Guest Rina Tillinger talking about her love of Graveyards and Inscriptions and book "Tiptoe Through the Tombstones" with Tim Prevett, originally broadcast in 2013, the interview is edited for RedShift Online's podcasts in March 2020.
"Tiptoe Through the Tombstones explores the churchyards of Cheshire in search of unusual and unforgettable inscriptions and epitaphs carved on gravestones. Two enthusiasts, Rina Tillinger and Di Hanning-Lee meet the dead who are as interesting as the living. The Thelma and Louise of gravestoning search each Cheshire churchyard for quirky and poignant inscriptions and epitaphs with curiosity, grit (literally!) and humour. The book is a mesmerizing blend of history, mystery, poetry, tragedy and comedy. With humour, curiosity and enthusiasm, two amateur sleuths a tall brunette Yank and a small blonde Brit search the churchyards and cemeteries of Cheshire for dead interesting gravestone inscriptions and epitaphs. Each chapter describes a graveyard where they stumble literally upon local, general and military history and characters including a medieval martyr, a mother of 33 children and an actress s cuckolded husband. Tiptoe Through the Tombstones records inscriptions, epitaphs and poems that are highly imaginative, heart-warming and even inspiring. Carved in stone for posterity, the descriptions of death by scarlet fever, consumption, shipwreck, rail accident, lightning strike, drowning, falling, and gunshot (but rarely old age!) are touching, amusing and always compelling. The book combines travel writing with history, mystery, poetry and comedy."
00:16 Introduction to the Podcast Series
01:47 Introduction to the episode
03:15 Introducing Rina Tillinger
05:37 Why Graveyards? Why Epitaphs?
11:37 Some Epitaphs from Cheshire
17:35 What would be your epitaph - comments from Facebook
20:57 More Epitaphs from Cheshire and beyond
24:26 About Rina's book
25:05 Where can we get Rina's book?
26:00 More epitaphs
28:00 Epitaphs from murdered people
29:50 Graves which have been reoriented
36:18 A bride's grave and epitaph and others
39:30 Some comments from Twitter
39:56 Some epitaphs from Wales
41:00 Some epitaphs from New Zealand and around the World
49:50 Concluding comments
