Here Lies Love with Dan Glass
Booking recommended but not required. Walk ins will be accepted subject to capacity.
Saturday 6 June 2026 - Nunhead Cemetery
Walking tour (from Linden Grove gates): 1:00 - 2:30pm
Drop-in oral histories workshop (Anglican Chapel): 2:30 - 4:00pm
South East London Queer Choir performance (Anglican Chapel): 4:00 - 4:30pm Social at The Old Nun’s Head: from 5:00pm
Join us for an afternoon celebrating LGBTQIA+ history with author and activist Dan Glass and oral historian Betsy Echessa at Nunhead Cemetery, featuring a special performance by the South East London Queer Choir. Drawing on archival research, storytelling and local history, Betsy and Dan will share the lives, struggles and celebrations of LGBTQIA+ people connected to Nunhead and the wider story of queer South East London - from 19th‑century “female husbands” and pioneering political activism to the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), to today’s LGBTQIA+ ecosystem of love, resistance and power, including local organisations such as the Outside Project, an LGBTQIA+ community shelter, and Shelter in nearby Bermondsey.
Accessibility - Nunhead Cemetery is a historic outdoor site with mixed terrain. Paths vary from smooth, wide avenues to uneven or sloped ground, and conditions can change with the weather. Some areas may be easier to navigate with motorised mobility aids than with manual wheelchairs. A temporary threshold ramp will be installed at the entrance to the Anglican Chapel ruin to support step‑free access. Assistance dogs are welcome onsite. An accessible toilet is available.
About the Project
Here Lies Love is part of the East Lodge Restoration: From Ruin to Revival project, aiming to bring people together through nature, history and community. This activity is delivered in partnership with Southwark Council and Friends of Nunhead Cemetery (FONC). For queries, please contact Catrin Podgorski, Outreach and Development Manager, at catrin.podgorski@southwark.gov.uk.
About Betsy Echessa
Betsy is a history graduate. She is passionate about oral histories, notably the thread that it weaves between past and present. Betsy wants to pursue a career as an archivist and to work closely with marginalised voices to restore their rightful place in history.
About Dan Glass
Dan Glass is an award-winning LGBTQIA+ activist, educator and performer, co-founder of ’Queer Tours of London - A Mince Through Time’ and the author of Queer Footprints: A Guide to Uncovering London’s Fierce History.
‘Dan Glass has created a mass ripple effect through his work as an LGBTQIA+, human rights activist. By overcoming injustice through performance, popular education and movement building, Dan Glass is a force of freedom in the UK.’
Listen here on The Sassy Show. www.theglassishalfull.co.uk / @danglassmincer
PRAISE FOR QUEER FOOTPRINTS PUBLISHED BY PLUTO PRESS - Order here
This electrifying book is an adventure book through London’s untold queer past. Every page is packed with inspiring, moving and downright hilarious secrets just itching to be uncovered - and with the riotously entertaining Dan Glass as your mincing tour guide - you’ll have an absolute blast as you do. A word of warning: after reading this, London will never seem the same again' - Sam Arbor, Film Director
Queer Footprints is your back pocket guide to our queer/LGBTQIA+ histories, full of joy and ammunition to claim without any shame our beautiful queer futures - Tash Walker, host of The Log Books podcast and Co-Chair of Switchboard LGBT+ Helpline (2018 - 2022).