Preedys grave plan

And then in 2008 Alan Bloore asked me if I would tidy the grave up and either get the headstone repaired or replaced. The Supporters Trust had raised the money and were footing the bill. I was given the 1998 photo and a crudely drawn map showing where the grave should be. The area where he is buried was extremely overgrown, and the graves around that area are very old and clearly don't receive any visitors. Despite having the map, neither my wife nor myself could find the grave, so after 2 hours we gave up. A week later we tried again. At one point I thought I was going to get swallowed up in the overgrowth, as I hacked my way through, looking for the grave. After 2 more hours...we gave up again! As we rounded up our 2 year old, who thought it was great fun, and sat back in the car I decided to have one more look at the area the map indicated. I still couldn't find it, so turned to go back to the car, when I saw two Es through the foliage. I pulled it back and sure enough, there was the grave, exactly where the map said it was! We had been looking for the headstone, as we didn't know it was broken completely.

Here's what it looked like when I pulled a bit of the foliage away.

 

and a couple more pre-restoration snaps

 

Two more...

 

And then, with the help of another London based Red we cleaned it up a bit and tried to locate the pieces of the stone. The figure was nowhere to be found and we couldn't find every piece of the cross, but it really was very overgrown. a nearby grave has a great big tree growing out of it!

 

Dealing with the chap that runs the cemetery was...not the easiest task. Eventually I managed to persuade us to crack on and replace the cross. I asked if I could take the broken pieces and he said no. I wish I had just taken them, as they might have been of interest to the museum. Never mind.

There was some debate about what to replace the stone with, and whether we should place a small plaque on the stone, to reference his role with the founding of the football club, as well as the role he played in training Olympic boxers, after he had move to Islington. But we decided that, as it was very likely that the damage to the original stone was done by vandals, given the missing figure, we didn't really want to do anything to make it stand out any more than it would already, being the only clean and tidy grave in the area. We also kept the original wording on the stone, as that had obviously been put there by people who knew him, so who were we to change it? It surprised me that the name on the grave was Father Preedy, rather than Reverend Preedy.

Here's the grave after it had been restored. I moved back north shortly after this had been done, but when I visited a few years later with Mr. C, formerly of this parish, it was already looking dirty and in need of a good clean. Mr. C was going to look after it...but then he moved back north, and that's where the current team came in.

 

If anyone wants to visit, here's the map I was given. I've stuck a big X where the grave is.

It is in Islington Cemetery, which is just up the road from East Finchley underground station. The different roads within the cemetery are named and the grave is on Allen's Path, which is off Kew Road. Be warned that you may pass the childrens' section as you make your way through the cemetery, and that can be heartbreaking. When you reach Allen's Path it will stand out like a sore thumb, so you won't miss it, as the graves there are very old. If you are in the car you can drive into the cemetery and up to Kew Road, which is only yards from the grave (and yet it took me 4 hours to find it!)

 

Yes, and the grave was exactly where the map said it would be. We felt a little foolish!

The worst aspect of it all was that when we were going backwards and forwards with buckets of water, our then 2 year old daughter took it upon herself to start dancing on the grave. I was concerned that this was a sign she would grow up to be a Wednesday fan, so I was pleased that she grew up to be a Red

 

For all the arguments on here this story really speaks volumes for the people of Barnsley. There are some very good people who often get overshadowed.

Well done to all of you involved, a real credit to our town.

 

Just a suggestion for anyone who's going , could you get the " What 3 Words " app on your phone so you can get the precise location for others who want to visit ?

 

Good call

 

///forces.gallons.weep

That will get you pretty much to the entrance of Allen's Path

 

Thats one hell of a Cemetry

 

I'm down in London in September and stopping in Finchley so will pop in and have a look, I seem to spend half my life in cemeteries anyway as a little hobby me and my son have is visiting CWG's so know how difficult locating graves can be, so your to be applauded for all your endeavours

 

Will definitely have a look when I'm next in london and will.take some flowers for his friend too.

 

Outstanding. We'll do you proud again.

 

I read that although Preedy was a Reverend he hated the term and preferred to known as "Father". Anyone who has visited St Peter's Church in Barnsley will quickly recognise that it is "High Church" protestant.