It was Blackpool’s heritage open days over the weekend, so I took the opportunity to join one of the guided tours around Layton Cemetery conducted by the cemetery’s ‘Friends of …’ group. I am sure many will have driven past time and time again without giving it a second glance, but it is the last resting place of well over 15,000 Blackpool residents, including many who helped developed the town’s reputation as a tourist resort, or gave their lives in various lifeboat rescues. It also contains the grave of Sgt Gerry Richardson, the Blackpool policeman shot during a robbery at a jewellers – and I was disgusted to see the remains of graffiti (which welcomed his death) still visible on the memorial. There was also graffiti of the more typical (and banal) kind on the war memorial – equally appalling.

I know that, since the Friends of Layton Cemetery was founded, graffiti and vandalism has declined on the site, but I do wonder what makes people do such a thing.

Many people think cemeteries are morbid places, but to me they are vital historical artefacts. We can learn a lot about the past from the design and wording of gravestones, and the identities of those buried there. So next time you’re passing Layton Cemetery, why not drop in for a quick walk round?

The Council should be congratulated for organising the range of events across the whole town over the weekend. I have long argued that Blackpool needs to make more of its heritage as part of its regeneration, and I’m glad to see this as a major step forward.