Today I have been to the funeral of a great friend who I have known for almost fifty years.
As a previous Jaguar owner he and his family traveled in very new bespoke XJs.
It appears that it has become the norm for the funeral company to order their cars in silver.
A nice touch which was appreciated by all attending.
The cars are so new the website has yet to be updated so only shows the previous Jaguar fleet.
oharafunerals.co.uk/here-for-you/our-fleet/
I am aware of motor bike dispatches but what other special / practical vehicles are available.
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A local business man died recently - he ran a firm selling bottled gas and LPG.
His dying wish was to make his final journey on one of his vans, so that's what happened
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There is a gentleman on the classic commercials scene who offers the services of his 1950 Leyland Beaver.
vintagelorryfunerals.co.uk/
Worth more than a passing glance, have a look at some of the themes he does in the galleries, impressive attention to detail.
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When my mother in law died we found her request for a budget cremation funeral with a white hearse.
The local Co Op offered a silver hearse as being the closest they had. Two weeks before the funeral I was going to be collecting my new Volvo V70 in white, so I joked with the funeral directors that I could always use that.
"Absolutely no reason why not sir" was the reply.
Oh. OK. Urrmmm..... I will have a chat with my wife....
"No way" she said. "I don't want to think about my dead mum having been in this car every time I get in it".
Fair enough, so the silver CoOp hearse it was.
The outrageous thing is that we were billed over £500 for the hearse to go literally 1/2 a mile from the funeral directors to the crematorium in Torquay. Wow. On top of all the others costs we had to pay them this seemed like a real rip-off, but what can you do?
I know you are also paying for the staff, etc, but we could have saved that amount putting her in the Volvo.
I know if she had been able to have a say in it, my MIL would have preferred the Volvo - and the cost saving :) I did tell my wife this, and she agreed, but there are certain 'steps too far' apparently.....
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Having the largest public owned cemetery in Western Europe on our doorstep, we are the dead centre of Manchester.
The CO-OP here has three horse drawn hearses, black, silver and white with nags to match. I think they have a 1920s Austin 'casket coach' but I haven't seen it out. Not bovvered what I go in as long as it's the cheapest.
Any road up...dying is the last thing I intend to do !
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I tuned a couple of hearses once upon a time, long long ago. One was a Daimler DS420 just orf Blackfriars Br. Rd. in sowf lunden. The other one was a Ford Granada MK2 Colman Milne jobbie in St. Leonards on Sea, East Sussex.
Big responsibility tuning a hearse - in case the engine dies en route to the crem.
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Currently in the process of arranging my mothers funeral (tomorrow). Many wacky options are available for transport including a Triumph Thunderbird combination, A VW splity, and of course modern RR Phantoms in Silver or black, RR phantom II or VI in black and of course teams of 2 or 4 grey or black horses with a white or black drawn carriage.
A few months back on of her best friends died, and when the funeral invitation arrived she was horrified to find it was going to be a humanist cremation with the congregation invited to wear pink (the deceased's favourite colour it seems) with donations in lieu of flowers and on those grounds refused to attend. "Its a disgrace" she proclaimed loudly, "No bruddy respect shown at all"
Needless to say, my mother will be going off in a Black RR phantom* as per orders. Coffin is traditional dark oak (effect) with brass (effect) furniture.
Total funeral cost, without the wake, is just under 6 grand.
Funnily enough I am now running around in a black Volvo XC70, which is well large enough to act as hearse, and I suggested the same to Mrs Z, her response was exactly the same as SFD's
Whilst planning the funeral I noted that you can get a coffin in any of your favourite teams colours, but I was rather taken with one made of reed. I always though I was Moses, so I shall choose that one when the time comes.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 26 Oct 16 at 16:58
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Sorry to hear about your mother Zero
Some years back I visited a basket weaving factory in the Somerset Levels where they grew their own willow and manufactured everything from balloon baskets to shopping baskets.
They told me that willow coffins were very popular and they will weave one to your specification. Problably best to place your order now.
www.englishwillowbaskets.co.uk/willow-coffins
The following rhyme came to mind for some reason:
O Daddy what is a basket? said the young and mischievous elf.
A basket my boy is a product of joy
In fact you're a basket yourself
:-)
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No final journey in style!
Rolling adverts in the GP Surgery waiting room - local osteopaths, vets, electrician etc etc
However budget funerals -
No hearse - £1500 for a straight forward cremation - no service/ no cars - just the incineration..
