News

A while back a very large branch and a couple of smaller ones came down just off the main carriage and this has caused the Old Cemetery to lose some more precious headstones, from a plot that had heavy losses when another branch from this tree came down a few years ago. The tree has not had any leaves for a year or so and does look dead, it needs to have the branches left to be chop off. Hopefully in time this will happen and no further damage to what is left of the headstones in this area. Photos taken by Bruce Larner

This walk start at 2.00pm on Sunday 4th August 2024 – 110 years to the day when Britain was at war with Germany. The weather was at the start quite pleasant but towards the end was getting a bit hotter. FoSOC had a smaller crowd but they all state the course and at the end both guides received a round of applauses. The walk start at William Bagshaw who was Mayor of Southampton from 1913-1915 and was to proclaimed on the 4th August 1914, to the crowd of people that Britain was at war with Germany. Herbert  Kimber. Cook on Hospital ship Asturias when a German submarine torpedoed the ship in the channel. Luckily all the casualties had been off loaded earlier that day but 43 service and medical staff died  including Herbert who drowned. William Chaplow of the RN … Continue reading →

Yesterday, Friday 12th July, was FoSOC Annual General Meeting (AGM) it was held at the Non-Conformist Chapel. Staring at 7.05pm and finished at 7.25pm, is this a record ? All the committee have been re-elected they are; Chair William Ferguson, Vice Chair Peter Shawyer, Secretary, Valerie Ferguson, Treasurer Tim Burden, Membership Secretary Lizzie O’Sullivan, Projects & Publicity Officer Geoff Watts and General Committee Member, Carol Cunio, all were voted in unanimously. Afterwards there was drinks (tea/coffee) and plenty of chat. Val Ferguson

Over the last couple of weeks, Lizzie (O’Sullivan), Billy (Ferguson) and myself Val (Ferguson) have been busy with ten plaques of ten notable or interesting people buried in the Old Cemetery, this is for the public to be able to read and find out more about the person(s) buried and hopefully make the Old Cemetery even more interesting. They are bright yellow and have a brief history. This is, for the moment, a trial run to see if the public do read and like them and most of all they are able to withstand the awful weather we have been having and that they are not damaged or destroyed. If they do resist all of the above, then we will add a further ten more. The photos shown are just a few of the ten installed. For those who are … Continue reading →

Yesterday Sunday the 2nd June,  was my first walk of 2024 and it was a beautiful sunny afternoon. The walk started with fourteen people and took a circular route from the non-Conformist chapel, going up and one of the more “rural” paths in the cemetery and ending along the main carriageway. The group heard the stories of thirteen unfortunate people who died in horrific ways all involving the railway. A young seaman working on the dockside went to get some water from the nearby train shed who, despite a warning whistle, stepped into the path of moving train. Then the platelayer who was working on the points when he was hit by a train shunting waggon because the engine driver was at the back of the waggons and did not see him on the line. The train gate keeper at … Continue reading →

FoSOC guide Geoff Watts who took this walk Sunday 26th May. Text to follow

On Saturday 11th May 2024 Lizzie O’Sullivan took a Commonwealth War Grave (CWGC) walk in the SOC.  This walk was specifically for the CWGC as part of the CWG May tours programme. This was Lizzie first walk for the CWG and the weather was sunny and warm. The tour started at the Cross of Sacrifice with a short account of how the cross came into being at SOC.  The group then visited several CW graves that included both WW1 and WW2 and were from Army, Royal Navy, Merchant Navy, Royal Flying Corps and Foreign Nationals from South Africa, Ireland and Canada. Lizzie would like to thank Val Ferguson for her help and input on the tour and to the FOSOC taskers who strimmed around the graves and made a pathway to the grave so we could get close the grave … Continue reading →

Yesterday (9th May) FoSOC was pleased to greet the Lord Mayor of Southampton Cllr Valerie Laurent at the Old Cemetery for the ‘Annual Walkabout’. Greeting her arrival were Billy Ferguson (Chair), Pete Shawyer (Vice-Chair), Valerie Ferguson (Secretary), Tim Burden (Treasurer) and Lizzie O’Sullivan (Membership Secretary) and not forgetting Skye (the Beagle). The walk started at 10.30am and finished by 11.30am, taking in a few ‘Mayors’, that are buried in the Old Cemetery, we were fortunate that the weather was warm and sunny. There was even time for a cup of tea and biscuits in the Non-Conformist chapel and a chat. Many thanks to the Lord Mayor for her time.

On Sunday 14 April, Geoff Watts took 21 people and 1 well-behaved dog on our Sunday Titanic Walk. The conditions were pleasantly cooler and the very wet mud was now just soft. Geoff began inside the former Non-Conformist chapel, now – thanks to SCC – FoSOC’s base. He thanked Val for arranging the walks and for the display in the room. Geoff dedicated his walk to four people, all no longer with us: Brian Ticehurst who had helped us so much, Vicky Green for dedicated research and knowledge at Southampton Local Studies Library, Genevieve Bailey for her lifelong, passionate interest in Titanic and our Vice President, Bernard Lavell, a talented artist, some of whose drawings Geoff showed on the way round.  Geoff’s walk on Sunday 14th was exactly 124 years after the fateful day Titanic encountered an iceberg. Both in … Continue reading →

The first Titanic walk for 2024 was held on Saturday 13th April at 11.00am with a group of 18 people and 4 well behaved dogs. For once the weather was very kind to us …it was sunny and warm. Pervious wet weather was a concern to FoSOC’s guides due to the pathways becoming very muddy. But the weather for two days earlier having no rain, the mud was soft but firm for walking on. On this walk there was a volunteer helper call Mischa who is doing her Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award on the Old Southampton Cemetery. On guide Graham Linecar’s walk, a descendant of a victim of the disaster from Southampton, a Mr William Mintram, a fireman who lost his life on the Titanic. She was able to see where his memorial was on the walk and later … Continue reading →