Vicar gets cross
Obviously, any building created by the state at the behest of its citizens should be faith-neutral. It’s a given, it goes without saying, so why say it? Because the Co-op seems to have fallen foul of an unholy alliance of some townspeople of Shrewsbury in the matter of its £1.7 million refurb of the town’s […]
Burning news
Two interesting crematorium stories for you. The Sydney Morning Herald, in a story colourfully titled Crematoriums add corpse power to electricity grid, reports that Durham (Eng) crematorium is planning to “use the heat generated during cremation to provide enough electricity to power 1500 televisions. A third burner is to be used to heat the site’s chapel […]
Quote of the week
“A crematorium would stink up the neighborhood. Essentially, we would be breathing dead people.” Stephen Thorburn of Las Vegas in response to a proposed crematorium in his neighbourhood.
My way or the highway
Posted by Richard Rawlinson, religious correspondent The was once a funeral sermon by a US Catholic priest in which he berates those members of the congregation who are only in church because it’s a loved one’s funeral, but whose own souls are in mortal danger after skipping Mass on a regular basis. Some might be […]
Trouble up at t’crem
Posted by Charles When East Staffordshire Borough and South Derbyshire District Council sold Bretby crematorium to Midlands Co-op there were those who said no good would come of it. It’s been just a few weeks and the doomsayers are already feeling grimly vindicated. The Co-op has been refurbing the car park with this consequence to […]
What You Need to be a Celebrant (the unofficial version)
Posted by Gloriamundi Health warning: this will be opinionated – it’s only my view 1. Ask yourself why you want to do it, and listen to the answers. The motivations of celebrants are varied, and not necessarily clear to themselves at first. It’s a role that reveals yourself to yourself. That can be quite a tough […]
Endangered species
Posted by Charles Cowling There are many unsung heroes of the funeral industry – people who work very hard for the bereaved but whose efforts go mostly unrecognised and unthanked unless they screw up bigtime. So let’s hear it today for crematorium chapel attendants. All chapel attendants are not heroes. Some are surly, some indolent, […]
Meet Angeline Gragasin and Caitlin Doughty
I know a number of you drop in around this time (10.30 am) hoping there may be a new post because you need a little light displacement activity. Well, I’ve got you something that’s anything but little and light. Two short films here by Angeline Gragasin starring/narrated by Caitlin Doughty “documenting the life of a […]
Bretby crem sale a done deal
Exactly why East Staffordshire Borough Council and South Derbyshire District Council, the representatives of the people of Buxton-upon-Trent, who are the owners of Bretby crematorium, should want to sell it on their behalf and without their say so, is a dark and nasty mystery. Bretby crem is profit-making, well run and highly regarded. The sale […]
Saving the people’s crem from the people’s undertaker
Things are at last hotting up in Burton upon Trent, where the local council and the borough council, joint owners of nearby Bretby crematorium, are considering a sell-out to Midlands Co-op for around £8 million. Local undertakers are rubbing their hands with glee. The Co-op is the most gleeful, of course. Other fans of the […]
