Issue 99 March 2024

Firstly, I would like to thank all of you who took the trouble to contact me to inform me that the cemetery gates were missing. Everyone was most concerned and thought that they had been stolen. I went to the Ramsey Town Council Offices and was told that they had been removed for restoration and that they will be rehung in due course.

It’s very nice to know that so many of you keep a watchful eye on the cemetery and chapels and I know that it’s very much appreciated by our members.

The photographs this month are of 2 postcards of Ramsey Abbey as it was in years gone by. One we were told, is of the Abbey in the 1920s when the De Ramsey’s were still in residence and gives you an idea of just how beautiful the gardens and grounds must have looked. The other is of the Abbey shortly after it had become the Grammar School.

Unfortunately, when you look at it now you would never know that it was the same place. 

Here is a piece by local lady Evelyn Beeby, who sadly is no longer with us. She was such a lovely person and did so much for Ramsey. Both she and her dear husband Stan are laid to rest in the Wood Lane cemetery which surrounds the Mortuary Chapels.

MEMORIES
I was one of the first pupils to attend the Abbey Grammar School. We went from the old Grammar School which was in the High Street to the Abbey in the 1930s.
We all felt in awe having such a wonderful building for our school.
The girls cloakroom was in the basement and school assembly was held in the marvellous library upstairs. We always started the day with a hymn or a prayer and any notices were read out. I was the school pianist for this and also for our music lessons taken by Mr. Brown. He also taught the piano to pupils in my Grandmas front room in the High Street. In the library was a large door made to look like a bookcase, when the door was shut it moulded into the other book shelves so that you couldn’t tell where it was. We all thought that this was quite magical.
My classroom was also upstairs and I could sit at my desk, look out of the window and see the backdoor of my parents house in Hollow Lane.
Our Headmaster was Mr. Allen and when he took us for lessons in the winter, he always stood in front of the open fire which warmed our classroom. He used to make us laugh when he held his handkerchief in front of the fire as well.
There were only five teaching staff at the time and they were.
Mr. Allen Headmaster
Mr. Watson
Mr. Slater
Miss Oddy
Miss Johnstone
Happy Days!

Unfortunately, there is still no movement by the Ramsey Town Council regarding our new toilet facilities and the other work that they promised to carry out. I had hoped that at the time of writing, I would be able to tell you that we were flushed with success! But it was not to be.
However, we have all been very busy cleaning the Anglican Chapel in the hope that we might be able to open at least one chapel for Ramsey’s Heritage Day this year on Sunday 7th April, if the work to the toilet has been carried out.

Sadly, all of the restoration work that we had planned for the Non-conformist chapel has had to be put on hold until the current situation is resolved, but hopefully by the end of the year we will have made headway at last.

Please see our official Facebook page, “Ramsey Mortuary Chapels” and our website: -  www.ramseymortuarychapels.org.uk for up-to-date information regarding our opening times.

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