Coming out to the South Coast annually from the United Kingdom, my mother and I longed to be able to visit the cemetery next to St Katharine’s Church in Port Shepstone, where three generations of our family are buried.
But every year the advice was always the same…’It’s dangerous, you’ll be attacked and, in any case, it’s now an unkempt wasteland, used as a latrine.’
Sad to think that this was where our family was buried, including my great, great, grandmother, after whom I was named.
So, resorting to Google last week, I found an old article in the South Coast Herald about plans to clean up the cemetery, and furthermore, the name Doug Rawlins, was featured in this respect.
On further research, I was able to make contact with Doug, who immediately replied, offering to help organise a visit to the cemetery and accompany my mother and me.
The place was an overgrown wilderness, barely recognisable, the Wall of Remembrance plundered and broken.
But persevering and making our way through the long grass, an upright headstone was visible, with our family name Kinsey on it, as clear as a beacon.
And like two eager archaeologists, we were soon tearing away at grass and thorny weeds to reveal under all the dirt, my beloved grandfather’s gravestone – Burton William Kinsey, and my grandmother Dixie. We could lay some flowers and remember them. It meant so much.
I should like to thank Doug so much for making this possible and removing what had been a sad barrier. The cemetery, despite its ruinous state, is a peaceful place and a part of the history of the town.
With plans for the new mall nearby and money being invested in the future of Port Shepstone, I think it’s only right that some money be spent on preserving its past.
Tidying up the cemetery would add value to the area, if nothing else it would be far more uplifting for everyone to see a space which was well kept and cared for, than one which has been left derelict.
Doug assured me that plans are afoot to clean it up. That would be wonderful.
JEANNIE SCHREINER
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