A journey to Great Yarmouth in a Winter Storm
Posted by David Hall In the second week of February 2009, a Winter Storm hit Southern England and this coincided with Vintage Lorry Funerals first funeral for Arthur Jary & Sons in Great Yarmouth. Normally David Hall leaves Bradford-on-Avon very early and puts the first 2 hours of the journey behind him before most people wake […]
General Election blues … and greens
Posted by Richard Rawlinson With Funeralworld including many small businesses, will their owners and employees be voting in the 7 May General Election for the party they feel supports the UK’s 4.9 million small businesses the most? But what can a government actually do other than make supportive noises encouraging enterprise, and championing the role of […]
Singing them on their way
Posted by Tim Clark It’s our belief that the sound of unaccompanied natural voice singing, in three- or four-part harmony, can create a space for strong emotion; can console and comfort, can embody and say things we can’t say in prose or poetry alone. We sing in English and Welsh, with a scattering of Spanish, Gaelic, […]
Celebrant turned zoo keeper
Posted by Wendy Coulton I think my neighbours must have been impressed when they saw me clear out space in my garage this month. But the truth is I had no choice. You see, next week it will be the new home for the eye-catching and thought provoking centre piece for a free public event I […]
What the hell?
“Belief in life after death is as common in Britain as it was 30 years ago in spite of a sharp decline in church attendance” according to researchers at the University of Leicester. The story is in today’s Times. The stats in the Leicester report don’t tell us anything we didn’t already know, probably; not if […]
The good meeting place
Posted by our religious correspondent Richard Rawlinson Where would we be without our Rover’s Return or Central Perk? The Corrie pub and Friends café are what sociologist Ray Oldenburg calls a ‘third place’ in his book, The Great Good Place. They’re neither home nor work, but accessible, accommodating and inclusive neutral ground where we can go […]
Empathy and sympathy – what’s the difference?
Posted by John Porter Sometimes the boundaries of the definitions of these two words, empathy and sympathy, become fuzzy. They become fuzzy for good reasons. This is from Confessions of a Funeral Director, which is often mentioned in GFG posts, entitled 10 Marks of a good funeral director: 8. Empathy and sympathy. Imagine being at the […]
An Irish Funeral in Birmingham
Posted by David Hall With Vintage Lorry Funerals website displaying David Hall’s contact details, some Families seek to book the 1950 Leyland Beaver directly to avoid the margin that some Funeral Directors seek to impose. David’s mobile is always switched on, apart from when he is involved with a funeral, when the silent mode is […]
It’s a wrap
The private ambulance is on its way, porters are bringing up the mortuary trolley and the nurses in the ICU are disconnecting tracheostomy tubes, dialysis lines, catheter and ventilator. Soon the Old Year will be flatlining. Farewell 2014 ur a legend RIP. Here in the GFG-Batesville Tower, where our annual Christmas party is presently in full wrecking-ball swing, the entire, […]
Womb to tomb
Posted by John Porter This is the most exploitative time of our year. Everyone gladly leaps onto the bandwagon and we cheer each other into debt. The orgy of gift opening on the day is extraordinary. Children rip open expensive toys that leave almost nothing to their imaginations. Within minutes they start to play with the […]
