Quote:
Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington
Oh, that is a new one on me.......I'm sure someone told me that the cremated remains were not individually done....but perhaps they were just winding me up.
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One Sunday afternoon I was walking around Accrington cemetery with my wife and we sat a while in the Chapel. There is an attendant there who will turn the pages in a book of remembrance for you if you want to see the entry for any person cremated there, he was a friendly chap and showed us "back stage" explaining every step of the procedure and how each coffin is put in a separate oven (I think there are three) which only holds one coffin at a time. The ashes are raked out after about an hour and a half and put in a box with the paper card which was first attached to the coffin and then outside of the oven before the fire was lit which is computer controlled. The boxes were all stacked on a shelf with the relevant card attached awaiting the deceased relative to take them or left for the staff to spread.
When the coffin leaves the Chapel after the service to go backstage I always thought it was on a motorised belt but it is just two chaps pulling it from behind.
I stood behind the lecturn where the Vicar stands and what amused me was the little sticker on it which said "Watch the clock".
The attendant told us he often gives people what they call "The two bob tour" on a Sunday afternoon when they start asking questions about the place.