Sid Saunders was struggling with the loss of his wife when he came across an ancient headstone.
An animal-loving widower told how turning detective after kicking a ‘rock’ when he stumbled whilst walking in a wood, led him to discover a Victorian bunny grave – helping to heal his broken heart in the process.
Retired photographer Sid Saunders, 75, of Hastings, East Sussex, started reconnecting with nature on long walks with his three pet dogs and his camera, after losing his beloved wife and partner-of-47-years, Sylvia, 65, to bowel cancer in 2013.
But, in August 2014, walking through woods in nearby St Leonards-on-Sea, he stumbled, kicking what he thought was a moss-covered rock – only to discover it was, in fact, a 130-year-old headstone, belonging to a wealthy family’s Dutch rabbit.
Sid recalled: “It was incredibly muddy where I was walking and I nearly fell over, but as I did, I kicked a hard rock – or at least I thought it was a rock.
“I looked closer and saw it was a headstone covered in mould and moss. At first, I was concerned that it belonged to a baby, because it was so small, so I went home to get equipment to clean it and investigate some more.”
Returning the next day, with a bottle of water and garden tools such as hedge clippers and a wire brush, Sid began cleaning the headstone, revealing the name ‘Duchie’ and the years 1869-1882.
The proud owner of Angel, a miniature Daschund, Tilly, a Jack Russell-Chihuahua cross, Socks, a Jack Russell-Pug cross and a moggy called Tibbles, he at first, mistakenly, thought it was a dog’s grave.
“I thought it was a weird name for a dog, so I kept cleaning to see what else I could find,” said Sid. “That’s when I saw the tiny carving of a rabbit just above its name and realised it must have been a Dutch rabbit.
“I couldn’t believe the date on the stone. It felt like I was looking at a piece of history. It was so heartwarming to know the rabbit had been so loved by its family that they’d given it a proper burial and a sophisticated headstone.”
Gobsmacked, Sid was determined to find out more, so visited his local museum and did some online research. discovering that the wood had once been a huge private estate, belonging to a wealthy family.
Sadly, the staff at the museum could not give him their name or find any more details for him. The headstone seemed to be the most significant artefact from their past.
Fascinated by his findings, Sid posted his discoveries on Facebook – attracting so many comments from other users, he became something of a local celebrity.
And, eternally grateful to Dutchie for distracting him from his grief after losing Sylvia, he still visits the bunny’s grave up to five times a year, to ensure it’s maintained properly.
He said: “It’s a way of keeping myself busy and my brain supple. I’m a huge nature and animal lover, so it feels important for me to preserve it.”
Caring for the headstone and showing walkers how to find it has also helped distract him from his most recent loss, after his daughter, Tracy, tragically died two months ago, aged just 47, after an epileptic seizure.
Sid, who also has two sons, Jason, 41, a railway engineer and Joseph, 34, a school caretaker, and has six grandchildren, said: “losing my wife and daughter has been terrible. I’m still coming to terms with it all.
“Being around nature and discovering the headstone has at least given me some joy, and I love seeing other people enjoy it whenever they come across it.
“It’s unique and a lovely bit of history. The family clearly made this headstone out of love and I want to maintain that love.”
He added: “I hope that, when I’m too old to do it, someone else will continue after me.
“It’s charming and it’s brought me some happiness at a very difficult time.”
