I grew up in Heptonstall. I knew Ted's parents, who lived just outside the village, and I remember seeing Ted & Sylvia when they visited. I find it hard to enter that graveyard now because too many people I knew are there. One of my best friends is right next to Sylvia, a former girlfriend of who I was very fond has a memorial stone, and there are many others that I remember, their faces clear in my mind when I read their names.
@j0nnyism There used to be a radio series called "Home Truths" that was a sort of antidote to celebrity culture. All the items were from ordinary people. One I've never forgotten was from a man reminiscing about a girl at school that he fell for when he was 14. In the summer holiday he decided to ask her out when school resumed. On the first day of the new term, he found out that she had died in a road accident. He never forgot her, and it sounded like he never really got over it. He grew up, moved away, got married and had a family, but still often thought about his first love. Many years later, on a visit to his home town, he found out that the girl's parents were still alive and went to see them. He didn't tell them of his adolescent romantic intentions, just that he often thought about her. They were delighted that someone outside their family remembered her and asked if he wanted to see a photo of her. He declined, because in his mind she had grown up with him and seeing a photo of her as a child would break that illusion.
@@Kevin-mx1vi no, it does not make anything OK. I am trying to point out that when people step out onto the public stage, they lose much of their privacy. People who are legendary will never regain that privacy. It is not a happy thought but it is what drives peoples' feeling of ownership of a celebrity who are completely unconnected to them. I am sure it is a terrible burden to those who are left behind when they die.q
Whatever your thoughts on their relationship, it doesn't give anyone the right to vandalise a grave. The fact it's also against the wishes of their actual daughter is even worse.
Like I wouldn't ( no matter how much I hate ISLAM ) I wàs a gravedigger and even though I don't believe in ghosts I wouldn't smash the gravestones I believe in karma
@orionxtc1119 before I worked with my dad gravedigging he went into work one day after Halloween and the devil worshippers had taken a body from a common / paupers grave and cut head off and placed it in a chalk circle or whatever they do
This is the problem with fandoms, they fail to understand, they do not know their favourite artists personally and it is a gross intrusion to act against the wishes of the family. Whatever your own personal feelings, none of us knew Sylvia and we were not privy to her relationship with her husband or her feelings toward him, so stay off the grave and respect her child.
I would suggest these people take a course devoted to her work, and course study will naturally include things like her journals and other biographical texts about Sylvia. And becoming an adult also helps you to have a different perspective on her and their relationship. The best you can say for them was, it was a complicated time and they were complicated people.
@ oh, I do agree with you about that. Absolutely no dispute there. I think her parents should’ve fought him in court for her work. I merely suggested that interested people should take a course on her and get familiar with what they can find out about her and come to understand the incredible loss for literature. I just wonder what he was trying to hide. I think he was a narcissist and he wanted to look like a long suffering husband to their children, and what was in those poems and stories were clues to the truth.
@@guydreamr I don't believe in karma or an afterlife. Some people get away with immoral gains or just pointless acts of violence. We can comfort ourselves with hope in justice, but I don't.
I been there with my mum in the late 90s on one of our ‘walking holidays’ mums been gone 5 years now so seeing to is popped up just bought back some memories. Thank you for the video
You know, the old family walking holidays checking out grave stones 😂 I was into roller skating at that time and most of the holidays I was left at the indoor skatepark in Wakefield. Best times!! Just thought to add that :)
What an interesting approach communicating such important heritage! Humble and respectful, yet definitive. I subscribed very quickly indeed. Well done, you’re doing a great job. Kudos
Ted Hughes confirmed he wrote the poem Daffodils about Sylvia Plath which was published in his poetry book Birthday Letters in 1997. He also said it would be his only comment on the matter of Sylvia and her death. It’s a wonderful poem celebrating Sylvia. It shows his beautiful command of the English language and why Ted was Poet Laureate for many years.
Back in the late 80s, as a postman at St David's Station in Exeter, I occasionally spoke to Ted Hughes as he awaited his train to London or North Devon. I think he was pleased that a postie recognised him and was familiar with his poems.
Passion and anger are but separated by a hair....... in the end this has nothing to do with public opinion and everything to do with a private family burial. Sylvia's husband was neither the first, nor the last man to have an affair, nor was Sylvia the first poet to throw off her mortal coil by her own hand. All of that aside, nothing explains away the defacement of a private monument paid for with private funds, period.
Trouble is that he destroyed work that would have been embraced by her readers. He shouldn't have let everyone know he destroyed unpublished work. No, this is on the family, period.
Not YOUR family and therefore by default not YOUR or ANYONE else's place to destroy something that doesn't belong to you... and while we're on the topic of reality, and other things that don't belong to you... Sylvia's poems aren't yours! They were never written "for you"... Christ Jesus! With entitlement from fans such as yourself, it really is no wonder she gassed herself.
@@annabellelee4535 Did she leave her possessions or works to him? If so it was his right to keep or destroy. None of our business. We didn’t own her or her works.
@@Kanga-53 It doesn't matter, it was a crime against literature to destroy her works. When he bragged about destroying unpublished works by a renowned poet, he became hated and justifiably so. Did you know his second wife also took her own life? He deserves condemnation.
That was very interesting and has allowed me to see somewhere I will never have the opportunity to visit. Thank you for the upload. Off to do some reading about Sylvia Plath!
