Woodvale Garden of Remembrance

For my lovely Mum

This one is for my lovely Mum, who passed away in 1999. I could have chosen London Road, where we used to shop regularly. Apparently, she once left me, her new baby, in a pram outside Woolworth’s, did her shopping, then went home on the bus only to be greeted by Dad asking, “Where’s the baby?” Whoops! I was still in my pram, thank goodness – innocent days.

A tranquil location

I could have chosen the Duke of York’s, where she took me to see ‘101 Dalmatians’, my first film. She loved cinema and we used to go to the pictures a lot. But I choose Woodvale’s Garden of Remembrance because it’s a sylvan, tranquil location.

Remembering her on special days

I go there at least twice a year to remember her at the plaque bearing her name – on her birthday in the spring when the crocuses add colour, and on the anniversary of her death each autumn when the fallen leaves cover the paths.

She loved the natural world

Mum appreciated nature and the natural world. She grew up in Middlesex, but joined the Women’s Land Army after the war and loved it. It was on a farm in Devon that she met my Dad – but he wasn’t a very good farmer and sold up, moving to Brighton in the mid 1950s via Kingston upon Thames.

A comforting place

Woodvale is in the city but retains a rural, sheltered feeling that she would be at home with. In contrast to the windswept bleakness of the nearby Downs Crematorium, Woodvale is, for me, a comforting place.