillor Ruth Polling, executive member with responsibility for cemeteries, is quoted as saying: “People who have suffered a loss want to know that the place they are burying their loved one will be well maintained and secure. Generations of Labour rule denied this to the people of Islington” (Grave concern over ‘death tax’, November 23).
The use of the word “generations” is nonsense. I visited the cemetery every Christmas Day for more than 20 years with my father while he was a leading Labour councillor, in the days before salaried executive committee members existed, of course.
I can assure readers the cemetery was not at any stage in the disreputable state it is in today, and anyone who remembers my father will readily confirm that he would never have allowed it to get into such a state.
ROBERT BAYLISS
Ockendon Road, Canonbury
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