Pure Cremation is body disposal right?

One of these companies has applied for planning permission locally. It’s for a warehouse for a couple of hundred bodies to be stored there before being sent to their crematorium down south (this is up North).
Personally I wouldn’t use the service, it seems to be on an industrial scale…unlike the local undertaker direct option described above.
im not sure I’d have great faith that mass storage and transport of bodies would be respectful?

Given that the industry is unregulated I’d rather go small local supplier (though given what happened in Hull recently, that’s no guarantee either of a relative being respected).

MiL had this. When we got her ashes back, we had a small family gathering to celebrate her life. It was beautiful, without having to go through the ordeal of watching the curtains close around the coffin.

They always use a coffin.

I assume that for a direct crem you don’t need a coffin? Is that right?

It's the same at our local one, but these were the slots originally saved for those who - for religious or cultural reasons - wanted cremations done very quickly after death

So as direct cremations rise in popularity I also wonder how they'll go on accommodating these; more crematoriums needed I guess

As for the silliness about 20 people cremated at a time, have you actually SEEN a cremator @Foreverautumnagain? Quite how you think they'd fit 20 in there I really don't know ...

Yep, I do not know where PP got her "facts" from about PC cremating groups of 20 people at a time... and that it even says that on their website (it doesn't).

I have been a funeral celebrant in my time and I have been given tours of crematoria. There are very strict protocols about cremations. Each body is accompanied by forms from the undertaker and hospital and GP as necessary. Each body is cremated one at a time and the ashes raked out and stored with details of the deceased. Even during the cremation a card with the details is placed in a slot on the machine so that the operators know which body is being cremated.

When my brother died in 2024, I held a funeral ceremony for him for the family and friends with his coffin in a beautiful setting. We had music, readings and speeches from his son, our mum and my brothers. It was lovely. Then the undertakers took his coffin to the crematorium where he was directly cremated the following morning. His ashes were collected by his son a few days later.

Funerals are for the living and there is nothing stopping families from have a ceremony, whether religious or not, and then a direct cremation afterwards.

Totally agree with you. There’s nothing sacred about a rotting corpse.

I think one thing that people who are against the simple cremation arrangements should keep in mind is that the market will decide. If people didn't want the service it would cease to exist

That is awful. So much unnecessary pain. A vital service like the medical examiner needs to be efficient, not backed up.

Families should not be left in the unknown.

My cousin died, she lived in Bristol, it was a long time before she was ready for burial.

I am not sure if the ins and outs but I know we were able to have both of my parents funeral before the death was registered in Ireland. I think it’s to do with the 3 days turnaround, bound to Catholic tradition and obviously a much smaller population. The same rules apply in Spain so I think do think it is a Catholic tradition.

I have my parents ashes

We are doing similar for my mum. She was adamant it is what she wanted.

So a simple coffin, local undertakers take her to the crem for an unattended service and collect the ashes afterwards.

We will go on a trip to scatter the ashes as per her request which is when we will say our final goodbye.

I don’t feel its better or worse than a full funeral, but it is what mum wanted and we will follow that.

I'm sorry for your loss BMW58. Four weeks is a long time to wait.

These delays also make it difficult logistically for families who are trying to organise a service or gathering or need to book catering venues etc.

I think my funeral director also chased the Medical Examiner's office for an update once the Coroner was involved. I expect the Medical Examiner's offices experience more backlogs, too, during the winter months due to higher death rates from seasonal illnesses.

That is simply untrue. Bodies are cremated one at a time. That is the law. And it says that on their own website.

Where I live these are usually done early in the morning between 9 and 10am

Yes, I couldn't register the death of DH for over 3 weeks due to a backlog at the Medical Examiner.

His cremation took place exactly 1 month after his death.

I used the local Co-Op Undertaker, so helpful and supportive when I was getting stressed out with it. She rang round and found out exactly what was happening to reassure me all was OK.