If you're going to read her poetry I would suggest "The Colossus". I never understood why "Ariel" was the famous one. Maybe people just prefer inscrutable puzzles to vivid and powerful pictures, I don't know.
live about 20 minutes away from here, always knew Plath's grave was up there and have been thinking about making the trip for a while but never got around to it. I had heard the story of the coin clippers too but never knew they're graves were up there aswell I will defiantly visit soon, that gorgeous old ruin church is also a massive plus.
Wow … how have I missed Heptonstall. I am living in Beverley now but grew up in Bradford. I have links to so many places around there. This is amazing. Those churches are stunning. I am due over Keighley soon to take a friend for an afternoon tea …. Guess where I am going with her now. I wont be tight and give her a packed lunch but we can visit the churches as well . Thank you for sharing … this has been such a gem to see.
First time viewer, just subscribed. Hope you can show more places like this. We don't have these kinds of places in Australia as it was only settled by English back in the late 1700s. I really love old grave yards especially those that were around the churches. Ty for this story, and yeah I think people should mind their own business! Defacing a grave stone is just disgusting.
Ted Hughes left her and went to live with his mistress when Sylvia was probably suffering from post-natal depression. She was struggling alone in a flat without central heating - remember she was American - in England's coldest winter for 100 years, looking after two children under the age of two and having recently miscarried. She knew almost no-one in London.
I hate to be the one to point this out but Sylvia Plath had serious mental health issues long before any of the events you mention. Hughes is not a particularly sympathetic character but neither was Plath. She had made multiple attempts to end her own life, including before she met Hughes. Her son suffered the same fate (as did the woman Hughes left Plath for). Its important not to take sides in this because no-one really knows what happened. My first wife suffered from bipolar disorder (the serious type with psychotic and manic episodes) and, while I managed to get her through that safely and on to a better life, the toll was serious and the dramas and things I experienced you would find hard to believe could actually happen. The world is not a tidy place.
Was that 1962? I was chatting to an elderly lady in Liverpool about that winter and she said that no matter how much coal she put on the fire she couldn’t warm the house up and her kids had hot water bottles wrapped up in their clothes. Not central heating in those days
We can - and probably should - be sympathetic (retrospectively) with Sylvia Plath, but that does not mean that we should blame her sad end entirely on Ted Hughes, if that is your implication.
Thank you for this lovely yet somber trip down memory lane. I visited this Graveyard back in 1986 when I was visiting from Canada. A friend who lived nearby took me there, specifically to see Sylvia Plath's grave. Even then, it was obvious people had been chiseling out the letters from the stone. So disrespectful. I also remember the entire graveyard being more overgrown with foliage. I thought it was beautiful, desolate and rather remote actually. It was the last place I expected Plath to be buried. I also remember walking through the ruins of the old Church and being absolutely amazed with the history and architecture. Thanks for the tour. I have subscribed.
Unfortunately, ive met some folk heavily into Silvia Plath who were/are definitely far too precious about themselves. End of the day its no one elses business and defacing in a church is unforgivable.
Just a random comment, Sylvia Plath's mother was Austrian, and her father, A German who immigrated to the USA, was an entomologist and wrote a book about bumblebees.
In the Omen, a metal spire is struck by lightning and impales Patrick Troughton. I realise the circumstances are very different, but Savile's elaborate and presumably extremely expensive gravestone was removed entirely by his family, not because of vandalism but through shame
Yes and weirdly; So-vile had his caravan right next door; in nearby Cragg Vale; next to the Hinchcliffe arms. Even more weirdly that demon used to masquerade as a priest giving Sunday sermons in the parish church. Even Stephen King couldn't make this shit up; but it is true. Matt Parker has done a great vid about this on Dark Side of the Moor youtube channel including a very creepy story about a missing child.
A couple of my widowed Gtx Grannies in Scotland were recorded under their maiden names on censuses after their husbands died and newspapers would often mention both names in stories.
There is a grave in West Wycombe (Bucks) churchyard of a woman who died after being caught in a mantrap and bleeding to death. The local aristo "Dashwood" resisted the wording on the stone but finally agreed to "Died as a Result of the Game Laws". This is not anecdotal, I've visited the grave. Jack, the Japan Alps Brit
Just outside the church grounds stands the old school house which is where the Coiners were based and there’s a small museum dedicated to them and their story. I’m not sure of the opening time and apart from a couple of display boards showing a couple of illustrations of the Coiners trimming some coins and melting the clippings down to make new blanks ready to be stamped into their forgeries, there isn’t much more to see.
Nice Triumph hoodie! I have a 78 export bonnie I've had for 40yrs. Also, a few yrs ago our local left footer church lost one of it's tower spikes. It went through a roof. They stood it on the ground like that one. Nice channel. Respects from Durham.
I can understand people's anger but it's not right to ever deface a tombstone or disturb a grave. When people scratch her tombstone, it is not her ex they are hurting, it is the stone of someone they love, they are damaging what is left of her!😢 🐾🌈☮️🇨🇦🕊
There are some very weird atmospheres round there. Jimmy So-vile had his caravan right next door; in nearby Cragg Vale; next to the Hinchcliffe arms. Even more weirdly that demon used to masquerade as a priest giving Sunday sermons in the parish church. Even Stephen King couldn't make this shit up; but it is true. Matt Parker has done a great vid about this on his Dark Side of the Moor youtube channel including a very creepy story about a missing child. Heptonstall itself is a very beautiful place; described by fellow Blackburner Alfred Wainwright as 'an intact Elizabethan Village'.
