Gravedigger's Churchyard Tales

Ian Shipley lives in Morton, near Swinderby, Lincolnshire. He is a Gravedigger. He has been traditionally hand-digging graves for over 41 years. To date, he has prepared over 4,750 graves and has worked in 156 churchyards and cemeteries across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. Ian can still be found habitually toiling away as he continues to journey from village to village, but in his area of work, he may well be the last of the traditional gravediggers.

• Chapter 1 The Lincoln Edge 1Chapter 2 Three Polish Airmen 5Chapter 3 Our Ever-Changing World 9Chapter 4 Bleak House Murder 14Chapter 5 Back-Breaking Day 17Chapter 6 Farewell Newark Cemetery 20Chapter 7 You’ve Dug It Wrong 24Chapter 8 Stone on the Hill 26Chapter 9 Always Expect the Unexpected 28Chapter 10 One Grumpy Vicar 31Chapter 11 I Won’t Get Fooled Again 34Chapter 12 All Saints Churchyard, Eagle 37Chapter 13 Plot 15H 40Chapter 14 Is Everything Alright? 44Chapter 15 Stuck in the Mud 48Chapter 16 My Close Encounter with Death 51Chapter 17 Grafting in a Downpour 55Chapter 18 Beware the Rare Tall Thrift Plant 58Chapter 19 The Old Rectory Courtyard 61Chapter 20 When Death Comes to Call 63Chapter 21 One of Those Days 66Chapter 22 An Open-Cast Mine 68Chapter 23 Never Be Complacent 71Chapter 24 Eight Days a Week 73Chapter 25 Hill Top Cemetery, Gonerby 76Chapter 26 You Got Deeper than the Last Gravedigger 79Chapter 27 Whoops, I Pegged Out the Wrong Grave 82Chapter 28 Graveside Catastrophe 84Chapter 29 Newark Castle Ghost Hunt 87Chapter 30 Postponed Until Further Notice 90Chapter 31 Thank You, Mr Jackson 92Chapter 32 It’s Time to Share the Workload 95Chapter 33 Don’t Go to Syerston 98Chapter 34 Who Put That There? 100Chapter 35 The Covid Pandemic 103Chapter 36 Graveyard Antics 105Chapter 37 A 34-Year Secret 113