Britain's cemetery managers have launched their own annual awards, Cemetery of the Year, with this year's entries revealing an increasingly eccentric approach to memorial design. Masons are now regularly commissioned to create bespoke headstones reflecting the hobbies and personalities of the deceased, moving away from traditional gravestone designs, in a trend that highlights changing attitudes towards how loved ones are remembered.

Newcastle firm Joseph Richmond & Son Memorials has produced tributes including a double-decker bus, a motorbike, elephants and life-sized DJ decks, the latter created for Dumfries-born DJ Jamie Roy, who died aged 33 in 2022. The awards, co-hosted by the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons, judge burial grounds against 50 criteria across three categories, with finalists including Canterbury City Council and Thornhill Cemetery in Cardiff; winners will be announced on 29 September at the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management's annual conference.