I certainly wouldn’t deface her stone, but it does grate on my nerves that Ted Hughes had such a high opinion of himself. And it’s just my opinion. Never a bit of shame or regret from him.
Lovely job. One thread of my ancestry goes back to Heptonstall, which I would love to visit someday, so when I looked up the town I was quite intrigued by the story of Sylvia Plath's headstone. Thanks, and keep warm!
She was a poet .... her husband was a poet. There works were public, they were very public figures with a lot of Public Influence. Therefore the daughter is very wrong...their circumstances are not private ..they are public. Their works, like any poets, had a very large impact on peoples minds...as does their private lives...they lived of the public, therefore the public should have a say in how they are seen through life... and even in death. Betrayal, was one of the greatest loves of poets works...and as such, people closely associated with their works see them as betrayed ...and do have a right to see the separation continue through even after death.
I don't think they are fallen, I think they are meant to be like that. I'm always surprised to see gravestones on the path around my local cathedral. Its like the person is forcing you to notice them
Great video, thanks! This just came up on my FY page - looking forward to checking out your other videos! Thanks so much for being so respectful of these graves - and I totally agree, I hate walking over existing graves, but sometimes there’s no other option. I like spending time in old graveyards, I find it very peaceful and often therapeutic. My friends and family think it’s a bit odd though lol 😂!
Thanks so much for much for watching! 🙂 There is something interesting about them 😁 they can definitely be peaceful too I agree, so many stories to be found in them.
What people fail to realise is that you can not change history. She was indisputably married to Ted Hughes and, unless you're in possession of a time machine, nothing can ever change that. Vandalising part of Sylvia's legal name on her gravestone is just pathetic.
I was raised that whatever is going on in someone's relationship is none of my business unless there's an abuse type situation. It's between a man and their woman..period
It does feel wrong to walk on a grave but the grave stones no longer mark the grave site, although bodies may have been buried in the ground underneath , stones are often recovered ,and r e-laid when graves collapse
She may have still loved him when she died and not wanted to change her name back to her maiden name. Why anyone would deface a grave stone is beyond me, let sleeping dogs lie (if they were ever were not) and leave this poor ladies resting place alone, this is one place she can be at peace.
The most controversial one is probably the big tombstone surrounded by flowers that Jimmy Saville had, although it was unsurprisingly removed after it kept being defaced for obvious reasons.
@bestrafung2754 I was actually thinking of that one when I wrote my op. But there are others that have been controversial too, like Spike Milligan's, which if I remember right was removed by the church because the inscription was deemed too irreverent.
Sadly, I think that Sylvia Plath Hughes' suicide was one of two suicides in Mr. Hughes personal life as a lover also completed as did his son.after his father's death. May they all now rest in peace. As for the video in general, I found it very inteŕesting despite it's short length and the young chap's frequent modesty about being unsure of some details, making him unwilling to comment, was most refreshing. As for the "big red nose" comments, when you are a handsone guy like him, it is not even noticable! Blessings and peace and Happy New Year from North Yorkshire, sir!
Heptonstall is a weird and beautiful place. Last time I was there, there seemed to be a practice of digging several graves at once in the graveyard, and covering them with metal sheets until they were needed. (I assumed it was because the village is remote, the ground is rocky, and they needed to "import" a mechanical digger from somewhere else.)
I took pictures of Sylvia's resting place when I visited her site many years a go...I did not know about where she was buried until a friend of mine suggested we go and pay our respects as it's only two bus rides away...so we did...
I found my old Galaxy note 3 mobile but it has no sim card or battery...my recollection of Sylvia's grave I can't remember, but it must have been ok otherwise I would have remembered...sorry I can't be more helpful buddy...
That was really fascinating. I imagine with modern engineering techniques that old church could get a new roof and still function for another millennium or so! It has such sturdy-looking walls! Amazing!
In relation to your question about was it a regular occurrence of pinnacles falling off churches. The church I bell ring at lot three of its four pinnacles, two damaging the church an account from 1731 noted: "there were upon the steeple four pinnacles (sic) but one falling into the churchyard and two dropping upon the church and doing great damage the forth was taken down to prevent further mischief" The church was also struck by lightening back in 1950s. It split the wire holding the clock weights crashing from about 90ft theough the tower floor and destroy a c chest rhe church warden and wife was stood next to and a flower arranger had just placed flowers. The tower only got protection installed about 10 years ago!
She died over 60 years ago now, so some people are extremely dedicated. It's a shame they can't be that dedicated to doing something a lot better though. They're both dead now and it's only his surname on there since they were technically legally married. He's not even buried there! I highly doubt that's something she'd want. I know for sure my mum wouldn't want anyone defacing her grave just because it has my dad's surname on it (they got divorced a couple of years before she died).
Agreement with, beautiful old church. We bring our norms/rights&wrongs with us wherever we go. On visiting Port Arthur Tasmania, I went on a tour of a small island where burials occurred. There are around a dozen marked graves; the rest of the island is made of the burials of hundreds /thousands ???? of the convicts (no coffins they just got a shallow planting). There was no feeling of “the bogles and ghaisties are coming to get me”, rather it was “I am deliberately being disrespectful “
I noticed the same in Knaresborough. A lot of the gravestones were now used as paving stones. I imagine there were so many people buried there, they had to do it that way. Soft soled shoes would be in order I think. Canadian here.