Hearse but no service £2,000
The other practices, in the same building, usually tuned to BBC TV
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>>They told me that willow coffins were very popular and they will weave one to your specification. Problably best to place your order now.
You know something zeddo doesn't?
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Sorry to hear that news Z.
Pat
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A black placky sack in the back of an Enterprise rentavan will do me, if the Sheffield teaching hospitals don't want my bits.
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>> Me too. A volvo, shame.
My mum has specifically requested in her will that her ashes be scattered in your Gin.
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Yeah, sorry to hear that mister Z. She reached a good age I believe. My ole mum went at age 88, doesn't make it any easier though - she's ya mum and brought you into this world.
I sincerely hope your black XC70 doesn't have privacy glass.!!
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>> Whilst planning the funeral I noted that you can get a coffin in any of
>> your favourite teams colours, but I was rather taken with one made of reed. I
>> always though I was Moses, so I shall choose that one when the time comes.
As others say, condolences on your loss Z.
Mrs B's sister's coffin was a wicker/basketweave job. Sorting arrangements at the crem we arrived immediately after service for a notable pigeon racer. Coffin was covered with avian images; presumably vinyl applique in same technique as rail and other vehicle liveries.
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My thoughts too Zeddo me ol' mate. Chins up. 0-:)
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Sorry to hear about your Mum.
I think you said quite recently that in six months she had gone from driving her own car to full care in a home. Quite sobering.
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I've no idea how much discount I got, but when my father died, paying for the funeral within a month got quite a lot knocked off. Apparently round my way, it is normal to pay from the deceased persons will. In any event, my father would have been appalled to be borrowing, so I paid myself, and submitted the bill.
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No discount round here when we paid for the mother-in-law's funeral.
Best wishes Z.
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. Apparently round my way,
>> it is normal to pay from the deceased persons will.
Fairly common everywhere, many leave paying for the funeral for a long time. Not that uncommon to not pay at all.
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There was a chap from here that went to his own funeral in the front bucket of his JCB excavator! - spent most of his working life in it, so he almost took it with him. Don't think he dug his own grave with it tho'.
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"The first man to operate a JCB in Bristol was given a fitting send-off"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-35917871
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>> . Apparently round my way,
>> >> it is normal to pay from the deceased persons will.
Its a debt on the estate. IF the deceased has any dosh then it comes out of that. The banks will pay it from the deceased's account upon presentation of the bill, before or even after the account has been frozen and before you get letters of administration (if you need them)
In my case we knew the end was coming, so using my power of attorney I pre paid the funeral using one of her accounts. Anyone can pre pay a funeral, and its inflation proofed. Might even put up for my moses basket now.
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Yes, commiserations from me too, Z.
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Commiserations from me too Z. Not the happiest time
I would like a 'sky burial' but those spoilsports at the YDNPAuthority wouldn't look favourably at it on the summit of Ingleboro. The ultimate recycling, or what is left of it after some poor schmuck has taken ( hopefully) some of my organs.
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I don't want to be burnt or buried so I'd like to make my own 'arrangements' if possible when the time comes.
Ideally I'd like to dispatched in a capsule to orbit the Earth, but I'd require even more money than Lud has at his disposal to pull that one orf.
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I don't think people should be allowed to lob remains on to the moon. Or into space for that matter. There's enough dangerous junk whizzing about and if we can't keep the moon tidy there's no hope.
I'm amazed laser advertising hasn't appeared on it already.
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>> symbolic portion of cremated remains
Nope, no good CG, I don't want to be cremated.
The Voyager Service sounds interesting, but I'd rather be alive to boldly go where no mans gorn before.
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Knowing what homo saps have done to this planet, I think I'd rather be launched into orbit around the sun.
I like some of the comments which follow that article, such as: Can't we start with Blair?
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Presumably by a sky burial you mean from an aircraft, I can understand why YDNP might want to deter such things. .
Surely, OTOH, there's nothing to stop your relatives taking your urn up there and scattering you?
My Father's stomping ground was the valley of the Washburn, a tributary of the Wharfe, but dammed in four places for Leeds' water supply. We scattered his ashes around the river between the reservoirs. Looking back we might have been regarded with some suspicion emptying stuff from a plastic keg into what was part of the pubic water supply.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Thu 27 Oct 16 at 10:00
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I think by sky burial he means leaving his corpse on top of a mountain to be eaten by crows and other scavengers - a Native American practice I believe.
I am curious as to why so many people who proclaim no belief in a god or the afterlife are concerned with what happens to their body when they die.
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Google tells me it's Tibetan not North American.
