{"product_id":"tales-of-a-gravedigger-9781839756917","title":"Tales of a Gravedigger","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIan Shipley has now been traditionally hand-digging graves for 40 years. He was taught to dig the old-fashioned way and four decades on, averaging 114 graves per year, Ian can still be found habitually toiling away in one of any number of locations across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.  In Tales of a Gravedigger, the author's first book, he recalls true tales from his early years whilst working at Newark's London Road Cemetery in Nottinghamshire. It is a light-hearted and occasionally amusing look into the life of a gravedigger. From coffins getting stuck to stomach-churning exhumations. From unexpected cave-ins to practical jokes and various other ghostly goings-on.   It's an interesting glimpse into a profession that most of us know very little about.  Ian has always believed that a grave should be hand-dug. It's more personal that way. For years he has declined to use mechanical digging, preferring instead to keep alive the old ways. In Newark-on-Trent and throughout the surrounding villages of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, Ian will possibly be the last of the traditional gravediggers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter 1 Newark Cemetery 1  Chapter 2 In at the Deep End 8  Chapter 3 The Knowledge 10  Chapter 4 Initiation 14  Chapter 5 Moonlighting 16  Chapter 6 Phantom Digs 20  Chapter 7 The Notorious Mr X 22  Chapter 8 Machine Digging 24  Chapter 9 Class C's 27  Chapter 10 A Practical Joke 30  Chapter 11 Restless Spirit 31  Chapter 12 When the Coffin Gets Stuck 34  Chapter 13 The Old Gravedigger's Cottage 37  Chapter 14 There's Always One 39  Chapter 15 A Strange Occurrence 42  Chapter 16 Three Nuns 45  Chapter 17 Collapsed Graves 47  Chapter 18 Sikorski Goes Home 51  Chapter 19 A Lucky Escape for All 55  Chapter 20 Ignoring the Obvious 58  Chapter 21 The Man who was Buried Twice 61  Chapter 22 Exhumation 62  Chapter 23 Unmarked Graves 66  Chapter 24 We Do the Work; They Take the Credit 68  Chapter 25 Stumped 72  Chapter 26 Blood, Sweat and Toil 74  Chapter 27 Ashes? What Ashes? 78  Chapter 28 Can You Dig Us Another? 80  Chapter 29 An Unpleasant Smell 83  Chapter 30 All's Well That Ends Well 85  Chapter 31 Artic Conditions on New Year's Eve 88  Chapter 32 Peace of Mind 91  Chapter 33 Easily Spooked 94  Chapter 34 Strange People 97  Chapter 35 Cemetery Wildlife 99","brand":"Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52085639774551,"sku":"9781839756917","price":12.39,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781839756917.jpg?v=1762210306","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/tales-of-a-gravedigger-9781839756917","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}