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Great post Steve. Some people (usually men) will ensure that the moment when the curtains close is not boring or sterile by requesting a piece of music designed to add drama to the occasion or make people smile. Examples of this are Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor; Queen’s ‘Another One Bites the Dust’; and the random ‘Crazy Horses’.
It can backfire of course with mourners thinking WTF?
Surely the conveyor/ opening door method is best.. especially if accompanied by the theme from Thunderbirds.
Ideally, the coffin would tilt once through the doors, a bit like Scott’s journey to the cockpit of Thunderbird 2!
Nice one David….
I’ve often “toyed” with what piece of outrageous music I could have at mine.
I’m very tempted with “Asteriod” whilst the curtain close with a flourish. For those of you scratching your heads, thats the proper name for the old Pearl and Dean theme from the cinema adverts!
At Wilford Hill in Nottinghamshire they have a pair of golden gates, huge things. The coffin sits beyond them on a catafalque, on committal the officiant presses a button and they slowly close with a clunk of finality. Quite impressive they are all marked up with alpha and omega.
Of course ideally I would also want the catafalque lined with palm trees that fold away.. and a crazy coffin in the shape of Thunderbird 2 – and the dome shaped pod would conceal my corpulent figure 🙂
I would be interested in seeing photos of the gates that Lol Owen mentioned at Wilford Hill. There are a few other examples of gates being used instead of curtains (such as at Torquay), but in these cases you can still see the coffin through the gates after closure.
Different methods for different people I reckon. The Singapore method, whilst very interesting, is cold and ever so slightly brutal I feel. However, the moment is a big one and accepting what is going to happen is key – but it can be delivered in so many different ways that it is surely our job to let them know their choices in the locality? Too many people choose the local crem because it is convenient for the fd and because they don’t know they have a choice.
Liking the Thunderbird launcher though,…..
I agree Quokkagirl, it was a bit ‘efficient’ but then Singapore is clinically futuristic. I’d prefer to see real hands and real people moving the coffin…
Only the celebrant/ minister sees the person winding the pulley at Woking.
A dangerous moment if you catch his/her eye! The congregation sees the coffin gliding through the golden door …. People seem evenly split between being terrified at the thought of anything moving ie: coffin, curtains or screens, and insisting that that the coffin must disappear from view…. Maybe not quite ‘vanish’ – they know it’s there, maybe they just don’t like to think about what happens next.
Just on the outskirts of Ipswich in Suffolk, we have a new Crematorium located in Nacton called Seven Hills, Stunning location in beautiful woodland style grounds, What is different here is the Coffin is placed on the catafalque at a Angle, with many coffins nowadays having a theme to them, most of the coffin including the side and the rear can be seen by all the mourners, eventually the curtains will come round but this can be excluded if the family request it.
That sounds like a lovely crematorium GMT – nice to have windows – most of the ones in my area have high up windows….. Darlington crem places the coffin sideways on to the congregation too – I thought that seemed more inclusive somehow.
Interested by this comment – “Only the celebrant/ minister sees the person winding the pulley at Woking. A dangerous moment if you catch his/her eye!”
Why don’t you want to catch their eye? Is it the Grim Reaper winding the pulley?
Hi Janie here, I like your site.
Steve, I don’t know what it is about making eye contact – they’re turning the crank handle like mad as the coffin seems to glide effortlessly through the golden door – I suppose it’s part of the divide- this side and ‘the other side’ , somehow making eye contact feels like it lessens the magic (drama?!?) for the congregation I suppose! I feel the same about the nod to the funeral director at the end – I don’t like it- that somehow makes me feel that I’m ‘with him/her’ and ‘finished’ with the mourners… maybe that’s just me !