Killingbeck Cemetery is ludicrously overcrowded. The cemetery equivalent of a ghetto. Its location opposite St James' Hospital suggests that somebody is in possession of a strange sense of humour. The cemetery sits on York Road. The old Roman road to York. On this desolate patch of land trees have been planted as though they were a hurried afterthought. To the east of the cemetery houses are clustered tightly together behind flimsy wooden fencing. Children wander through the cemetery, using it as a short cut on their way home from school. The cemetery lacks gravitas. Abandoned flowers are dying on stone slabs. The children are oblivious of the significance of what lies all about them. They laugh. And then I see it. Your tombstone. It stands at the crest of a hill and lists slightly to the right. You are at the top of a hill, but 'David Oluwale' appears at the bottom of a list of ten names. And why a Roman Catholic cemetery for you? Was there something in the pocket of your wet coat that suggested this? Your blue bead necklace with a crucifix? Your grave is full. There are nine others. In death you have fulfilled a promise made at birth. Here at Killingbeck Cemetery there is no more land for graves. Soon there will be no more burials in this place. Everybody can rest peacefully. You have achieved a summit, David. Climbed to the top of a hill, and from here you can look down. You are still in Leeds. Forever in Leeds.
Acknowledgements
I wrote this book with the help and assistance of a number of people. I would like to thank: Kester Aspden, Maureen Baker, James Basker, Jill Campbell, Allison Edwards, Max Farrar, Patricia Farrell, Arthur France, Vanessa Garcia, Karen King-Aribisala, Cordelia Lawton, John McLeod, Colin Mann, George Miles, Joseph Odeyemi, Gill and Tei Quarcoopome, Liz Stirling, Vanessa Toulmin, Annette Turpin, Charmaine Turpin, James Walvin, Eurwyn Williams, Orig Williams, Alex Woolliams, and Matthew Yeomans. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to David Thornton's Leeds: The Story of a City. Maya Wainhaus assisted me through the final stages and typed the manuscript. Finally, Andrew Warnes proved to be a wonderful researcher, source of information, and friend as I was writing 'Northern Lights'.
Caryl Phillips
March 2007