Twin sisters clean grave of first Titanic captain

Two twin sisters who have been cleaning graves for the last five years have restored the burial plot of the first captain of the Titanic and his family.

Emma Stevens and Vicky Smith, who call themselves the Graveside Sisters, started cleaning graves in Hampshire cemeteries during lockdown.

The pair, who came up with the idea during a walk through a cemetery, now run a fully-fledged grave restoration business.

At the request of the British Titanic Society, they recently cleaned the grave of Captain Herbert Haddock, who died in Southampton on 4 October 1946.

The society said it tried to contact his family ahead of commissioning the sisters, but believes there are no surviving relatives.

Captain Herbert sailed the Titanic from Belfast to Southampton from March 25 to 31 in 1912.

Keeping a lot of what they do a secret, the sisters said they did not like to reveal their methods.

Ms Stevens said this was because they "don't really want the general public to go out and start cleaning graves, because it can cause thousands of pounds worth of damage".

"Generally, a graveside clean involves clearing the grave and restoring them to the colour they originally were, and we paint inscriptions too," she said.

The twins also cleaned the grave of Captain Haddock's son Geoffrey

From start to finish, a grave clean usually takes a couple of hours, but Ms Smith said it could sometimes take all day.

"The longest we had was eight hours," she said.

"We had to go back pick up the kids from school and then come back again.

"It involved a lot of digging, a lot of scrubbing and a lot of hard work."

Ms Stevens said they would often find ashes in the graves.

She said: "We just have to be respectful and leave them in that area and work around them."

When they finish restoring the graves, families could sometimes get emotional, Ms Smith said.

"The relatives are really thankful for what we do and we try our hardest to respect the graves, but obviously we have to climb on it," she said.

"But, we always lay flowers when we finish as a sign of respect."

Southampton City Council said graves were "the sole responsibility of the owner of the Exclusive Right of Burial".