Highgate Cemetary is a vast Victorian Necropilis in the heart of North London. Opened in 1839 it is a truly fascinating place to visit. The Victorian ruling classes were big on erecting imposing mausoleums to themselves as if to say that they were big shots in life & therefore a 'big deal' in death too !
.The cemetary staff though are very much of this world & not in the least dead,in fact I found them very much alive , helpful even.They know the layout of this massive graveyard better than most.On entering the main gate there is a small cover charge asked, though I am led to believe that it may be possible to negotiate a group rate.To be honest I had surveyed the lie of the land previous to paying admission and pondered the possibility of a quick vault over the perimeter fence. However, the very real possibility of being skewered on a rusty spiked railing on a dark winter afternoon in a strange city didnt appeal to me so paying up seemed the more attractive option plus in those days the Metropolitan police treated any 'suspicious' behaviour by sturdy North Irish males in the capital with the same scepticism as they now view visiting Iranian students on study trips to nuclear submarine bases. £2.50 admission was a trifle to pay compared with an enforced lengthy tour of the English legal system a la Birmingham Six or the Guildford Four!

The world famous tomb of the founder of modern communism lies, not unsurprisingly, to the left of the entrance. It is a massive structure and I am tempted to show it's vast dimensions by including a photograph taken of myself after scaling the main plinth of the tomb standing on top of the tomb with my arm resting on the massive sculpture of Herr Marx's head! (No mean feat of skill considering my phobia for heights!) I am quite sure Marx would have approved as I was involved in an industrial dispute of sorts with my then employers at the time & therefore doing my humble bit for ye olde class war...Also, I can remember an obscure account from a visiting socialist contemporary of Herr Marx
where he narrates of an occasion going drinking with a presumably reasonably young Marx and his amazement at his nimble agility when Karl climbed up a lampost in the throws of intoxication!(Lol !)

Highgate is the final resting place of many revolutionaries, famous and not so well known . Karl Marx's tomb is by far the most widely known feature of this Gothic graveyard (which incidently was used as a set in many of the old Hammer horror films.) Marx's massive tomb was not his original grave marker, the original tombstone was a much less grand affair but still exists. In recent times Marx's tomb has been vandalised several times by bonehead neo-nazis and there was an attempt to bomb it in the 1970's but during my time there it was in excellent repair with many bouquets of flowers arranged round the plinth of the tomb. The upkeep of the last resting place of Herr Marx is today paid for by the Chinese Embassy which seems a fair enough arrangement considering their antecedents and what they have done supposedly in his name though I wonder what Karl would think of it all now? But I guess a gifthorse should not be looked at in the mouth and all that..

I was pleasantly surprised to find S.W.A.P.O (South West African Peoples Organisation), S.A.C.P (south african communist party) , A.N.C , Irish Republican & other revolutionary gravestones within sight of Karl Marx's famous tomb ! They also appeared to be in good repair ! I have been trying to find old photographs taken at the time that would help identify the Irish republican graves but so far have been unsuccessfull. It was re-assuring to know that Herr Marx keeps good company even in death, these include :

•Claudia Jones, black Communist and fighter for social justice
•Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and other novels
•Edward Hodges Baily, sculptor
•Farzad Bazoft, journalist, executed by Saddam Hussein's regime
•Jacob Bronowski, scientist, creator of the television series The Ascent of Man
•Robert William Buss, artist and illustrator
•Patrick Caulfield, painter and printmaker known for his pop art canvasses
•Robert Caesar Childers, oriental scholar and writer
•Lucy Clifford, British novelist and journalist, the wife of William Kingdon Clifford
•William Kingdon Clifford, mathematician and philosopher
•John Singleton Copley, Lord Chancellor and son of the American artist
•Sir Charles Cowper, Premier of NSW, Australia (1857–1859)
•Charles Cruft, founder of Crufts dog show
•John Dickens and Elizabeth Dickens, parents of Charles and models for Micawber and Mrs Nickleby
•The Druce family vault, one of whose members was (falsely) alleged to have been the 5th Duke of Portland.
•George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), novelist
•Claire Epstein, doctor
•Michael Faraday, physicist
•Copeland Family, prestigious family and romanian royal lineage.
•Paul Foot, campaigning journalist & socialist
•William Friese-Greene, cinema pioneer. The memorial is credited to Edwin Lutyens
•Stella Gibbons, novelist
•Lou Gish, actress, daughter of Sheila Gish
•Sheila Gish, actress
•Craft Copeland
•Robert Grant VC. soldier and police constable
•Radclyffe Hall, author of The Well of Loneliness and other novels
•Mansoor Hekmat, Communist leader and founder of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran and Worker-Communist Party of Iraq
•James Holman, sightless 19th-century adventurer known as "the Blind Traveller"
•George Henry Lewes, critic
•Alexander Litvinenko, Russian dissident turned critic, murdered by poisoning in London
•Charles Lucy, artist
•Anna Mahler, sculpturess
•Frank Matcham, theatre architect
•Carl Mayer, Austrian-German screenwriter of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari and Sunrise
•Ralph Miliband, left wing political theorist, father of David Miliband and Ed Miliband
•Henry Moore, (1841–93), marine painter
•Dachine Rainer, poet and anarchist

