Gothic graveyard tour guide shares stories of unmarked graves in Unconventional Brits on Shots TV
A graveyard historian from Blackpool tells Shots! TV why she loves giving guided tours at Layton Cemetery - and why the unmarked graves sometimes make the most interesting stories, in Episode 5 of Unconventional Brits.
Deborah Contessa spends her weekends guiding curious people around a Lancashire cemetery, telling historical tales of the dead. Also known as The Cemetery Lady, Deborah gives various graveyard tours, including murdered women, famous and influential people, and a ‘gruesome and grisly’ theme - which she says isn’t as disrespectful as it sounds.
But Deborah, who is part of the Friends Of Layton Cemetery group, says it’s the unmarked graves that fascinate her the most. Speaking to Shots! TV, Deborah explains: “If you didn’t know, you’d just think it was a patch of grass. You’d perhaps think that nobody was buried there at all, and there are some fantastic stories in the unmarked graves, from the gruesome and grisly, and some of the old performers who died with no money because they were perhaps classed as freaks in their day.”
In Episode 5 of Unconventional Brits - a series which celebrates the quirky and unusual people in the UK - Deborah is joined by the owner of an old VHS store with a unique twist, a lady with a full body suit of tattoos, and a great north runner in an altogether different body suit.