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>> Google tells me it's Tibetan not North American.
>>
3,000-year-old Zoroastrian tradition of disposing of the dead body by exposing it to scavenger birds
www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jan/26/death-city-lack-vultures-threatens-mumbai-towers-of-silence
Google images "zoroastrian burial" to see the gory detail if you can stomach it. (includes Tibetan images)
p.s. Freddie Mercury was of Parsi Zoroastrian ancestry
Last edited by: BrianByPass on Thu 27 Oct 16 at 13:02
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>>3,000-year-old Zoroastrian tradition of disposing of the dead body by exposing it to scavenger birds
IIRC that's not really feasible any more, due to the increasing number of bodies and the birds being killed by the modern drugs remaining in the body after death.
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In a similar vein their is a problem with people scattering ashes on the top of Ben Nevis. The alkalinity of the ashes effect the Ph level of the soil which is very acidic and has an adverse effect on the native flora.
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I'll have you know the only drug in my body is real ale.... None of that chemical lager stuff. The cannabis ( home grown in sunny CA) traces have long since vacated my body.
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>> I'll have you know the only drug in my body is real ale.... None of
>> that chemical lager stuff.
There's plenty of cracking lagers out*, very few have any 'chemicals' in them. Lagers and ales (ingredients wise) aren't really that much different.
* lagers from the baltic are generally good or try ursus from romania. Ukrainian beer Oblon is cracking stuff, might take a bit of traking down but worth it.
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My sympathies also.
A local farmer was taken to the funeral by his son on a flat trailer behind his best David Brown tractor.
He was a committed farmer, and only ever went on holiday once in June (we had a local "Wakes week" in late June up here). His wife insisted that they go to Torquay. He was only there two days when he returned on his own, because the weather was perfect for haymaking.
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On the subject of wicker coffins, the point of them is that they biodegrade, together with the contents. We have a local "Natural" privately owned cemetary nearby, where they are required.
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My mother lost her battle with cancer on Monday so a timely discussion.
She didn't have any preference as to what she travelled in, so a black Jaguar hearse is what she is getting.
Her main interest was where in the cemetery she was buried and such was nature's timing, she will get the exact spot that she wanted, in a small clearing of a more wooded section of the vast council cemetery which is really quite beautiful all things considered.
With the gathering after the service the cost is easily in excess of £10k for the funeral, which seems a lot but my dad is of the opinion that my mum was sold short in life having died at 63, so the funeral will be no expense spared.
Not sure I would want anyone to spend that amount on mine, it is certainly a license to print money although the attention to detail of the undertakers is astonishing and at a difficult time, perhaps worth it for those left behind.
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I seem to remember reading that one reason funerals are so expensive is that a lot of them are never paid for and remain so, because sending in debt collectors doesn't sit well with the profession of undertaker. Have I got that right?
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>> I seem to remember reading that one reason funerals are so expensive is that a lot of them are never paid for and remain so, because sending in debt collectors> doesn't sit well with the profession of undertaker. Have I got that right?
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Yes, quite a few unpaid totally and all manner of things (extra) yet not paid for eg expensive headstones sometimes not even used. Nothing to do with them but scrap them.
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>>With the gathering after the service the cost is easily in excess of £10k for the funeral
Maybe my crazy idea could be a ford able after all.
Sorry to hear about your mother, Stu.
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Yes, more condolences to you too, Stuu.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Thu 27 Oct 16 at 11:28
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Commiserations Stuu. My old mam went at 50 from the same thing. Buddy curse it is..
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Commiserations to all where appropriate.
Slightly off topic, my mother wanted to be cremated, but wanted a 'pretty' coffin.
Bless her, even though she died suddenly and unexpectedly, she had already left a file with plans / thoughts for her funeral such as a photo of her wearing the dress she wanted to be wearing in the coffin, pieces of music that she liked, poems she liked and all sorts of other ideas and thoughts for us for the funeral, even down to her favourite photo of herself for the hymn-sheet thing. Made my life so much easier for me as I knew that I was going to get pretty much everything 'right'.
I must make a note to make my own file.....
On the coffin-front, the wicker ones tend to be used for burials, and not cremations, and the word 'pretty' got us looking at the options.
My goodness, there are loads! In the end we chose a cardboard coffin that had been 'wrapped' with a beautiful (and very pretty) countryside scene. Clouds / field / poppies.
It was the only thing I was unsure of and still don't know if she would have liked it or been horrified by it... It did at least meet the brief and all three of us sons agreed on it.
