View as a PDF - Round & About Magazine

A funeral to die for
Dani Maimone takes a look at Natural Burials
ALTHOUGH DEATH AND dying is an uncomfortable
subject for many of us, it’s a natural part of life that
we can’t ignore. I know from personal experience that
dealing with the death of someone we are close to, deciding
what kind of send off to give them, and whether
or not they are cremated or buried, can be a difficult
thing to have to deal with. Unless of course they have
expressed clear wishes about what that process
should be. I plan to leave clear instructions for my
family as to my funeral arrangements, partly because
I want it to be something fun and different, and also
because I don’t want them to have to think about that
aspect as well as dealing with everything else.
The funny thing about funerals is that none of us are
actually here to witness them, so in a sense what is
done with our bodies after we die is more for those
that we have left behind than for us. Unless you are
planning to leave it to science!
It might be the case that you have never been to a funeral
and therefore have no clue what to expect. Experiences
can vary wildly and not all of them are very
pleasant. I know it’s not a word that one would normally
associate with funerals but I have been to some
that were so; a Dixie band down the high street, a
lovely choir and guitarist, several natural burials.
Many of the funerals have been serious, traditional
and in some cases unemotional, the crematorium in
particular. More recently I have attended them to take
funeral photographs for the families involved. It may
sound odd but years ago it was quite a normal thing to
do. It can help families with the bereavement process,
and if it is a special and unusual event there is even
more reason to have a record of it, but I digress.
Last year, I attended a funeral of the husband of a
good friend of mine, not an elderly person, a middle-
aged lovely man not much older than myself. His
death was sudden and unexpected. The funeral was a
natural burial held in Epping Forest, and I was blown
away by it.
The simple willow coffin was taken to the wooden
pavilion where the service was held. Rays of sunlight
shone through the trees and in moments of silence to
recall memories of lovely George, you could hear the
birds singing. It was an emotional but uplifting experience
and will stay etched on my mind forever.
Thankfully with natural burial sites emerging across
the country we are gradually changing the way we
deal with death and dying. The Natural Death Centre
charity, and organisations like Final Fling, readily
offer advice on what to do when someone dies. They
have enabled us to take back control, guiding us
through the process and different options of what we
can and can’t do with regard to services, funerals, cremations
and burials and coffins.
Much to my surprise, I discovered last year that basically
almost anything goes. There are no set rules to
follow as we are often led to believe by many funeral
companies and past traditions. Although a large percentage
of us choose to be cremated, natural burial
provides us with a more ecofriendly alternative.
So what is natural burial and where in Surrey can you
find a site?
Natural burial is a funeral that minimises any impact
on the environment. The first natural burial site was
opened some twenty years ago; quite a leap forward
for its time. There are now over 260 sites around the
UK from as far afield as the Highlands in Scotland all
the way down to Cornwall.
24 x R&A HASLEMERE & VILLAGES February 2013