From the press release:
Linda Robinson is a professional end-of-life carer and her clients, tucked up in warm, cozy beds, often confided to a dread of being carried out in a wooden box. When her children were young, the family wrapped dead pets in soft woollen jumpers for burial, and inspired by this, Linda decided to try and design a more appealing coffin. She came up with a woven pouch from sheeps wool and named it the BURIAL CLOUD.
An experienced weaver for over 25 years, Linda sourced wool from local rare-breed farmers, some of whom were burning the fleeces as there was no profitable market for them. She crafted local oak and pine wood to make a supporting underboard and used calico to make an inner liner. Calico tabs were also sewn onto the Burial Cloud to slot in ash wood poles for ease of carrying, rather like a stretcher.
Linda showed her prototype to a local undertaker and he loved it so much he helped finance the patent. She was then offered space at Humber Memorial Woodland Burial in Herefordshire as a base for her business, which was originally the site of an Iron Age fort. She trained local women to weave the wool and an eco-friendly business was born, boosting the rural economy.
The Burial Cloud is:
* Environmentally friendly, made from natural woven wool, produced and hand-crafted in Britain with minimal transport miles
* Made using organic, bio-dynamic and rare-breed fleeces where possible
* Designed with a supporting underboard made from local oak or pine and an internal calico liner
* Carrying handles made from locally coppiced ash
* Supporting the rural economy by employing the skills of farmers, sheep shearers, weavers, craftswomen and tree coppicers
* Available in all sizes
* Suitable for all forms of burial and air cremation
* Retailing for £660 (adult size)
* Also available for separate purchase are woven fleece liners for more traditional coffins (such as willow, seagrass and recycled cardboard)
Contact: linda@burialcloud.co.uk Website: here Click the photo to make it bigger.
This is a fantastic new product hand-crafted entirely from sustainably sourced, natural materials.
We hope to introduce the Burial Cloud to the general public at various country shows around the UK this summer, where I believe it will be a great hit with the farming community.
A big “Well done you” to Linda!
This is absolutely beautiful,I will definitely be putting it on my funeral wish list!! x
Managers of natural burial grounds from across the UK are meeting this weekend and Linda is bringing the cloud along for us to fondle. Looking forward to it. Looks great.
Rosie – Association of Natural Burial Grounds 01962 712690
Hitch a ride, Rosie?