The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Rosemary on August 08, 2009, 03:19:00 pm

Title: Woollen coffins
Post by: Rosemary on August 08, 2009, 03:19:00 pm
Article in Scottish Farmer thsi week. Woollen coffins, launched at the National Funeral Exhibition (?) this week. It takes three fleeces to make one. The company has already had an enquiry from the States for 300,000 and is currently offering £2 per kg for fleece compared to BWMB price of 45p per kg. Coffins cost £600.

I wonder if they could do me one in Ryeland fleece and I'll put it away for fuure use!!
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: doganjo on August 08, 2009, 04:23:33 pm
 ;D ;D ;D ;D

But seriously - why not, and it will do our sheep farmers a world of good!

Incidentally is it more eco friendly to burn wool than wood?  Anybody know?  I presume since sheep are a managed crop it is...............
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Fluffywelshsheep on August 08, 2009, 06:23:52 pm
why can't cofins be reused?
btw thats not a joke
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: jameslindsay on August 08, 2009, 06:31:13 pm
How do you know that the coffins at the Crematorium are not "recycled" by being sold back to the undertakers???????
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Fluffywelshsheep on August 08, 2009, 06:36:12 pm
because people wouldn't have much ashes to scatter lol.

the human body is somethibg like 60% water so mostly evapourates and what you get it wood ashes or fabric and a little human.

(ok i have too much useless facts in this brain)

linz

Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: gavo on August 08, 2009, 07:54:24 pm
actually you get ground up bones as the other material turns to ash quickly. Wife went to a crematorium as part of her nurse training got to see all sorts of strange things !
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: woollyval on August 08, 2009, 08:04:54 pm
We know people who make felt coffins.....Rosemary, why don't you let us make felt from your ryelands and make your own? :o
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Hardfeather on August 08, 2009, 09:15:10 pm
Would they not be awful itchy?  ;D
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: doganjo on August 08, 2009, 09:17:37 pm
Would the corpse notice? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Hardfeather on August 08, 2009, 09:24:57 pm
You'd have to ram the earth well down onto them. ;D
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: doganjo on August 08, 2009, 09:25:50 pm
I like it - RAM!
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: sandy on August 08, 2009, 11:20:08 pm
I would hate to put someone in something so itchy, even though they will not feel it, i would rather cardboard....that ul do me, severalcrisp boxes taped together and put in a hole under a tree for dogs to wee up!!! I would hate to end my day's scratching!!!!!
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: doganjo on August 08, 2009, 11:22:23 pm
If you had a hole for the dogs to wee on you'd end your days stinking!!!!  And very wet!  Mind you, you'd maybe rot quicker  ;D ;D ;D ;D

What a charming subject!
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: sandy on August 09, 2009, 12:06:05 am
When I am gone I am gone so I would rather be usefull!!
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: sausagesandcash on August 09, 2009, 12:30:14 am
Wrap me up in me oil skins and blankets, no more from the docks i'll be seen, so tell me 'ol shipmates, i'm taking a trip mates.......
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Hilarysmum on August 09, 2009, 08:01:03 am
Would it be so terrible if they did recycle coffins? 
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Rosemary on August 09, 2009, 09:09:31 am
Wouldn't be much fun for the folk who had to remove the corpses from the coffin and dispose of them.

I quite like the idea of a coffin made from my sheeps' wool.
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Tullywood Farm on August 09, 2009, 09:15:02 am
I quite like the idea of recycled cardboard, wool has many more uses than being buried in the ground.

Yuck that thought is not nice - I think I would prefer the crematorium, can't stand the thought of ll those worms, slugs and spiders.

Julie
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Fluffywelshsheep on August 09, 2009, 10:34:23 am
Wouldn't be much fun for the folk who had to remove the corpses from the coffin and dispose of them.

I quite like the idea of a coffin made from my sheeps' wool.

I can't see a prob with this unless it's an open coffin . the corpses could be wrapped in cloth beforehand then taken out and pop in.

Linz
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Womble on August 09, 2009, 04:25:39 pm
Er, doesn't wool smell a bit when it burns?  :-[
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Rosemary on August 09, 2009, 08:57:02 pm
So do humans. Bit like roast pork, I've been told.
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Womble on August 09, 2009, 10:09:28 pm

