Sitting comfortably?

Richard and I read a piece in the Guardian about an unusual memorial in one of Sheffield's cemeteries, Shiregreen.   It's for Willy Collins, bare knuckle boxer and famous figure in one of the local Traveller communities. Many years ago I ran a playbus for Traveller children, and I do remember branches of the Collins family.  However, there's some tension between the Council and the Collins family at the moment, particularly over whether or not permission was given for the final version of its ambitious design.  Here's the article, which also includes a good image (better than the one I took in very bright sunlight, which is in the extra):

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/23/king-of-sheffield-willy-collins-memorial-built-without-permission-council-says

So off we went this morning, to take a walk around Shiregreen cemetery in the spring sunshine.   The Collins memorial was visible from hundreds of yards away, with its four Irish flags and it's expanses of gleaming marble figures. The detail I liked best, however, was the solar-powered jukebox.  Family members can switch this on when they visit, link it via bluetooth to their phones and play Willy Collins' favourite tracks.  This struck me as a joyful way to remember someone.

The Collins memorial sits at one end of what is clearly a whole community of Traveller graves and memorials.  Next door is a large area of Muslim graves, and beyond that an array of African-Caribbean memorials.  I don't mean to suggest that the whole place is rigidly segregated; it's not.  But what really struck Richard and me was that some parts of the cemetery were clearly gathering-places: there were benches (example in the main image), decorations, evidence of times spent by relatives visiting their dead, sitting together and chatting.  It all had a good feeling.

Returning to the Collins family, I've read online that there are discussions going on now between Council staff and family members, with a view to resolving any issues amicably. I hope that's the way it will go. Each to their own, really.