I need to get over to Knaresborough at some point! I guess it may have been common practice back then. It's also the same in nearby Haworth and was one of the contributing factors to their water contamination.
Two things, when talking about suicide the verb is hanged not hung. The angst round Sylvia is also to do with another female, and her daughter, Ted was involved with. You need to do your research.😢
I agree with their daughter and wish the halfwitted vandals who have no connection with Sylvia Plath Hughes other than having read her work would stop their infantile behaviour. They may feel anger but that gives them no justification for imposing their immature desecration of someone's grave. They ignore the feelings of Sylvia's daughter with their spiteful inconsiderate actions.
@@Thenogomogo-zo3un While 666 is called the "number of the beast" in most manuscripts of Revelation 13:18, a fragment of the papyrus 115 gives the number as 616.
Why did you say it sounded sinister? Probably either a church service, or perhaps the organist and choir at practice. Thank you for the tour, looks a lovely place.
As a self-proclaimed cemetery walker in the States , I like that you mentioned bringing a garbage bag to clean up the rubbish out of respect. Cheers 👍
I grew up in Heptonstall. I knew Ted's parents, who lived just outside the village, and I remember seeing Ted & Sylvia when they visited.
I find it hard to enter that graveyard now because too many people I knew are there. One of my best friends is right next to Sylvia, a former girlfriend of who I was very fond has a memorial stone, and there are many others that I remember, their faces clear in my mind when I read their names.
Yea it hits hard when you find out that a girl that you loved died. The memories become even more precious.
@j0nnyism There used to be a radio series called "Home Truths" that was a sort of antidote to celebrity culture. All the items were from ordinary people.
One I've never forgotten was from a man reminiscing about a girl at school that he fell for when he was 14. In the summer holiday he decided to ask her out when school resumed. On the first day of the new term, he found out that she had died in a road accident. He never forgot her, and it sounded like he never really got over it.
He grew up, moved away, got married and had a family, but still often thought about his first love. Many years later, on a visit to his home town, he found out that the girl's parents were still alive and went to see them. He didn't tell them of his adolescent romantic intentions, just that he often thought about her. They were delighted that someone outside their family remembered her and asked if he wanted to see a photo of her.
He declined, because in his mind she had grown up with him and seeing a photo of her as a child would break that illusion.
It must be hard for you our thoughts are with you.
@@Kevin-mx1vi no, it does not make anything OK. I am trying to point out that when people step out onto the public stage, they lose much of their privacy. People who are legendary will never regain that privacy. It is not a happy thought but it is what drives peoples' feeling of ownership of a celebrity who are completely unconnected to them. I am sure it is a terrible burden to those who are left behind when they die.q
Whatever your thoughts on their relationship, it doesn't give anyone the right to vandalise a grave. The fact it's also against the wishes of their actual daughter is even worse.
Like I wouldn't ( no matter how much I hate ISLAM ) I wàs a gravedigger and even though I don't believe in ghosts I wouldn't smash the gravestones I believe in karma
Well, her husband committed a crime against art when he destroyed her unpublished works. He's lucky someone didn't scrape off his face in real life.
Tampering with a grave is evil
@orionxtc1119 no it's disrespectful and criminal. Burning your betrayed wife's work is closer to evil.
@orionxtc1119 before I worked with my dad gravedigging he went into work one day after Halloween and the devil worshippers had taken a body from a common / paupers grave and cut head off and placed it in a chalk circle or whatever they do
This is the problem with fandoms, they fail to understand, they do not know their favourite artists personally and it is a gross intrusion to act against the wishes of the family. Whatever your own personal feelings, none of us knew Sylvia and we were not privy to her relationship with her husband or her feelings toward him, so stay off the grave and respect her child.
He destroyed a renowned poet's unpublished works. He's a total Ahole.
I would suggest these people take a course devoted to her work, and course study will naturally include things like her journals and other biographical texts about Sylvia. And becoming an adult also helps you to have a different perspective on her and their relationship. The best you can say for them was, it was a complicated time and they were complicated people.
@@timefoolery I doubt this would have happened if the husband hadn't destroyed her unpublished works. That really was a cultural crime.
@ oh, I do agree with you about that. Absolutely no dispute there. I think her parents should’ve fought him in court for her work. I merely suggested that interested people should take a course on her and get familiar with what they can find out about her and come to understand the incredible loss for literature. I just wonder what he was trying to hide. I think he was a narcissist and he wanted to look like a long suffering husband to their children, and what was in those poems and stories were clues to the truth.
@@timefoolery I love her work so I have no sympathy for a ignoramus who deprived me and the world of her work.
Love your videos !!! You speak simply, calmy and ... humbly. Cheers from Normandy, France.
Thanks so much! 🙂
That's a new degree of entitlement: Changing gravestones to your liking 🙄
Right? Also a good way to build up some real bad karma that can turn problematic in all kinds of unexpected ways.
Right? And also, karma is like a rubber band, you can only stretch it so far.
@@guydreamr I don't believe in karma or an afterlife. Some people get away with immoral gains or just pointless acts of violence. We can comfort ourselves with hope in justice, but I don't.
@@guydreamr You're stepping a bit into woo-woo territory there 😂 but yeah - leave the dead alone
Good on you my man, you learn as you go along, I love that statement.
Thank you for exploring these places.
Now I will sound like an old geezer, but what a lovely young man with a pure passion for the dead and their graves.