The cost of all coffins (or perhaps I should state the price from funeral directors for coffins..) is eye-watering. Over £500 for a cardboard box - albeit a strong one.... Wowsas...
In the back of the Volvo for me, and a cheap box will be fine....... I think the black XC70 (blacked out windows or not!) sounds even better! :)
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I'm going to the crematorium on the back of this
www.flickr.com/gp/85543764@N06/4Xcf6p
Pat
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>> I'm going to the crematorium on the back of this
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>> www.flickr.com/gp/85543764@N06/4Xcf6p
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>> Pat
>>
A great choice.
I guess I should either choose a Ford or a Jaguar.
I won't take long deciding!
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I've been reading up on garden burials. It's seems there's nothing stopping you being buried in the back garden so would only need a wheelbarrow really. There is a shady spot behind the shed wher nothing much grows that would be ideal.
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've been reading up on garden burials.<<<<
I have said for sometime that the family can throw me into the pit and concrete it over for a real cheapie.
The only restriction I believe is that somebody?who? has to give permission to avoid polluting the local water courses. Not a problem here - I border a cemetry!
The grave has be declared on the deeds - so future sale may be an issue. However the reduction in value may be very worthwhile for IHT.
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>>There is a shady spot behind the shed wher nothing much grows that would be ideal.
X act lea what I did with my dog - large breed too, Ridgeback, so I have experience with garden burials.
>>I have said for sometime that the family can throw me into the pit and concrete it over for a real cheapie
My *old dad always used to say " throw me down the chute when I'm gorn" we lived on the 4th floor of a council block which had a rubbish chute on every landing.
*Dead @ 54.
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Here is an interesting article on the subject Dog. Never buried anything larger than a cat myself but digging your own grave is an interesting concept . Seems four feet deep is sufficient
www.gardenlaw.co.uk/gardenburial.html
Guess you can always cover it with a bit of corrugated iron or something until it's needed. In fact I've got a bit left over from the compost bin that would be ideal.
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>> "In ordinary cemeteries, a body may be given a 6 foot deep grave, but another body will be placed on top of it in the future"
Nice to have company :(
>> "it should take about three hours work to dig a four foot deep grave"
I put Milo 3ft under and placed heavy lumps of granite over the grave to stop any other critters dining on him. Fortunately, the ground was easy fairly to dig, being farmland.
"the grave needs to be covered with a board to prevent people falling in"
There must be a video out there ...
A friend, Big Terry (20 stone) had a green burial with willow coffin at this place, which is within, um, walking distance of where he lived: www.petsandanimals.co.uk/pontsmill-pet-cemetary-human-green-burial
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IHT? Not in my case. Easy enough to dispose of ones capitol.
My plan within the next 3 years is to downsize, move into rented, fly Business to stay with my CA friends, lots of holidays ( 6 foreign trips so far this year) ski a lot whilst the legs are reasonably ok. And hopefully leave sod all to anyone in my will, apart from a good booze up and unlimited nuts & crisps.
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What if you outlive your cash. LL? It's not much fun in a bedsit deciding on food or heating.
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I'm WAY ahead of you Roger. Shame I won't appreciate the view. Hopefully my ( very drunk) friends will. I pass the place regularly and already booked in!
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I have enough experience of old folks to know that when the money runs out ( my private pension will be gonewhen I reach 64/65 at the current rate of spending) they will stick you in a home. Free. But selling my gaff and moving into rented ' might' keep me solvent until early 70s.
And by that age who wants to fly out to Whitefish (MT) for a months skiing & smoking?
I'm a great believer in spending your disposable, and assets, whilst you have both health & mental faculties. The future is only an ever descending downward spiral and a Honda Jazz.
No disrespect intended folks
My outlook is much influenced by early croaking of relatives....
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Perhaps you should change your name to nolegacylad?
I like the woodland burial idea. Just not yet.
Last edited by: Manatee on Fri 28 Oct 16 at 22:36
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Very droll. But funny
Don't know why they call it 'Woodlands' because there are no heavily wooded areas for miles. It's sheep country, which I know like the back of my hand ( not the sheep, obviously. )
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It's a view I suppose but don't count on the council finding you a place to live if you deliberately make yourself homeless.
Downsizing by buying to a small cottage or apartment might be the wiser course. Strangely a lot of people still enjoy life post 65.
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LL has a point, up to a point. It would be good to have and end date! 😇
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Belated condolences from me as well Z and Stuu.
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The final journey in style. - mikeyb
