During my visit to London, I met veteran videographer Brian Kelly, who took me and my nephew Christopher Christou on a tour of the famed Highgate East Cemetery.

(My second great grandfather George Hugh Doherty Pennell (1832-1902) is buried at Highgate but due to post Covid staffing issues, it wasn’t possible to locate the grave without asking well in advance.)

The headstones at Highgate Cemetery have their own social media and online presence.  As an author, the Penguin books on the headstone intriqued me. As is the spine which reads “The Final Chapter.” There seems to be a lot of speculation of about who he was and what the word partner means.  Was he a lover of books? Did he work for Penguin? Does partner mean  he was in a gay relationship?  That said, that headstone is now one of the most photographed in Highgate East.

One of the first famous headstones we came across was for the author Douglas Adams, who wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. A fellow author later told me that as part of the pilgrammage to the grave, you are supposed to leave a pen there, something I didn’t know at the time.

As both a science fact and science fiction reader, this grave caught my eye. Tom Margerison founded both the New Scientist magazine in 1956 and cofounded (with David Frost) London Weekend Television in 1968.

Visting the grave of Karl Marx is almost oligatory for visitors to the cemetery (and polticially minded visiting London)

I found the intricate carving on the cross and the one beside it intriguing.

Herbert Spencer was a nineteenth century polymath, credited with being one of the founders of both sociology and anthropology. I photgraphed this tomb because I had to study Spencer back when I was an anthropology undergrad decades ago. He is credited in coming up with the Victorian phrase “survival of the fittest.”  He also invented a predecessor to the paper clip.

I found the late August afternoon light through the trees on old headstones the best part of the walk through Highgate Cemetery East, more interesting than the headstones and tombs of the famous  departed.

This is another famous headston, with lots of social media and online photos. Patrick Caulfield (1936-2005) a pop artist who has a more modern headstone made from a smooth piece of black granite.