Subbed and liked
👍
You post great stuff. Thanks for making and thanks for sharing👍🇿🇦
I been there with my mum in the late 90s on one of our ‘walking holidays’ mums been gone 5 years now so seeing to is popped up just bought back some memories. Thank you for the video
You know, the old family walking holidays checking out grave stones 😂
I was into roller skating at that time and most of the holidays I was left at the indoor skatepark in Wakefield. Best times!! Just thought to add that :)
Your natural, unassuming conversational style suits what you show us very well indeed. I look forward to your next presentation.
Thanks so much, really appreciate it! 🙂
What an interesting approach communicating such important heritage! Humble and respectful, yet definitive. I subscribed very quickly indeed. Well done, you’re doing a great job. Kudos
Ted Hughes confirmed he wrote the poem Daffodils about Sylvia Plath which was published in his poetry book Birthday Letters in 1997. He also said it would be his only comment on the matter of Sylvia and her death. It’s a wonderful poem celebrating Sylvia. It shows his beautiful command of the English language and why Ted was Poet Laureate for many years.
Back in the late 80s, as a postman at St David's Station in Exeter, I occasionally spoke to Ted Hughes as he awaited his train to London or North Devon.
I think he was pleased that a postie recognised him and was familiar with his poems.
Great guy, unpretentiously doing his bit for local history.
Passion and anger are but separated by a hair....... in the end this has nothing to do with public opinion and everything to do with a private family burial. Sylvia's husband was neither the first, nor the last man to have an affair, nor was Sylvia the first poet to throw off her mortal coil by her own hand. All of that aside, nothing explains away the defacement of a private monument paid for with private funds, period.
Trouble is that he destroyed work that would have been embraced by her readers. He shouldn't have let everyone know he destroyed unpublished work. No, this is on the family, period.
Not YOUR family and therefore by default not YOUR or ANYONE else's place to destroy something that doesn't belong to you... and while we're on the topic of reality, and other things that don't belong to you... Sylvia's poems aren't yours! They were never written "for you"... Christ Jesus! With entitlement from fans such as yourself, it really is no wonder she gassed herself.
@@annabellelee4535
Did she leave her possessions or works to him? If so it was his right to keep or destroy. None of our business. We didn’t own her or her works.
@@Kanga-53 It doesn't matter, it was a crime against literature to destroy her works. When he bragged about destroying unpublished works by a renowned poet, he became hated and justifiably so. Did you know his second wife also took her own life? He deserves condemnation.
He married weak women. So what? And the world is full of unpublished poetry. Are you an agent?
Easy, informative and relaxing viewing. No idea how I ended up here but you have a new subscriber 🙂
That was very interesting and has allowed me to see somewhere I will never have the opportunity to visit. Thank you for the upload. Off to do some reading about Sylvia Plath!
If you're going to read her poetry I would suggest "The Colossus". I never understood why "Ariel" was the famous one. Maybe people just prefer inscrutable puzzles to vivid and powerful pictures, I don't know.
@@rlawrence9838 Thanks for the advice. Looking forward to delving into her journey I think it will be intriguing and harrowing,
@elizaann1888 🙂❤️👍
Your voice is very soothing. I think I’ll get out my knitting, a lovely pace while learning.
Thank you 😁 that sounds relaxing.
What a hauntingly beautiful place.
live about 20 minutes away from here, always knew Plath's grave was up there and have been thinking about making the trip for a while but never got around to it. I had heard the story of the coin clippers too but never knew they're graves were up there aswell I will defiantly visit soon, that gorgeous old ruin church is also a massive plus.
Very interesting - loved the history and the scenery. Thank you very much for your time. I have subscribed.
Wow … how have I missed Heptonstall. I am living in Beverley now but grew up in Bradford. I have links to so many places around there. This is amazing. Those churches are stunning. I am due over Keighley soon to take a friend for an afternoon tea …. Guess where I am going with her now. I wont be tight and give her a packed lunch but we can visit the churches as well . Thank you for sharing … this has been such a gem to see.
First time viewer, just subscribed. Hope you can show more places like this. We don't have these kinds of places in Australia as it was only settled by English back in the late 1700s. I really love old grave yards especially those that were around the churches. Ty for this story, and yeah I think people should mind their own business! Defacing a grave stone is just disgusting.
Thanks very much! More on the way very soon 🙂
What a stunning old church. I wouldn't mind resting there. Hope Sylvia is at peace.
Ted Hughes left her and went to live with his mistress when Sylvia was probably suffering from post-natal depression. She was struggling alone in a flat without central heating - remember she was American - in England's coldest winter for 100 years, looking after two children under the age of two and having recently miscarried. She knew almost no-one in London.
How cruel 😢
I hate to be the one to point this out but Sylvia Plath had serious mental health issues long before any of the events you mention. Hughes is not a particularly sympathetic character but neither was Plath. She had made multiple attempts to end her own life, including before she met Hughes. Her son suffered the same fate (as did the woman Hughes left Plath for). Its important not to take sides in this because no-one really knows what happened.
My first wife suffered from bipolar disorder (the serious type with psychotic and manic episodes) and, while I managed to get her through that safely and on to a better life, the toll was serious and the dramas and things I experienced you would find hard to believe could actually happen. The world is not a tidy place.