I would add to the above that when a case is referred to the Coroner's office, the requirement for registering a death within five days is waived.

Broadening the discussion a little, I think it worth mentioning that in England, all deaths that occur in hospital are now referred to the Medical Examiner's office where the cause (or causes) of death is reviewed and discussed with the next of kin before the release documentation is forwarded electronically to the Registrar.

This can add significant delays to the family's ability to register the death and hence, book a firm date for a funeral service or sign the paperwork for a direct cremation.

My husband died in June, this year, in hospital. The Medical Examiner's office could not agree with the ward doctors whether a small subdural haematoma found on CT after admission had been a contributory factor in his death. I was informed that more discussion would be needed with the consultant before the cause of death and any contributing conditions could be finalised and recorded.

Then I was told that my husband's file was being passed to the Coroner's office for their involvement because subdural haematoma is most usually caused by a blow to the head or as a result of a fall, though can occur spontaneously especially in the elderly or those with brain shrinkage. No post mortem was being instigated as they had access to CT scanning and his case had also been discussed with specialists at the neurological centre of excellence at another hospital shortly after his scan.

But the Coroner was having problems getting hold of the consultant, so this led to further delays. At one point, I was asked to give a verbal account of how my husband had been in the days leading up to his fall, when an ambulance crew had attended but not hospitalised him, and how he had been prior to his admission to hospital, two days later.

Eventually, it was decided that the subdural haematoma would not have contributed significantly to his death from other causes and the causes of death section of the forms could be finalised and relayed to me, as next of kin.

It was 16 days from date of death to my being given permission to book an appointment with the Registrar's office. As it was a Friday, I could not get an appointment until the following Monday, which was 19 days after my husband's death. It was 27 days until the direct cremation took place - so nearly 4 weeks between date of death and cremation.

So if you are the person making arrangements don't assume that you will necessarily be able to register the death within a couple of days and then book a firm date for the funeral because this requirement for all hospital deaths to be reviewed by the Medical Examiner may result in unanticipated delays.

We had a Co OP direct to cremation funeral with no service and no ashes for my Dad and we are all having the same. We booked it online. We don’t even know when or where it took place as that information was meaningless for us. We mourned the loss of my Dad not his physical body.

Im happy with the ‘body removal’ phrase

Not if Pure Cremation was the company involved.

You don't have to do it through Pure Cremation. Use the local undertakers. Get agreements signed with necessary permissions for them to pick up and dispose of body. Those left behind can arrange whatever commemoration event they want. My brother did this earlier this year and his children arranged a lovely family and friends event. This might not be a suitable option for the loss of younger loved ones though.
Be aware that Pure Cremation only have 1 crematorium and it's based in the South of England although they do have access to one in .Manchester. Bodies are disposed of up to 20 at a time so I have no idea how they guarantee whose ashes you receive!! You can read this in their own information sheets.

That wasn’t true in my case - cremations were local.

They were brilliant in my experience, you can request the ashes back and they deliver them to you personally. The staff were kind and helpful.
It's then up to the family how they want to do a celebration of life, a wake , scatter the ashes etc.
Many attendees expressed gratitude at not having to sit through a service, go to the crematorium.
It is also much more reasonable price wise, more money for a gathering or charity etc

Op title quite off-putting btw

OP is correct. And it's what I'm having. My DC have instructions to use what is saved compared to a funeral on a wake, where they can eat, drink, laugh, cry and tell scurrilous stories about me.

I had direct cremations for both my parents. I chose it for DM and DF thought it was a great idea (they were divorced) so changed his pre-paid funeral to one.

You cannot say that it would leave people feeling "unresolved". We are all different, and I am happily at peace with the way it was dealt with. While I don't mind going to funerals and have almost "enjoyed" some of them I didn't want to have to attend my parents' funerals (I'm an only child, as was my DM, my DF's sisters had pre-deceased him) and I have no regrets at all. I got their ashes back and interred them later.