T.M.I. Rosemary!  :o
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: doganjo on August 09, 2009, 10:37:24 pm
What's T.M.I.? 
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Tullywood Farm on August 09, 2009, 10:49:50 pm
Too Much Information Annie -  ;D ;D ;D  Julie x
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: doganjo on August 09, 2009, 11:03:50 pm
I'm an old lady - stop trying to confuse me ;D ;D ;D ;D  All these new fangled initials and stuff >:(
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: marigold on August 10, 2009, 12:34:36 am
Felted coffins are a great idea. Saw an advert for a swedish set of wooden shelves the other day that you can take apart and re - slot together into a coffin when the day comes. Saves the kids worrying about whether they really should spend the extra £250 on brass handles or not. Perhaps we could use our felt coffins as insulation until they are no longer needed. I put fleece under my soft fruit bushes and it keeps them going for years. Not sure that I like the idea of being planted under soft fruit and the grandchildren being nourished on my composted remains (and its probably illegal) but a few rose bushes kept alive by a mixture of wool and old bones would be fine.
A nice blue faced leicester felt coffin wouldn't be at all itchy.
Rosemary - I saw that you were asking us our skills on another thread - mine are in art and design - particularly the creation of funky textiles. Perhaps I will be inspired to branch into a new world of coffins.
I recently went to a green fayre and the only sustainable coffins they were offering were from bamboo and willow made in China. I suggested that shipping coffins all the way from China wasn't very sustainable - but the man in the suit wasn't buying it. It was a cheap way of giving people something that mad them feel ok about their choices.
Kirsty
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Hilarysmum on August 10, 2009, 09:19:27 am
Wouldn't be much fun for the folk who had to remove the corpses from the coffin and dispose of them.

Someone has to put them into the coffins in the first place.  :)
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: gavo on August 10, 2009, 09:23:43 am
I'm pretty sure i've seen British made willow coffins on the net mother wants a sustainble coffin i've got to say as coffins go they were really nice not all square and austere but soft in style
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: BadgerFace on August 10, 2009, 10:03:45 am
Cardboard box for me  ;) or compost heap - anywhere, just not a churchyard !

There is an old tradition of placing a piece of fleece on the body of shepherds in their coffins. Apparently to show St. Peter when they get to 'the gates' that they are a shepherd. And the reason why they only attended church rarely during their life on earth was due to being too busy caring for their flock.  ;D

I wonder if a woolly coffin would be an acceptable pass  :sheep:
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Tullywood Farm on August 10, 2009, 10:20:37 am
Wooden Coffins are sustainable too - as long as you go for plywood with rope handles whats wrong with that - they will take the weight of any sizxe of a person, you may struggle with other solutions, don't want them falling out halfway down the church service now, through the bottom  ;D ;D ;D
The reason wood is used is because it rots well over a long period.
It is a renewable source.  People as always took it to extreme with the posh brass handles
and silk linings and polishing rarer wood -
Now I think people are looking for an alternative for unreal reasons

If it aint broke - don't fix it - theres plenty of other things to fix out there ::)

Julie
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: sabrina on August 10, 2009, 03:52:17 pm
I plan to have a cardboard one and be buried  At Clovery Woods of Rest which is not that far from here. Can't think of anything nicer and its Eco Friendly  :)
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: sheila on August 10, 2009, 05:19:42 pm
I don't care what happens to me when I'm dead. They can chuck me on the tip for all I care. I suspect that coffins are not for us to choose but for those we leave behind.
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Womble on August 10, 2009, 05:47:14 pm
Saw an advert for a swedish set of wooden shelves the other day that you can take apart and re - slot together into a coffin when the day comes.

Hmmm. We have a fair bit of swedish furniture here, but given past performances, I still hope to outlive most of it!!   :D
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Hardfeather on August 11, 2009, 12:17:54 pm
Wouldn't be much fun for the folk who had to remove the corpses from the coffin and dispose of them.

Someone has to put them into the coffins in the first place.  :)

My sister does that for a living (;D).................after thirty odd years of mundane industry-related work, she did a course on undertaking, and started a new job some months ago. She seems to be getting on fine.

I can't get my head round it.  ???
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: marigold on August 11, 2009, 02:46:37 pm
Glad there are nice people out there doing it for a living.
When you lose someone you love it's good to feel that their remains are treated with dignity and care.
Its not so different from midwifery and bringing people into the world. The families need as much care as the person who is coming or going.
A woolen coffin will still need a board under it by the way.
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: rustyme on August 11, 2009, 05:47:35 pm
think I may start up a company making willow and wool coffins.....COFFINS R USS .... ::)
    Always knew I would end up in a dead end job !!! ??? spending lots of time in the Underground workers hotel at  dead centre of town !!!! It will be a grave decision though !!! :o
   I might even turn the land into a cemetery ??? I could call it , Soylent Green pasteurised people....errrr no no no, Silent Green Pastures ...

sorry if that offended anyone ....I couldn't hold back any longer... ::) ;D ;D


cheers

Russ
Title: Re: Woollen coffins
Post by: Tullywood Farm on August 11, 2009, 07:40:47 pm
Undertakers is the future Telecoms business - its a booming industry apparently.