Was that 1962? I was chatting to an elderly lady in Liverpool about that winter and she said that no matter how much coal she put on the fire she couldn’t warm the house up and her kids had hot water bottles wrapped up in their clothes. Not central heating in those days
@user-lv5bt3nt3r he was abusive and it shows .
We can - and probably should - be sympathetic (retrospectively) with Sylvia Plath, but that does not mean that we should blame her sad end entirely on Ted Hughes, if that is your implication.
Thank you for this lovely yet somber trip down memory lane. I visited this Graveyard back in 1986 when I was visiting from Canada. A friend who lived nearby took me there, specifically to see Sylvia Plath's grave. Even then, it was obvious people had been chiseling out the letters from the stone. So disrespectful. I also remember the entire graveyard being more overgrown with foliage. I thought it was beautiful, desolate and rather remote actually. It was the last place I expected Plath to be buried. I also remember walking through the ruins of the old Church and being absolutely amazed with the history and architecture. Thanks for the tour. I have subscribed.
First time on this Channel. Impressed. Very enjoyable and nicely presented.
Excellent. Thank you very much. Enjoyed every minute
WOW WHAT A GORGEOUS CEMETERY LOVED YOUR STORIES PLEASE MAKE MORE OF THEM 🙏🌹
Your CAPS LOCK seems to be stuck, Maggie 😂
I just found your site, and I'm glad it was recommended to me. Algorithms can be a good thing. I very much enjoyed this walk through history.
Unfortunately, ive met some folk heavily into Silvia Plath who were/are definitely far too precious about themselves.
End of the day its no one elses business and defacing in a church is unforgivable.
My first view, and this is great. Fine video, charming and informed narration, funny and insightful. Subscribing, with thanks.
Just a random comment, Sylvia Plath's mother was Austrian, and her father, A German who immigrated to the USA, was an entomologist and wrote a book about bumblebees.
Just found your channel and really enjoyed it!
🎉
Me as well.
I'm a kirby!
I'm a Kirby by marriage.
Minus the marriage now. 😅@@deankirby7237
Love it ❤
Same
Quite a beautiful place with all the grave stone tiles, and the old church and the ruins…😮
I enjoyed this immensely…subscribed ❤
In the Omen, a metal spire is struck by lightning and impales Patrick Troughton.
I realise the circumstances are very different, but Savile's elaborate and presumably extremely expensive gravestone was removed entirely by his family, not because of vandalism but through shame
Yes and weirdly; So-vile had his caravan right next door; in nearby Cragg Vale; next to the Hinchcliffe arms. Even more weirdly that demon used to masquerade as a priest giving Sunday sermons in the parish church. Even Stephen King couldn't make this shit up; but it is true. Matt Parker has done a great vid about this on Dark Side of the Moor youtube channel including a very creepy story about a missing child.
I've always wondered why he didn't just step out of range of the flag pole to avoid being impaled, I would have
@@davideatwell6577 Sir Jimmy had a 6th sense of impalement
More a reference to the film “hot fuzz” than the “omen” I would have thought 😂
In Scotland, the maiden name was put on gravestones, usually accompanied by ‘wife of…’ It is so useful when doing family trees!
It is a good practice. Women are not extensions of the men they marry.
A couple of my widowed Gtx Grannies in Scotland were recorded under their maiden names on censuses after their husbands died and newspapers would often mention both names in stories.
And you cannot find them now
@@nickislade5533 ?
Or they have the woman's legal married name followed by Nee such and such...her maiden name.
There is a grave in West Wycombe (Bucks) churchyard of a woman who died after being caught in a mantrap and bleeding to death. The local aristo "Dashwood" resisted the wording on the stone but finally agreed to "Died as a Result of the Game Laws". This is not anecdotal, I've visited the grave.
Jack, the Japan Alps Brit
This sort of defacement is certainly a grave offence.
*groans* i loved it.
careful, that joke could fall on death ears...
You’re dead right about that.
Thank you for showing Sylvia Plath's grave. I went up there looking for it but the grass was much longer and I couldn't find it.
Just outside the church grounds stands the old school house which is where the Coiners were based and there’s a small museum dedicated to them and their story. I’m not sure of the opening time and apart from a couple of display boards showing a couple of illustrations of the Coiners trimming some coins and melting the clippings down to make new blanks ready to be stamped into their forgeries, there isn’t much more to see.
Totally disrespectful to do that to her grave stone. Disgusting behaviour
Nice Triumph hoodie! I have a 78 export bonnie I've had for 40yrs. Also, a few yrs ago our local left footer church lost one of it's tower spikes. It went through a roof. They stood it on the ground like that one. Nice channel. Respects from Durham.
Thanks you! I'm yet to find a warmer hoodie 😄 it sounds like those spikes have fallen in a fair few villages.
I can understand people's anger but it's not right to ever deface a tombstone or disturb a grave. When people scratch her tombstone, it is not her ex they are hurting, it is the stone of someone they love, they are damaging what is left of her!😢
🐾🌈☮️🇨🇦🕊
That is a beautifully kept graveyard thanks for the walk and talk
Fascinating video, interesting subjects. Thanks for uploading. What a place,eh?
There are some very weird atmospheres round there. Jimmy So-vile had his caravan right next door; in nearby Cragg Vale; next to the Hinchcliffe arms. Even more weirdly that demon used to masquerade as a priest giving Sunday sermons in the parish church. Even Stephen King couldn't make this shit up; but it is true. Matt Parker has done a great vid about this on his Dark Side of the Moor youtube channel including a very creepy story about a missing child. Heptonstall itself is a very beautiful place; described by fellow Blackburner Alfred Wainwright as 'an intact Elizabethan Village'.
