Gail & Barry: Cally Park Pet Memorial Wall

 

Everyone has a story. Gail Timewell and Barry Garnham talk about dogs and the Cally Park Pet Memorial Wall – a unique spot in Islington created to remember dearly loved furry friends. Interview by Nicola Baird

Dog walkers know Islington’s parks better than most of us because they visit whatever the weather (as that famous North London song goes). At Cally Park dog walkers often meet up for restorative hot drinks in the Clock Tower café. They even recently hosted a birthday party at 7am for Lucy who is also greatly loved by the dogs for her generous treat giving habit.

So far that’s all pretty normal. But at Cally Park the Friends have also created a Pet Memorial Wall to help remember the pets that have passed on. This unusual idea was dreamt up by the park’s many dog walkers, including Lucy.

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Gail Timewell, who joined the Friends in 2019, says: “The Pet Memorial Wall was always on the agenda. It needed to happen because it had been asked for by many people, but we only got round to it in 2024 when I finally picked up the gauntlet, as it were, and found a way to organise memorial signs with Absolute Print up in Archway.”

The wall began with six people who had much loved dogs and cats they wanted to remember, including Gail’s fox terrier, Fred.

Pets only live for such a short time compared to humans – the average life of a dog (depending on the breed) is approximately 11 years and for a cat (12-14 years). No wonder that when a pet dies the loss can be overwhelming – walk routines shattered; endless silence in rooms previously filled with toe taps, snores and gentle barks/miaows and, perhaps worst of all, no happy dog to welcome you home.

By 2026 there were 17 plaques on display in the West Woodland – commemorating Keira, Pharoah, Lily, Rinty, Snoopy Jeans, Storm Farrell, Bertie, Echo, Pagan, Diesel, Ricky, Skippy, Andy, Pasha, Flint, Fred and Misty – with space for many more.

Joining the wall costs £15 for the memorial plaque plus a donation to the Friends.

To find the Cally Park Pet Memorial go past the Clock Tower Centre on the gravel path  that crunches past beech hedged gardens, a carefully fenced pond and then turns into a twisting path through the West Woodland. Just after the auditorium you’ll find the Pet Memorial Wall. It’s a lovely way of remembering special dogs and cats.

Dog days

Gail and Barry Garnham are friends thanks to Betsey, Barry’s dog.

“I’ve had Betsey now for about nine years. I got to the stage where somebody suggested, ‘You’re 67, too old to get another dog’. But I was thinking, ‘no I need a dog!’,” says Barry. After figuring out which dog would be small and clever enough to let themselves in and out through a cat flap, he ended up with a Miniature Schnauzer, Betsey, which he calls “a wonderful therapy dog. She’s there in the morning, and you get a tail wag which says, ‘Hi, I’m here’.”

“If you’re going to have a dog, you need to give them space of about 10, 15 years. And some people think ahead all the time, but it’s best just to take it a day at a time, isn’t it? Just like the dogs do. They live for the day, don’t they?” advises Barry wisely.

Saying goodbye

For centuries only people with their own land were able to bury pets at home – even horse lovers usually could only bury the head, heart and hooves.

But historically Londoners have never had places to bury their pets, although Gail says “there was a pet cemetery on the north side of Hyde Park which was put in place by the park keeper in Victorian times.” Around 1,000 dogs and cats have been laid to rest here, many with marble memorial stones, which you can occasionally visit when this now private house is open to the public. https://www.royalparks.org.uk/read-watch-listen/hyde-park-pet-cemetery

Nowadays there are pet cemeteries and cremation options, but the death of a pet can be expensive and often adds financial misery at a very upsetting time.

Although many animals were bought and sold at the Caledonian Road, often going directly from the sale ring to the slaughterhouse, sited roughly where the Islington Tennis Centre on Market Road is now, this was not a place to buy pets. Just as it is now though it was a place to share stories – hearing about the Victorian pet cemetery in Hyde Park, Barry tells us about the legend of Grey Friars Bobby, a dog from Edinburgh who spent 14 years guarding his owner’s grave. There’s now a famous statute of this little dog (possibly a Dandie Dinmont or Skye terrier) outside the entrance to Greyfriars Kirkyard which has an inscription saying: “Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all.” A book about Greyfriars Bobby was written in 1912 (there are more modern versions) and a film in 1961. “When I was up for the Edinburgh Festival, last year, the memorial was still there – dogs have really been needed throughout history,” says Barry.

Turns out it was a dog that helped Gail and Barry Barnham get to know each other. Gail takes up the story: “It was during Covid. We were walking on Hampstead Heath and Steve, my husband, who likes all dogs met Betsey and told her she was a nice dog and somehow also got talking to the people who were walking Betsey. We found out they were our neighbours and then we got to know Barry.

Soon Steve started walking Betsey occasionally too. Now he likes to meet up with Barry and Betsey three times a week.  “We walk around and throw the ball to Betsey for about an hour or so,” explains Barry, adding that, “Steve has taught her that if she doesn’t bring the ball back she doesn’t get a treat. So, she brings the ball back! And then we go for coffee.”

The best ideas are there to be copied. Islington Faces recently lost our lovely dog Vulcan – after 16 years and 7 months – so I think a simple pet memorial is a wonderful idea, especially if it is located in a park where you spent so many hours with your dog.

• See the photo above for how to organise a pet memorial plaque at Cally Park. You can also email Gail from Caledonian Park Friends group at e: petmemorials@calendonianparkfriendsgroups.org
• For more information about the Caledonian Park Friends Group see https://www.caledonianparkfriendsgroup.org/
• Regular events at Cally Park include art classes, walks, tours of the clock tower and even a Junior Park Run (Sundays at 9am) https://www.parkrun.org.uk/caledonian-juniors/
• Come along to the Clock Tower festival on Sunday 2 August 2026.

Over to you

If you’d like to nominate someone to be interviewed who grew up, lives or works in Islington, or suggest yourself, please let me know, via nicolabaird dot green at gmail dot com. If you enjoyed this post you might like to look at the A-Z  index, or search by interviewee’s roles or Meet Islingtonians to find friends, neighbours and inspiration. Thanks for stopping by. Nicola