I like many others think that graveyards are an important link to the past. It does not really matter, of course, whether any of your family are buried within the graveyard. All of those interred deserve the respect of those walking amongst the gravestones but also of those who are charged with their duty and care. In the last year I have spent many happy hours walking through graveyards within Edinburgh and the Lothians.
With this in mind, I accuse Edinburgh Council and other councils up and down the land of corporate vandalism with respect to council-run graveyards. Using health and safety legislation Council workers are instructed to go into graveyards and toppled gravestones that may be in an unsafe state. Recently the City of Edinburgh council has decided to spend quite a bit of money (£50,000) improving four graveyards in the centre of the city (potential tourist hotspots).
One graveyard that I have spent a lot of time in recently is the Grange Graveyard. From my pictorial evidence you can see the damage that has been done already. None of these gravestones has fallen naturally but has been toppledby council workers. This graveyard is away from the usual tourist haunts but historically it is very important.
This council and other councils have a tendency of thinking about the money that may flow in from tourism but forget that the citizens who live in their cities and towns who pay the council tax are the ones who pay their salaries and also give them the money to implement some of the most stupidest plans.
It should be noted that this stupid health and safety legislation was introduced a few years ago when a gravestone crushed one person down in England.
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