Correction: the presenter of the channel The Dark Side of the Moor is Matt Parks. Not Matt Parker who has a YT channel standupmaths.
😮
I certainly wouldn’t deface her stone, but it does grate on my nerves that Ted Hughes had such a high opinion of himself. And it’s just my opinion. Never a bit of shame or regret from him.
Lovely job. One thread of my ancestry goes back to Heptonstall, which I would love to visit someday, so when I looked up the town I was quite intrigued by the story of Sylvia Plath's headstone. Thanks, and keep warm!
She was a poet .... her husband was a poet. There works were public, they were very public figures with a lot of Public Influence. Therefore the daughter is very wrong...their circumstances are not private ..they are public. Their works, like any poets, had a very large impact on peoples minds...as does their private lives...they lived of the public, therefore the public should have a say in how they are seen through life... and even in death. Betrayal, was one of the greatest loves of poets works...and as such, people closely associated with their works see them as betrayed ...and do have a right to see the separation continue through even after death.
The vandalism is wrong but I’m old fashioned and infidelity and leaving your family is almost always indefensible
Great 👍 video friend. Beautiful old well kept cemetery.
I enjoyed this video, I will watch more of them.
Really enjoyable short vid. You’re a good storyteller. 😊
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I'm actually amazed to see just how anonymous her grave seems for somebody with her reputation.
Wow! This was amazing to see. If I lived by that place, I'd be there all the time. Thank you so much - you have my sub sir.
Thanks for sharing your video.
Walking reverently on fallen grave stones to read inscriptions is fine. It’s dancing on them that’s frowned upon.
I don't think they are fallen, I think they are meant to be like that. I'm always surprised to see gravestones on the path around my local cathedral. Its like the person is forcing you to notice them
Yeah, I found that out the hard way ... !
Hey daughter, it IS our business because great literature belongs to everyone for the ages. DaDa was a selfish bitter baby. sorry little girl.
Great video, thanks!
This just came up on my FY page - looking forward to checking out your other videos!
Thanks so much for being so respectful of these graves - and I totally agree, I hate walking over existing graves, but sometimes there’s no other option.
I like spending time in old graveyards, I find it very peaceful and often therapeutic. My friends and family think it’s a bit odd though lol 😂!
Thanks so much for much for watching! 🙂 There is something interesting about them 😁 they can definitely be peaceful too I agree, so many stories to be found in them.
What people fail to realise is that you can not change history. She was indisputably married to Ted Hughes and, unless you're in possession of a time machine, nothing can ever change that. Vandalising part of Sylvia's legal name on her gravestone is just pathetic.
People don't get it and never will. She is known worldwide simply as "Sylvia Plath." Being married is secondary to it.
@@ValleyoftheRoguedoesn’t give anyone the right to change the gravestone.
I was raised that whatever is going on in someone's relationship is none of my business unless there's an abuse type situation. It's between a man and their woman..period
'their woman'
I'm honestly surprised that stuff like this doesn't happen more often
Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath lived in North Tawton, Devon for a while.
Their daughter is quite right - it ISN'T anybody else's business! And it's a bloody cheek to vandalise a gravestone!
It does feel wrong to walk on a grave but the grave stones no longer mark the grave site, although bodies may have been buried in the ground underneath , stones are often recovered ,and r
e-laid when graves collapse
She may have still loved him when she died and not wanted to change her name back to her maiden name. Why anyone would deface a grave stone is beyond me, let sleeping dogs lie (if they were ever were not) and leave this poor ladies resting place alone, this is one place she can be at peace.
Makes you wonder about the person who did this
Whether it's the _most_ controversial gravestone in England I'm not so sure, but it's an interesting story.
The most controversial one is probably the big tombstone surrounded by flowers that Jimmy Saville had, although it was unsurprisingly removed after it kept being defaced for obvious reasons.
@bestrafung2754 I was actually thinking of that one when I wrote my op. But there are others that have been controversial too, like Spike Milligan's, which if I remember right was removed by the church because the inscription was deemed too irreverent.
@@bobjohnbowlesThe I told you I was sick bit? It’s still there, in Irish.
@@nicolad8822 In a way that's even better.
They loved and hated each other in equal measure imo
Not unlike many relationships, I would think.
The yin Yan of love.💞⚖️💯
Poor woman must have been so sad 😢
Sadly, I think that Sylvia Plath Hughes' suicide was one of two suicides in Mr. Hughes personal life as a lover also completed as did his son.after his father's death.
May they all now rest in peace.
As for the video in general, I found it very inteŕesting despite it's short length and the young chap's frequent modesty about being unsure of some details, making him unwilling to comment, was most refreshing. As for the "big red nose" comments, when you are a handsone guy like him, it is not even noticable!
Blessings and peace and Happy New Year from North Yorkshire, sir!
And the weather looks cold.
Heptonstall is a weird and beautiful place. Last time I was there, there seemed to be a practice of digging several graves at once in the graveyard, and covering them with metal sheets until they were needed. (I assumed it was because the village is remote, the ground is rocky, and they needed to "import" a mechanical digger from somewhere else.)
I took pictures of Sylvia's resting place when I visited her site many years a go...I did not know about where she was buried until a friend of mine suggested we go and pay our respects as it's only two bus rides away...so we did...
