Camberwell Old Cemetery

[JackBauer24]

Hi all if you walk your dog in Camberwell Old Cemetery please keep them on a lead, there are signs in the cemetery saying just that however many people are still allowing their dogs to roam off the lead. I have seen dogs doing their business on graves and cocking their legs up on gravestones. I have loved one buried there and find this highly offensive. Please keep your dog on its lead and clean up after them. To the people who already do this I thank you.

[savvygirl]

That is so disrespectful. Dog walkers need to be mindful of their surroundings. It's peaceful and pleasant to walk through but please be aware it's not a park, it's a cemetery! The same goes for toddlers on trikes and children on bikes! There are enough parks in the area for this sort of activity!

[taper]

You can let your dog off in parts of Camberwell Old Cemetery. Most of the wooded area and the open bit on the woody's northern edge that abuts the back of the houses on Ryedale. There are signs at the main entrances that show where you can let your dog off and where it must be kept on the lead.

[OutOfFocus]

taper Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> You can let your dog off in parts of Camberwell

> Old Cemetery.

The website https://www.southwark.gov.uk/parks-and-open-spaces/parks/camberwell-old-cemetery is clear this is NOT the case.

please keep all dogs on leads to assist with social distancing. Commercial dog walking is not allowed in cemeteries at this time

> Most of the wooded area and the open

> bit on the woody's northern edge that abuts the

> back of the houses on Ryedale. There are signs at

> the main entrances that show wh

do not enter wooded areas

 

[Laur]

Thank you for clarifying OutofFocus.

I understand where you're coming from Jack as I too have loved ones buried there and find it so disrespectful when I'm visiting a grave and have dogs running past and trampling all over the graves. Countless times I've gone there to find grave ornaments knocked off the grave or dogs dashing past running all over the graves.

Please people remember that this is a cemetery first and foremost.

[AllisonAdler]

I completely agree about keeping dogs on leads in the areas of the cemetery that are in current use. The Southwark Park info, however, that is quoted above is out of date and there is no current restriction on entering wooded areas. The newest signs, though, suggest that dogs are meant to be on lead in the old parts as well, so I've erred on the side of caution and kept mine on even in the disused bits. No one else has, but...

[JackBauer24]

Since my post last week, I?m happy to say that most people are now keeping their dogs on leads however today while I was visiting my father?s grave, I noticed what I think was a dark brown golden retriever running around off its lead. Signs at all entrances saying dogs must be kept on leads, quite simple really keep your dog on its lead! This is a cemetery if you want to walk your dog off its lead go to the park.

[taper]

OutOfFocus Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> taper Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > You can let your dog off in parts of Camberwell

> > Old Cemetery.

>

> The website

> https://www.southwark.gov.uk/parks-and-open-spaces

> /parks/camberwell-old-cemetery is clear this is

> NOT the case.

> please keep all dogs on leads to assist with

> social distancing. Commercial dog walking is not

> allowed in cemeteries at this time

>

> > Most of the wooded area and the open

> > bit on the woody's northern edge that abuts the

> > back of the houses on Ryedale. There are signs

> at

> > the main entrances that show wh

> do not enter wooded areas

>

I think that is an old notice from the spring, when they opened the cemetery. I am pretty sure you can both enter the wooded area and release your dog in there as is normally the case. I'll check for sure next time I'm in there

[JackBauer24]

I?m not talking about the wooded area behind Reydale this was in an area where dogs should be on a lead. Some people just have no respect maybe if they have loved ones buried there I could run all over their graves and not give a dam, they might take notice!!!

[Laur]

My mum went to tend to 2 graves there yesterday and as she tended to one a dog came to urinate in the middle of the nearby other one. The couple just casually walked past and brushed it off as if the dog was just being friendly.

Maybe these people don't have their loved ones buried in this cemetery, but please respect those grieving families that do.

JackBauer24 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I?m not talking about the wooded area behind

> Reydale this was in an area where dogs should be

> on a lead. Some people just have no respect maybe

> if they have loved ones buried there I could run

> all over their graves and not give a dam, they

> might take notice!!!

[Renata Hamvas]

The current rules are that dogs are to be on leads in all areas of all of the Southwark Cemeteries. This is to assist with social distancing measures and that the Cemeteries are busier than usual.

[taper]

Just been through the Old Cemetery and it does indeed have a page of laminated A3 paper tied to each gate requiring dogs to be leashed in all areas. So I was wrong. It's true too that Southwark encourage you to avoid the wooded areas. For the life of me I cannot figure out why the latter should be so. The wooded area in the cemetery has long since ceased to be used for burials. And is the least busy bit of the Old Cemetery. But there you go.

[Penguin68]

For the life of me I cannot figure out why the latter should be so.

As I understand it, it's a health and safety issue - although the paths are fine, many of the old monuments are unstable (with e.g. trees growing through them) so people going off the (unfenced) paths would be at risk of injury (or becoming trapped under masonry). Adults I'm sure could take the risk, but children maybe not. Hence a general 'avoid'. 'Avoid the wooded areas' can be interpreted as 'but the paths are fine' - an interpretation I tend to follow.