Blog Posts

We avoid death with language, we think it softens the blow. Passed away, flying with the angels, gone to a better place, gone, lost, departed, promoted to glory, born into eternal life, passed on, kicked the bucket, pushing up daisies, resting in eternal peace, entered their peaceful slumber, graduated to heaven, called home, gone to the happy hunting ground in the sky, breathed his last, bid farewell to the world, didn’t make it, lost the battle, gave up the ghost……… I have always been fascinated by the language of death. The words we choose to associate with the state of being or becoming dead. The language of death avoidance is perhaps never more evident than it is in most daily papers. The standardized formatting of most death and funeral

On the 26th July 2017 we visited a brand new Natural Burial Ground. It was in Wales, called Hay Meadows. And that is exactly what it was. Only recently, had the owners cut a whole crop off hay off the field. This was our first encounter with the idea that not only could the land be used for more than one purpose, but it actually didn’t have to be woodland or bush at all. Any paddock could be a natural burial ground and the potential existed for not only hay, but sheep grazing, flower meadows or complete land regeneration into bush land. Hay Meadows only opened its gates in January 2017 and in those few months there had been 2 burials. The owners completely privately own the land

Dalton Wood, Cumbria. This was the very first natural burial ground that we visited in the UK. A 30 acre portion of a much much larger Estate that has been in the same family ownership for over 700 years. When we arrived here the gate was locked (we found out later that it was only to guard against people dumping unwanted goods, all families still have access all the time). I was a little dismayed, wanting to explore, but not to be deterred Edwin, Joey and I climbed the style and into the grounds. There was a little stand with pamphlets within, we picked up one and started to go for a bit of a wander. Edwin called the number on the back of the pamphlet and 15

Good evening! We have had a big day! Today we held our November event, Death on Screen. It may have been the cold that kept some of you away but all in all we have to say the day was a success. About 20 people in total braved the cold to join together to watch ‘A Will for the Woods’ and ‘Zen & The Art of Dying’ with a few more turning up for the second screening. There was an incredible flood of emotion in response to the journeys in the film, the first one in particular.. and all through there were shared laughs and knowing nods of agreement from the audience. But, one of the things I enjoyed the most was the conversations that went around during the

Happy Sunday Afternoon! We have had an exhausting week but it has been made incredibly worthwhile by all of you – the people we have met have gone a long way to prove to us once again what an incredibly important job we are doing. Everyone has a story, and overwhelmingly it is a story of something not quite right. Death not done well. A journey from grief to bereavement that was unhealthy and unhelpful. Thank you all for sharing your stories and experiences, through talking about these things we can all learn so much. To the little boy who told me about his dad who died a few weeks ago, to the parents who shared their story about their daughter loosing her fight with cancer, to the