Happy new year and good morning to you. I was wondering in what state it was when you visited.
I found my old Galaxy note 3 mobile but it has no sim card or battery...my recollection of Sylvia's grave I can't remember, but it must have been ok otherwise I would have remembered...sorry I can't be more helpful buddy...
@@hekakain4108 Thank you kindly .
That was really fascinating. I imagine with modern engineering techniques that old church could get a new roof and still function for another millennium or so! It has such sturdy-looking walls! Amazing!
Very interesting, thank you. And very well made too.
She took her own life and the n Hugh's second wife took her life and that of her child.
Seems Hughs might have been a serial killer? Either that or an absolute total asshole.
So both the wives committed suicide? Seems like a case for MORSE to me !
In relation to your question about was it a regular occurrence of pinnacles falling off churches. The church I bell ring at lot three of its four pinnacles, two damaging the church an account from 1731 noted: "there were upon the steeple four pinnacles (sic) but one falling into the churchyard and two dropping upon the church and doing great damage the forth was taken down to prevent further mischief"
The church was also struck by lightening back in 1950s. It split the wire holding the clock weights crashing from about 90ft theough the tower floor and destroy a c chest rhe church warden and wife was stood next to and a flower arranger had just placed flowers. The tower only got protection installed about 10 years ago!
Interesting vid thanks not been ' up ' there for many a year now but a fascinating county with tons of history . Subbed & liked 🎉
She died over 60 years ago now, so some people are extremely dedicated. It's a shame they can't be that dedicated to doing something a lot better though. They're both dead now and it's only his surname on there since they were technically legally married. He's not even buried there! I highly doubt that's something she'd want. I know for sure my mum wouldn't want anyone defacing her grave just because it has my dad's surname on it (they got divorced a couple of years before she died).
Technically the most controversial ones are removed or not allowed in the first place like the funeral stone masons will refuse to make it.
Unbelievably disrespectful to go against her own daughters wishes. Just leave it alone.
The graves you walk on aren't bothered by it at all, I assure you.
It’s a very beautiful old ruin of a church, I’d love to see it in person. And I agree, walking on the stones feels wrong 🌸
Agreement with, beautiful old church. We bring our norms/rights&wrongs with us wherever we go. On visiting Port Arthur Tasmania, I went on a tour of a small island where burials occurred. There are around a dozen marked graves; the rest of the island is made of the burials of hundreds /thousands ???? of the convicts (no coffins they just got a shallow planting). There was no feeling of “the bogles and ghaisties are coming to get me”, rather it was “I am deliberately being disrespectful “
Interesting ... her legal married name was "Sylvia Hughes" ... did she EVER call herself "Sylvia Plath Hughes"?
I'm not sure to be honest, I haven't managed to find any information on that.
The daughters right it’s nobody’s business
I noticed the same in Knaresborough. A lot of the gravestones were now used as paving stones. I imagine there were so many people buried there, they had to do it that way. Soft soled shoes would be in order I think. Canadian here.
I need to get over to Knaresborough at some point! I guess it may have been common practice back then. It's also the same in nearby Haworth and was one of the contributing factors to their water contamination.
Two things, when talking about suicide the verb is hanged not hung. The angst round Sylvia is also to do with another female, and her daughter, Ted was involved with. You need to do your research.😢
Beautiful church and gravesites
Lovely video and information. So glad I found you - totally by accident. I've subscribed and clicked that bell!
How beautiful and eerie. It would make a great movie setting for a horror scene.
Very interesting video. Thank you.
I agree with their daughter and wish the halfwitted vandals who have no connection with Sylvia Plath Hughes other than having read her work would stop their infantile behaviour. They may feel anger but that gives them no justification for imposing their immature desecration of someone's grave. They ignore the feelings of Sylvia's daughter with their spiteful inconsiderate actions.
I shouldn't worry about the 666 in the price tag. Originally the number of the beast was a different number, possibly 616. It's worth googling.
Ahh ok. This could a good subject for another video 😄
Yes, the numbers 616 add up to 13 that's why it's considered "unlucky"
@@Thenogomogo-zo3un While 666 is called the "number of the beast" in most manuscripts of Revelation 13:18, a fragment of the papyrus 115 gives the number as 616.
@@northernintrovert I've always heard that it's 3 number 6s in a triangle with the tops touching so it can be read many ways.
666 is due to Alister Crowley.
What a great video clip
Thanks for the tour. US citizens do not get to visit Britain often.
Shame there are some very beautiful places here😊
Why did you say it sounded sinister? Probably either a church service, or perhaps the organist and choir at practice. Thank you for the tour, looks a lovely place.
Removal would only help hide historical events...😢
Well done, young fella.
Sad story but love it when I discover a new channel that just screams to me “binge watch!!!” so new subscriber incoming 😊
Thank you! More coming soon 😁
The cemetery i worked in with my dad 50 years ago has a grave slab which says that the man was eaten by a shark 1890s
Did they bury the shark?
@@Bobario1 No, they had grilled flake for the wake. 😄
The shark must have left a bit of him then
@@shirleyn546 Maybe so. Or bits of him. That would be a nasty way to go, r.i.p. unknown grave occupant.
@@shirleyn546 People can be mentioned on the headstones without physically being buried there.
Mind you, the Dambusters dog's gravestone has been worse than defaced, it was replaced altogether unjustifiably just because of the poor dog's name.