From near to eternity

From the cradle . . .

Have you noticed that schools in Westminster have a disconcerting habit of changing their names? I’m sure they have the best possible motives – they’re probably not doing to just avoid their creditors or to put undesirable pupils off the scent. But it can be confusing.

With this in mind, we thought it might be helpful to put a direct link on to the Gateway. The Gateway’s Westminster Schools entry links to the Council’s summary page for this subject. From there you can find a list of, say, secondary schools, then an individual page for each school with a link to the school’s individual website (except one which does not work yet, for a new academy).

Usefully, there is a "find your nearest" feature, and links to Ofsted reports on schools. If you want to go into the minutiae of admissions policies and applications procedures, things get a bit more complicated. But the basics are simply (and well) presented on the opening page.

(From the Gateway to Websites, select "Education & jobs". Westminster Schools is a Key Link. Ofsted reports are also listed under "Schools".)

. . . to the grave

After all that serious educational stuff, time for a bit of fun. How about a gambol through the gravestones? Not just any old gravestones – let’s find a celebrity grave using Find a Grave. As you would expect, you can search this website by name - rather sweetly, you can look for famous graves or just any old graves.

There are lots of other ways to search. "Claims to fame" include actors (4,131), actresses (only 2,360 – a bit controversial, eh?) and magicians (it says 26 in brackets, but I could only find 14 listed).

Find a Grave was started by a self-confessed nerd living in Salt Lake City. It relies on contributions from individuals, and most of the entries are American. But this is not some sort of sneering criticism. It’s well worth a try, whether you are looking for a particular grave or just celebrity-spotting. And it’s fun.

And if they haven’t got Auntie Nellie listed, the solution is in your hands – send her details in. And if she was a famous bareback rider, all the better.

(From the Gateway to Websites, select "Biography". Find a Grave is, somewhat bizarrely, under "Specialist biographies".)