Heaton Graveyard Community Project

Heaton Graveyard is situated right at the centre of the village, accessed from Highgate. It was owned by Heaton Baptist Chapel, dates back to 1824 and was used for burials right up until 2007. It's not very big (one acre) but there are at least 8630 people recorded as interred there, in 1100 graves that range from those with simple gravestones to very grand Victorian monuments. There are also several thousand paupers and their children buried there in unmarked communal graves, with no records kept.

Like many similar small cemeteries, the graveyard fell into disrepair and became overgrown.  In 2003, a group of volunteers decided to tidy it up and they have over the years returned it to a beautiful, peaceful place of rest and remembrance, a haven of flowers and wildlife. It really is a little jewel.

Sean's Pond

'He that planteth a tree is a servant of God, he provideth a kindness for many generations, and faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.'     Henry van Dyke

Part of the walk around Heaton took us through Heaton Woods, some of which is owned and managed by the Heaton Woods Trust, a registered charity founded in 1977 and run by volunteers. Their aim is to preserve, replant and improve this ancient woodland, which together with Northcliffe Park and woods, and the area around Six Days Only, forms a wonderful oasis of nature and fresh air between Bradford and Shipley. They have gradually acquired land so that now they own about 40 acres. It's largely thanks to such people of vision, now and in the past, that the area has not been swallowed up by development.

A wildlife pond has been developed and subsequently extended, on some of the land acquired early on. It is called Sean's Pond. Sean (1966-1990), the son of Jackie and Tony Emmott (one of the Heaton Woods Trustees), died tragically in a car accident. There is an attractive and interesting booklet with information about Heaton Woods - see here.

A new view

Some good friends of mine have recently moved house from the south side of the city of Bradford to the north side, to an area called Heaton, not far down the road from Saltaire and Shipley. I visited them recently and we had a lovely circular walk, through some surprisingly unspoilt woodland and back to the residential area along the main street, Highgate.

Heaton used at one time to be a distinct village and then, as the city of Bradford grew, spread and effectively swallowed it up after the Industrial Revolution, it became an area where many wealthy industrialists built their grand houses. It is on a hill and from the edge of the village you get lovely views across the Aire valley to Shipley and Baildon. You may be able to make out the clock tower in Shipley market place. It's right in the centre of the picture, immediately above the trees. Saltaire is not visible, tucked away in the valley behind the trees to the left of the picture.

Do you remember the 'Sat-Nav is wrong' sign? You can see the houses where it was taken... a pinkish building, at the mid-left, in amongst the trees.