Your number’s up and it’s 23
The American writer William S Burroughes met a seaman, a Captain Clark, in the 1960s who told him that he had been sailing for exactly 23 years without mishap of any kind. That very day, Clark’s ship was lost at sea; it went down with all hands. As Burroughes pondered this news he heard a […]
Richard III’s reinterment remains unresolved
Posted by Richard Rawlinson Will Richard III’s DNA-approved descendants scupper this May’s planned reinterment of his remains during a televised, Anglican ceremony at Leicester Cathedral? Having objected to Leicester’s claim to the last Plantagenet monarch, there’s now to be a judicial review in March aiming to annul Leicester’s license. Will the case merely postpone reinterment, or […]
Candlepower
If you’re out in Soho on a Saturday night chances are, as you reel from one nightspot to another, that a fresh-faced young person will greet you with the somewhat discordant question, “Would you like to light a candle in a church?” Being idealists, these gentle, big-eyed souls are used to being rebuffed by all […]
Big is beautiful
Golden Charter just got bigger. It’s now going to be the conduit through which Sun Life will sell its over-50s life assurance plans to those who ask for a funeral benefit option. As Golden Charter say, this “significantly boosts Golden Charter’s market share and choice for consumers”. The reckoning is that Sun Life Direct customers will […]
Seen and heard: should young children attend funerals?
Posted by Richard Rawlinson Some say death is too sanitised these days, with few people dying at home where all the family can say goodbye, and with professionals now taking over the duties of preparing the body for the funeral. Has this social development made us over-protective of children, just as they’re now sometimes even shielded from […]
An Irish love story
An elderly man lay dying in his bed. While suffering the agonies of impending death, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favourite scones wafting up the stairs. He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning on the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even […]
Knights Templar ghosts walk among Bristolians
Posted by Richard Rawlinson I’ve just seen a Templar knight in Bristol, walking the streets in helmet, chain mail and white tunic with red cross. This is not uncommon in a city with a rich Templar history, reflected by the station name, Temple Mead, and a Weatherspoon pub called Knights Templar. I’m not sure if he […]
Any takers for the real face of death?
A few weeks ago I posted a blog about embalming — a short piece, just three quotes, no comment. One of the quotes acclaimed the art of the embalmer who, ‘by and through his professional attainments‘ in causing a corpse, by artificial means, to be made tolerably presentable to the living, glorifies ‘the divinity in man‘. A […]
A funeral with a steam engine theme
Vintage Lorry Funerals has a number of members in the company’s support team who can provide items to supplement the Floral Tributes or a Theme if their inclusion can enhance a display to exceed a Family’s expectations. A Garden Contractor has supplied a Victorian Railway Porter’s Cart, a 1950’s Milk Churn and newly sawn Logs. […]
Did Marc Bolan predict his own death?
Posted by Richard Rawlinson T-Rex star Marc Bolan died, aged 29, in a car crash in west London in the early hours of a September morning in 1977. His girlfriend Gloria Jones was driving him home from a night in Mayfair when her purple Mini smashed into a tree by the side of the road. Even […]
