CHASE AROUND THE GRAVESTONES

In Black Hearts And Blue Devils, sergeant Abraham Lively chases a suspect into the churchyard of St. Giles one evening; unaware that he was himself being followed by another character. This sets the scene for a game of cat and mouse around the gravestones, the outcome being a matter of chance. Shots of some of those markers of mortality are attached to the Black Hearts And Blue Devils Facebook page. I particularly like the fact that someone had been called Nebuchadnezzar.

The current church of St. Giles, of which glimpses can be seen in the photos, is the fourth that has stood on that spot, the first having been built in the 12th.century. That one lasted till the early nineteenth century but was demolished and replaced in 1840 by a brand new Church, thanks mostly to the perseverance of the reverend George Barrs. Unfortunately, this second church lasted only 64 years as it soon became unstable and unsafe courtesy of the mining activity in the area. It is this second church which features in Black Hearts And Blue Devils. Its successor was destroyed by Arson in 1913 (some say by suffragettes) – and so we are now on the fourth incarnation.

The original church building was made, at least in part, from the local stone known as Rowley Rag, some of which appears to have been recycled to form part of the current boundary walls and which was sourced from local quarries. The quarries also feature in the book – one of them used to contain the (once) famous Hailstone, which also gets a mention, as does the eponymous public house (which pub is still standing although now an Indian restaurant I believe). It is from Hailstone quarry that the Blue Devil first makes his appearance in the book…

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