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 12, 2024--
Suffolk, one of the largest and most innovative real estate and construction enterprises in the country, gathered leaders across the engineering, architectural, development, construction and higher education industries for a roundtable discussion with project stakeholders that focused on the end-to-end sustainable solutions implemented on the Boston University Center for Computing & Data Science project, the largest fossil fuel-free building in New England. Transforming Boston’s skyline with one of the greenest buildings in the history of the city required creative solutions, innovative thinking and close collaboration. This monumental project demonstrated that building a sophisticated and sustainable project is possible in even the busiest and most congested urban areas.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240411909782/en/
Suffolk Design Director of Sustainability Mike Swenson led a thorough discussion with insights from Doug Russel, Director of Growth Strategy at Vertex; Dennis Carlberg, AVP at Boston University; Frank Craemer, Senior Vice President and Operations Manager at Suffolk; Chris Kenney, Senior Project Manager at Vertex; Paolo Rocha, Partner at KPMB; and Joshua Michaud, Associate Principal at BR+A. Suffolk invited individuals across industries to attend the discussion at its Boston headquarters or watch via a nationwide live-stream, paving the way for coast-to-coast conversation around building a more sustainable future.
Demand for sustainable building from clients has grown exponentially – Boston University has made a commitment to becoming a net-zero campus by 2040 – and the Center for Computing and Data Sciences is an impressive case study on meeting client expectations while accomplishing LEED Platinum status and executing a complex project in a dense urban environment.
The project team faced significant challenges when designing and building the Boston University Center for Computing & Data Sciences, one of which was the installation of 31 geothermal wells that use the Earth’s energy to heat and cool the building, eliminating the need for gas lines or fossil fuel systems. These wells were bored 1,500 feet underground – twice as deep as the Hancock Building is high and three times the depth of a standard well. Many needed to be located under the building due to space constraints. Heat pumps will use the temperature differential that the earth provides to draw heat from the ground in the winter, and then to push heat out in the summer.
This system is just one of many energy-efficient features part of this unique landmark. Others include external sun shading devices, triple glazing on the windows, enhanced heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, and dedicated outside air heat recovery systems.
“The Boston University Center for Computing & Data Sciences is truly a landmark project in the sustainability space,” said Steven Burke, Senior Director of Sustainability at Suffolk. “We have long understood how to create sustainable buildings, but this project helps prove our ability to implement these practices at a large scale, while also achieving architectural excellence and maintaining a competitive budget.”
Suffolk’s mission to redefine how America builds inspired the establishment of its Sustainability Group, led by Burke and Swenson, in 2023. Suffolk has managed some of the most sophisticated sustainable building construction projects in the country and has ranked #9 overall for green contractors nationwide in Engineering News-Record ( ENR ) magazine’s 2023 list of the “Top 100 Green Building Contractors.” Suffolk’s impressive portfolio includes Boston’s Winthrop Center, the largest office tower with Passive House designation in the country; and the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Electric Utility Plant (eCUP), a project to transition to zero-emission electricity for heating in the first and largest carbon neutral airport in the Americas.
About Suffolk
Suffolk is a national enterprise that builds, innovates and invests. Suffolk is an end-to-end business that provides value throughout the entire project lifecycle by leveraging its core construction management services with vertical service lines that include real estate capital investment, design, self-perform construction services, technology start-up investment (Suffolk Technologies) and innovation research/development.
Suffolk – America’s Contractor – is a national company with more than $5.5 billion in annual revenue, 2,600 employees, and offices in Boston (headquarters), New York City, Miami, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Estero, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Portland, Maine. Suffolk manages some of the most complex, sophisticated projects in the country, serving clients in every major industry sector, including healthcare, life sciences, education, gaming, transportation/aviation, federal government and public work, mission critical and commercial. Suffolk is privately held and is led by founder, chairman and CEO John Fish. Suffolk is ranked #8 on ENR’s list of “Top CM-at-Risk Contractors.” For more information, visitwww.suffolk.comand follow Suffolk onFacebook,Twitter,LinkedIn,YouTube, andInstagram.
Suffolk Hosts National Sustainability Roundtable to Share Lessons Learned From “Climate Change Project of the Year”
Suffolk Hosts National Sustainability Roundtable to Share Lessons Learned From “Climate Change Project of the Year”
Suffolk Design Director of Sustainability Mike Swenson (second from left) led a discussion on lessons learned from the Climate Change Project of the Year. (Photo: Business Wire)
