Remembering the dead at Arnos Vale

It's 25 years since a campaign to save Arnos Vale cemetery began. It was established in 1837 but during the 20th century it fell into disrepair. It's now once again a working cemetery, open for families to visit the graves of their loved ones. A number of people of national and local importance are buried there and today many of them were remembered as part of an ongoing project to help visitors find their graves.

The Lord Mayor of Bristol, Peter Main, oversaw the proceedings. He told us: "Sometimes it's difficult to see the names on the graves because the weathers of time have obliterated them, so it's good that we're doing this Remembered Graves project so that we can bring to people's attention all the important people who are buried here."

The social reformer Mary Carpenter has now got a plaque detailing her achievements. Also, James Henry Kelly, who survived the charge of the Light Brigade, and Samuel Stutchbury, who discovered the Bristol dinosaur.

A stone to mark the communal grave of stillborn babies was also unveiled.

Friend of Arnos Vale, Dave Napier said: "We've had a number of enquiries over the years from the mothers of those babies who wanted to have some sort of closure but there was nothing for them to look at. Now there's a stone there they can come and maybe get some of that closure, which is a nice thing."

The project will be running again next year and you are invited to make your nominations for graves that you would like to see remembered at the cemetery in 2013. Judges won't just be looking for people of historical significance, but for ordinary people who perhaps did something extraordinary.