Cemetery Gates Refurbishment - Friends Of Hull General Cemetery

Friday 1 December 2023 saw the official opening of the newly refurbished cemetery gates. The weather was kind to us and the sun shone as Dame Diana Johnson, MP for Hull North, kindly performed the ceremony for us at our invitation.

The Friends of Hull General Cemetery (FOHGC) identified refurbishment of the gates as a project that would enhance the appearance of the entrance to the cemetery. Quotes for the work involved were obtained and we applied for a local ward budget grant from Hull City Council. Our application was successful and we appointed local firm Lightowler to carry out the cleaning and repainting of the gates. This began in October and was completed surprisingly quickly considering it had to be done between rain showers, and well in time for the official opening.

It was good to be able to get the work done by a well-established local firm – the same one that carried out the previous refurbishment of the gates over 40 years ago. Our grateful thanks to Lightowler for all their hard work and to Hull City Council for providing the funding for this important project.

Gallery

Bill Longbone giving a brief history of the cemetery gates, watched by Dame Diana Johnson MP — **Volunteer and FOHGC charity trustee, Bill Longbone, giving a talk on the history of the gates, watched by Dame Diana Johnson MP**

**Opening the gates – it took a team effort as those gates are heavy!**

Dame Diana Johnson talking to some of the cemetery volunteers — **Dame Diana Johnson MP talking to volunteers and FOHGC charity trustees Bill Longbone (left) and Karen Towner (right)**

And finally, here’s what Lightowler said about the occasion –

https://www.lightowler.com/news/proudly-helping-to-bring-hull-general-cemetery-back-to-its-best

Helen Bovill

Helen is a keen photographer and nature lover. She spent a large part of her working life at the Land Registry. She is a member of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and various other similar organisations. Living close to the Cemetery for over 30 years she has seen the fortunes of the site fluctuate and has joined the FOHGC to make a positive difference.

2 thoughts on “Cemetery Gates Refurbishment”

Thanks for posting Helen.

Thank you for this article Helen. In some ways the refurbishing of the gates is of historic importance and harks right back to those heady days of June 1847 when the great and good were invited to the opening of the site which was so important to the welfare of the community and the prompted
the growth of civic pride that the creation of the cemetery gave Hull at that time. Well done to all involved.

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