Thank you, Sandra, for this useful tip, but most of all for a really good laugh on a day that had not started well. Margaret ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sandra J Smith" <sandra.s@ntlworld.com> To: <ISLE-OF-WIGHT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 2:05 AM Subject: [IoW] Worn Memorial inscriptions > Eve, (and any others with a similar problem) a tip for the future. > > If you have difficulty reading a worn gravestone, take a large travel > blanket and a torch with you. Throw the blanket over the stone to > completely cover it, then get inside and shine the torch obliquely across > the inscription. It will actually stand out almost as though it had been > carved yesterday. > I devised this system after reading that worn tombstones are best read in > the dark using a torch. As I am somewhat averse to crawling round > cemeteries in the dead of night, I solved the problem with the travel > blanket. > > I leave to your imagination, the one time I was transcribing a > particularly > difficult stone in Southampton Old Cemetery. It was getting late and dusk > was fast approaching, but I was determined to finish it. Having spent > sometime stooped in an awkward position, I stood up groaning with the > blanket over my head, just as one of the town drunks came down the path > looking for a berth for the night. He screamed, turned tail and ran. I > probably put him off drink for life seeing this groaning, apparition > appearing from a grave. > Sandra > > > _______________________________________ > No viruses found in this outgoing message > Scanned by iolo AntiVirus 1.5.6.4 > http://www.iolo.com > > > ************************************** > You can contact the Isle of Wight List Administrator by emailing: > Isle-of-Wight-Admin@rootsweb.com > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ISLE-OF-WIGHT-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.13.113/2396 - Release Date: 09/26/09 05:51:00