A man in Edinburgh has been overcome with emotions after finding a relative's long-lost grave in an old cemetery.
The gentleman had reached out to Mortonhall Bereavement Services while trying to find a family headstone and was informed it was at Warriston Crematorium and given a map to find it.
Volunteers who look after the graveyard then noticed the man wandering around with the map on his phone looking lost. So they offered to help him find the grave which was hidden away in another part of the cemetery.
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After being reunited with his loved one's burial site, the man who wished to remain anonymous, grasped onto the headstone overwhelmed with grief at finally finding the special location.
Caroline Gerard secretary of Friends of Wariston Crematorium who is part of the team that looks after the maintenance of Warriston Graveyard was working on the site with a colleague when they came across the stranger.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live Caroline said: "A couple of weeks earlier, I’d spotted an interesting gravestone in an area where we haven’t done much work as yet.
"I knew that it would be of particular interest to my colleague Sheila, so I’d taken her there to see it last Saturday morning. Nearby we spotted this gentleman looking around, in such a way that suggested he was searching for a specific grave.
"We stopped to enquire. He told us that he’d been in touch with Bereavement Services at Mortonhall and that an efficient and helpful member of staff had provided details, plus a map showing the grave’s location.
"He had the map on his mobile phone. I took one look at it and could tell him that he was searching in the wrong area."
She continued: "We took him to the correct area and advised him to start looking along a particular row of gravestones, then he found it quickly. It was a very happy chance encounter."
"I forget who is the relative, alas. It might be his grandfather or great-grandfather. Some of the people commemorated died in the 1890s.
"When he found his family grave, he was so overcome with emotion that he clutched the stone."
The Friends of Warriston Graveyard group took over looking after the site around ten years ago with the permission of Edinburgh Council to make it a more welcoming experience for relatives looking for their loved ones' graves.
Caroline explained: "Previously some parts of the cemetery were so overgrown that it was daunting to enter them.
"There was also a fair amount of 'anti-social behaviour.' Slowly but surely we are transforming it into an enchanting semi-woodland setting, tucked away in the middle of Inverleith."
The volunteer group work tirelessly all year round to improve Warriston and doesn't often see how important the work they do is.
"We met the gentleman in the photograph by chance, and it was a pleasure to guide him to the correct area so that he could find his family’s gravestone.
"We don’t often get such an immediate and obvious result of our work. I’m told, though, that he does not wish to be interviewed or to have his identity revealed.
"Sheila posted the photograph with his consent on our Facebook page and our Twitter account, and we have been astonished by the reaction to it," She said.
This is not the first time the group has reunited someone with a headstone at the memorial site. Caroline said: "We receive enquiries from all around the world, and when we can, we send a photograph or two.
"Sometimes this means clearing a gravestone first!"
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Friends of Warriston Cemetery (FOWC) was set up in July 2013 following an open meeting to discuss setting up a group dedicated to caring for this historic site.
Warriston cemetery is located at the end of Warriston Gardens which can be accessed from Inverleith Row.
Their aim is to clear excess ivy and weeds so that all memorials will be visible, legible and accessible, for the benefit of families and other people exploring history.
You can find out more about the brilliant work Friends of Warriston Cemetery do here.
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