​'What is a Natural Burial and what type of funeral can I have at a Natural Burial Ground?' These are just a few of the questions we have been asked in the past and wanted to help clarify with our blog below. If you have a question we haven't answered please let us know in the comments or get in touch. 

Allow us to introduce Sarah Wickham, joint landowner (alongside her partner Dai) of our latest candidate burial ground in Pembrokeshire. We've been so impressed with Sarah's enthusiasm, research, creativity and hard work, combined with a deep understanding about the needs of bereaved families that we asked her if she would be able to apply all that she was bringing to the Pembrokeshire project to the other natural burial grounds we manage. We are delighted to report that she said yes... ​

​When we received an image of a very special painting of Usk Burial Meadow from one of the families that visited the meadow we wanted to share this with others. This beautiful painting of the meadow by by Louise Kelly not only captures the essence of Lower Meadow but also has a very special meaning behind it that we wanted to share with you ...

When someone we love dies it's important that we have a chance to grieve. Grief is expressed in many ways, sometimes physically, sometimes visually and sometimes not at all. In this blog we explore this a little bit more...

My heart sinks in these places. I don't belong here. I long for the calm uniformity, and crispness of a war graves area, or to browse the heritage, art-forms and craft of the high Victorians, or to feel the patina of weathered, local stones leaning in God's green acres. But I'm most at home in the peace and simplicity of a truly natural burial ground.

Our mantra - 'Simple, natural and beautiful' seems to work best.

Often a person will have told the family not to waste any money on their funeral. Direct cremation is a low cost option that is growing in popularity. It simply means that the body is removed and cremated with the minimum fuss, with no service at the crematorium, and at the funeral director's and crematorium's convenience. This means that the family won't be able to visit and view the body after removal and cannot attend the cremation, which some might not want, but the cost reductions can be significant.

A number of national companies have been formed specifically to offer this service, but you don't necessarily have to use one of those, as your local funeral director should be able to provide the same service for you if you ask them.

It is quite possible to organise a direct cremation yourself. You will need to liaise with the staff at the crematorium about paperwork that you will need to complete, the type of coffin to use and the timing and method of bringing the person who has died to them. Guidance from the government is published here online
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cremation-guidance-for-applicants

When a cremation is separate from the farewell, family can stay with fellow mourners after a memorial service. This has the benefit that they won't miss the opportunity to mix with everyone at the post-funeral gathering and enjoy the support that brings. Often by the time the family get back from the crematorium quite a number of the people who have gathered for the funeral have departed.
​

​“Promise me
you'll take my dust
and lay it down in peace
'neath leafy boughs
and moonlit skies
for there, I'll feel released”

On Tuesday 26th June 2018, we attended a conference organised by the Church of England at the National Memorial Arboretum. The title of the conference was...
​
"Just put me in the bin" - Contemporary issues around ashes and bodies
On one of the hottest days of the summer, speakers from the church academia and funeral professionals addressed a marquee full of clergy, celebrants and a couple of cemetery managers (us). 

Some interesting points we took away are: -

• Memorials are hugely important as places to go when there is no marked grave
• there will be 6.4 million deaths in the UK in the next decade
• Funerals are seen as difficult to organise. "In some ways we're so free but we're also a little bit lost" - Denise Inge
• Cremation is never the final rite - burial is final, cremation is the first stage...
• 80% of people now take the ashes away from the crematorium
• What you do with the ashes can be to fulfil the person's identity... Scatter them somewhere meaningful
  
• The place for the remains needs to have permanence
  
• Ashes stored at home are often found in wardrobes after house clearances
  
• Urns are surprisingly stolen in burglaries if the container appears valuable
  
• 'Direct Cremation' separates the farewell from the disposal of remains - this can help the 'flow' of a funeral when otherwise the gathering would be split and the family mourners can miss the wake
  

The quote of the day had to be from a book by funeral director and writer Thomas Lynch:

"A good funeral gets the dead where they need to go and the living where they need to be."

We love this idea and searched for something similar so that others could do the same. That is when we discovered Silversmith, Cari-Jane Hakes, who hand-makes highly personalised sterling silver necklaces with a minimal and contemporary design, specifically to record those moments when our lives change forever. Her design lets you commemorate these events by engraving them onto the silver bands of this necklace - past moments, worn close to your heart and carried with you into your future.
The engravings can be uniquely yours...

• Names
• Important dates
• Location coordinates - longitude and latitude (we can provide these)
• Special words  - perhaps from a favourite song or poem

The choice is entirely yours. If you would like to try something different, that's possible too... 

"Let me know if you have any ideas you want to explore.  Basically anything that involves metal and text I can do!" Cari. Contact Cari by email carijanehakes@rocketmail.com

Her work is available through her ETSY website.

A frequent feature of Scottish funerals is the presence of a piper which is becoming more and more popular.

On 28th February, we held a funeral at our Delliefure natural burial ground, Grantown on Spey and the funeral procession was lead by "Award Winning" Spud The Piper aka Callum Fraser. 

Dressed in all his finery, Spud played his bagpipes during the service and instead of stopping at the end of the service, he  walked away into the distance still piping, with the music floating away with him. 

Spud is known worldwide and plays at weddings, ceilidhs and just about every event where music adds something special to the setting.

​His website is full of information and gallery photos as well as contact details to book him directly.