Not bad neighbours to have in death though if there was to be some mysterious resurrection in that corner of Highgate there could well be some heated debate or riotous assembly.....

"Workers of All Lands Unite !"

Then:

"The Philosophers have only interpreted the World in various ways. The point however is to change it !"

Are the main inscriptions on Karl Marx' tomb written well over a century ago yet still retaining their resonance. For some travellers a visit to Highgate Cemetary may be an interesting historical trip and no doubt for others it may well even be a pilgrimage of sorts.Well worth a visit if you have a little time to spare when in London and if you have a couple of days free why not visit the Marx Memorial Library on the Clerkenwell Road...but that is another....hub.

© Iskra   http://iskras-blog.blogspot.com/

 Highgate Cemetery is quite easy to get to from anywhere in London & by a variety of modes of transport

By Underground

From London, take the Northern Line (High Barnet branch) to Archway (not Highgate). On leaving the station, turn left and walk up Highgate Hill (past the Whittington Hospital) until you get to St Joseph’s Church (obvious by its large green copper dome). Enter Waterlow Park on your left and go downhill across the park (past the duck ponds) to the Swains Lane exit (below the tennis courts).  The walk takes about 20 minutes.

Going back towards London on the Northern Line, you can take either the Charing Cross branch (via the West End) or the Bank branch (via the city).

PLEASE NOTE - From October 2009 and extending into the early part of 2010, there a number of weekends when Archway station is closed for essential maintenance  work.  Please check with Transport For London (click 'Useful Links' on the left of this page) when planning your journey.

Alternative stations are Tufnell Park and Highgate

By Bus

There are a range of bus services:

The 271 route starts at Liverpool Street and ends in Highgate Village, going via Holloway and Archway.

The 214 route also starts at Liverpool Street and ends at Highgate Village, going via Islington, Kings Cross and Camden Town

The C2 route starts at Victoria Station and ends at Parliament Hill Fields (at the bottom end of Swains Lane), going via Green Park, Oxford Circus and Camden Town.

From the centre of Highgate village, turn down Swains Lane.  It's a 6 minute walk.  From the bottom of Swains Lane, head uphill for about 10 minutes.

By Taxi

Getting a taxi to the cemetery is straightforward but it can be difficult to find one heading back into London (the best option is from Highgate High Street). It is advisable to book a return taxi.

By Car

Part of Swains Lane is one-way heading north (uphill) so you are advised to avoid turning into Swains Lane from Highgate Village. There is no parking at the Cemetery (other than for Blue Badge holders) and parking on local streets can be difficult, with most of the surrounding area covered by controlled parking ones. There are some 'pay and display' bays on Swains Lane and in Highgate village.  If you chose to drive, check the parking regulations carefully as parking wardens are very active in the area.

Going on to Hampstead Heath or Kenwood

It is possible to walk to Hampstead Heath from the cemetery.  Turn down Swains Lane, following the road to a roundabout with Highgate West Hill. Parliament Hill Fields and Hampstead Heath are just beyond the roundabout to the right.

From there it is possible to walk to Hampstead Village and Kenwood across the Heath, but for the less energetic the 210 bus from Highgate Village goes to Hampstead Village via Kenwood.   For the more energetic, this route is also walkable.

Refreshments

Highgate High Street has a variety of coffee shops, pubs and restaurants.

Lauderdale House (across Waterlow Park and near St Joseph’s Church) has a cafe, as does the park itself..

There are a number of attractive shops and restaurants at the bottom of Swains Lane, near Parliament Hill Fields.
Website:   http://www.highgate-cemetery.org/