[MargaretR]

I dont think there is much point asking for the ashes - suspect you just get a shovelful off the pile -behind that curtain is an 'industrial process of hygenic body disposal' -it is not designed for grieving relatives to view, and would probably upset them if they did. Those crematoria workers work with death every day, an unpleasant job, and they need not to be sentimental about it in order to cope with doing it.