Overview

As the cemetery has been closed to public access for some years, there are not many old photos of the inside. However, the continuing work on it is giving us some great opportunities to take some fascinating new ones that show the improvements as they happen.

This wonderful aerial photo was taken by tree surgeon Tom Fowles, from the large poplar tree in the cemetery driveway. It provides a unique glimpse of the whole cemetery from a totally new angle, illustrating its size and shape and showing the graves in relation to each other.

This is what the cemetery looked like at the end of 2006, since the Probation Service involvement began

This is how things looked three-and-a-half years into the project, and after two inter-faith working parties and the Kensington Clean Team had removed all kinds of refuse and a great many trees and shrubs!

At the beginning of the latest restoration project, this was the problem we faced! What you see here is approximately eight years' growth of foliage, since the previous clearance attempt, c.1996

Before the Restoration Project

The earliest photos I have of the cemetery were donated by Deane Road descendants Tonie Egner and Leon Berger from their (largely fruitless) visit to the cemetery in December 1991. Here is a selection of the photos they kindly donated:

This photo shows the inner gateway almost completely filled in with concrete. This is how I remember the cemetery when my father and I failed to gain access in January 1995

The overgrowth of trees and Japanese knotweed was so dense that it was almost impossible to access any graves, as Tonie rather comically found out

This photo was taken looking through the hole in the wall into the most densely "forested" part of the cemetery. The vast majority of this foliage was removed c.1996

The Greek revival archway at the entrance to Deane Road cemetery (Photo courtesy of Richard Hudson)

A wider view of the archway, taken in winter 2002/3, when the foliage had died back (Photo courtesy of Ruth Webster)

Ruth Webster took this one of the interior of the cemetery around the time she first became involved, in winter 2002/3. At the beginning of the latest restoration project in 2003, this was the problem we faced. The height and density of the foliage was much reduced from the level in 1991, following the clearing work that had taken place c.1996. However, there had been plenty of time for re-growth since then

April 2005

The following photos were taken by me, on my first visit to the cemetery, on 6 April 2005, after much of the foliage had been cleared and the Japanese knotweed treated on several occasions:

April 2006

Arnold Lewis took over from Joe Wolfman as Jewish community archivist in April 2006, but his interest in Deane Road Cemetery had started many years before. Here are some photos he took which show the extent of the fly-tipping that was still ongoing at that time from several houses on Chiswell Street:

August 2006

After the two inter-faith working parties had been into the cemetery on 8 June and 13 July 2006, most of the fly-tipped refuse had been removed, along with all the self-planted trees and bushes, the roots of which were felling tombstones. On 1 August, Nadia Goodman and I, along with her Israeli cousin Moshe, spent an afternoon clearing tracts of ivy from the central area of graves. Here are some of the photos Nadia took:

Excavation of tombstones

When people contact me and tell me they have ancestors buried at Deane Road, I usually scout out the appropriate graves, take photos and spend a little time clearing the stones of excess foliage, where necessary. In a few cases, it has appeared that the stone in question has disappeared or never existed, but I have been able to excavate them from underneath the foliage in a semi-archaeological operation! Here are some photos of my favourite excavations:

July 2007

MULTI-AGENCY WORKING PARTY Thanks to the enthusiasm of various members of Kensington Regeneration, Community 7 and Liverpool City Council, and their connections with each other, a multi-agency working party was set up and came to the cemetery on 19 July 2007. There were representatives from these three organisations, plus the Probation Service, Kensington Clean Team and various volunteers who had read prior publicity in the Liverpool Echo. In the middle of one of the wettest summers ever recorded, when parts of the country were deep in flood water, Liverpool was blessed with two consecutive days of hot summer sun, of which this was one. There were over 20 people on site during the clear-up day and a great deal was achieved. Please contact us if you'd like to be involved in the next working party - we need as many volunteers as we can get! Here are some photos from that day:

The Felling of the Poplar

13 MARCH - 13 MAY 2008 In the winter of 2007-08, it came to our attention that the large poplar tree in the driveway of the cemetery was in bad health, so the committee obtained several quotes for treatment. The conclusion was that, although it could be pollarded (i.e. severely pruned and made safe), it would require increasing amounts of expensive work every few years. As poplar trees go, this one had grown much larger and lived much longer than average and was in terminal decline. The decision was made to fell it and the contract given to Treefellers, of Chester. The following is a selection of the many photos I took on the days the work was carried out:

Gallery Block

These are example images. Double-click here to replace these images with your own content. Learn more

Cursus Amet

Sed purus sem, scelerisque ac rhoncus eget, porttitor nec odio. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Pellentesque Risus Ridiculus

Vivamus pellentesque vitae neque at vestibulum. Donec efficitur mollis dui vel pharetra.

Porta

Praesent id libero id metus varius consectetur ac eget diam. Nulla felis nunc, consequat laoreet lacus id.

Etiam Ultricies

Donec id justo non metus auctor commodo ut quis enim. Mauris fringilla dolor vel condimentum imperdiet.

Vulputate Commodo Ligula

Commodo cursus magna, vel scelerisque nisl consectetur et. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus.

Elit Condimentum

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum id ligula porta felis euismod semper.

Aenean eu leo Quam

Quisque iaculis facilisis lacinia. Mauris euismod pellentesque tellus sit amet mollis.

Cursus Amet

Sed purus sem, scelerisque ac rhoncus eget, porttitor nec odio. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Pellentesque Risus Ridiculus

Vivamus pellentesque vitae neque at vestibulum. Donec efficitur mollis dui vel pharetra.

Porta

Praesent id libero id metus varius consectetur ac eget diam. Nulla felis nunc, consequat laoreet lacus id.

Etiam Ultricies

Donec id justo non metus auctor commodo ut quis enim. Mauris fringilla dolor vel condimentum imperdiet.

Vulputate Commodo Ligula

Commodo cursus magna, vel scelerisque nisl consectetur et. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus.

OPEN DAY, 18 June 08

On 18 June 2008, we held an open day at the cemetery to raise awareness of the project. The objective was to give as many different groups of people access to the cemetery as possible. These included local residents, the Jewish community, regeneration agencies, local politicians, service providers and anyone who may be able to help us in any way, now or in the future. The open day was a raging success. We estimated around 250 people came to visit over the course of four hours, and we raised £232.18 towards the project. 80 questionnaires were filled in by visitors, many of them offering their time or resources to get involved and help us with various aspects of the task in hand. We want to thank everyone involved in the organisation of the open day, everyone who came and everyone who offered to help.

September 2008

In Spring 2008, one of our strongest supporters, Larry Murphy of Liverpool City Council, informed us that a group of 250 members of the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka the Mormons) were interested in bringing 250 volunteers covering all age groups, to come and do ground clearance at the cemetery. This would be as part of their national Helping Hands scheme, in which they provide large groups of volunteers to local projects. We were thrilled and received a small delegations from their organising committee. However, the rough nature of the ground made it impossible to accommodate the age extremes of the group, so the plan was modified to cover the stripping and re-painting of the cemetery railings by a smaller group on a later date. The proposed works were cleared with a professional and the day was set for Saturday 29 September. With materials provided by the City Council and the manpower provided by altruistic Christian hearts, the railings were given a long-overdue overhaul. We extend our deepest thanks to Alan Duvall and everyone who participated in this lovely gesture of inter-faith relations.

Visits

It seems about time that a page is added to this website to show how many people have travelled to Deane Road to visit the graves of their ancestors. Many of these people came quite some distance, as you will see. There are several people who have visited their ancestors here in the last year or two, but whose photos I don't have. If you are one of these, please send us your photos so we can add them.