December 2007 – New plaque for our Display Case in the Cemetery

David Earle, Ryde Social Heritage Group’s Membership Secretary and Leader of the Mapping Group, is a man of many talents and a valuable member of our team. He recently impressed us all by making a plaque to adorn the display case we had installed in Ryde Cemetery last year.

The plaque is based on a design for a compass which in turn is based on the design of one of the crosses in the cemetery. The original idea was Sally-Ann’s and the artwork for the compass was drawn up by Al Rowe the artist.

http://www.potting-shed-cartoons.co.uk/

David looked at the design and said, “I think I could make one of those for the display case.” We talked about it and decided that it would need modifying to become a plaque and rather than the letters NSEW for the four compass points the plaque we should have the letters RSHG, for Ryde Social Heritage Group, on the four points and David went away to ponder on what to put in the centre. He finally decided on an ivy leaf, which is an appropriate symbol for the cemetery. A few weeks later, true to his word, he came along and impressed us with the results of his work.

Then last Saturday morning in the freezing cold David installed the plaque on the top of the display case, while his daughter, grandson and I stood around getting very, very cold but admiring his ability and talent.

RSHG has been working with local artist Al Rowe who has produced a fantastic map of the cemetery for us. To be honest this artwork should have been installed in the display case before now, but completing the work was delayed due to other commitments in the Group (no fault of Al’s) and it will now be installed in the Spring of 2008. All I can say is that it will be worth waiting for and will be a fantastic addition to the cemetery.

For a taster of what you might expect when the art work is completed please check out Al’s website