The eleventh commandment is ‘don’t get caught’
Posted by Richard Rawlinson What a time it’s been for the funeral industry on the tellybox. Apologies made and inquiries launched by Co-operative Funeralcare after Channel 4’s Dispatches: Undercover Undertakers. Ditto by Funeral Services Partnership-owned Gillman Funeral Service after ITV’s Exposure: The British Way of Death. These spy camera investigations of sneaky sales practices and disrespect […]
Tichbourne’s Elegy
Posted by Evelyn I heard this on Radio Four over the weekend and liked its mournful simplicity. My prime of youth is but a frost of cares, My feast of joy is but a dish of pain, My crop of corn is but a field of tares, And all my good is but […]
Kicking the Bucket right around the corner
There’s already quite a buzz about the Kicking the Bucket Festival, which threads its way through the second half of this month. Barbara Chalmers tells us she’s coming all the way from Glasgow, so come on, you ought to be able to make it from wherever you are. There’s masses of good stuff on. The […]
Thoughts of a funeral-goer
Posted by Lyra Mollington ‘They’re dropping like flies!’ This was Daisy as she came in through our front door on Monday morning. Barry was close behind, shrugging his shoulders by way of an apology. I replied, ‘You’d better come in for a coffee.’ My (or rather Mr M’s) new espresso machine is proving extremely popular. Daisy […]
Where fresh air strikes openly and freely
In Namibia, Michael M Liswaniso, writing for AllAfrica.com, deplores the new custom of spraying air freshener at funerals. I will start by saying: Eish no please, enough is enough! It is partly inhumane and implies that our loved ones smell when we use air fresheners moments before we lower the coffin into the ground. I […]
Walking away
Public health, council or (a new term to us) public funerals are on the rise in Burnley Lancashire, a once-thriving mill town from which manufacturing has ebbed, leaving a generally impecunious population — but a halfway decent football team. A report in the Lancashire Telegraph tells us: In 2007 Burnley Council paid for three public […]
Second first of the day
Andy Clarke and his partner, artist Holly Bridgestock-Perris, have sold their first, innovative Curve coffin. Andy’s new concept was inspired by a “desire was to make a softer curved product, that moved away from the angular harshness of the traditional shape that’s been with us for hundreds of years, and yet retain the traditional robustness of […]
First first of the day
We stood and whooped and hollered here at the GFG-Batesville Shard when we opened this email from Darren Abey: Hi Charles Only Fools and Hearses have just carried out our first funeral in Berkshire. The family loved the send off , they said it was priceless and would never forget that their father had the best […]
There has to be dignity in death
Lynne Watson, a celebrant, has brought to our attention a powerful and poignant article in the Daily Mail. Thank you, Lynne. It’s about a doctor, Kate Granger, who is 29 and dying of cancer, has said no to any more chemotherapy. Here are some extracts to give you a taste: As a doctor, I am very […]
Death by Christmas shopping
Posted by Richard Rawlinson There was a time when the skull and crossbones symbolised ‘Danger’ when displayed on poisonous products or worn on the clothes of Punks, Goths, Hell’s Angels, pirates and SS soldiers. For some years now, it’s been a ubiquitous part of mainstream fashion, found on everything from Debenhams babywear to John Lewis cushion […]
