Musgrove Willows Coffins

28/10/2025

25/10/2025

Finally arrived at the BIFD Conference at the Copthorne Hotel Slough/Windsor.
Delighted to support the BIFD and looking forward to this evenings events to celebrate President Amanda Jane Pink’s hectic year in office. She has worked tirelessly to promote the BIFD and definitely deserves a well earned rest! Congratulations Amanda on all that you have achieved and to all the students collecting their awards this evening. 👏👏🥂🥂

23/10/2025

🌱 How 'Green' are Green Burials? 🌿
Thinking about funerals and our environment? At Family Tree, we believe you really can honour your loved one in a way that cares for the earth as well as your memories.

❓ But what does "green burial" mean? Here's what you need to know about environmentally friendly burials — and how local cemeteries in Stroud are supporting this option:

⚰ Coffin, shroud, or urn: Choose biodegradable options like untreated wood, wicker, bamboo, cane, wool, or cardboard. Avoid plastics and varnishes—natural is best.

💚 Fixtures: Linings, handles, and nameplates should be made from natural materials or simple metals.

❌No embalming: Most green burials don't allow embalmed bodies, as chemicals harm the soil and water.

⛏Shallower grave depth: Supports natural decomposition, allowed by cemetery guidelines.

✝ Headstones & memorials: In green areas, markers are usually minimal—think shared wooden posts, simple plaques, or memorial trees. No plastic or concrete.

💚 Meadow maintenance: Minimal mowing and no harsh chemicals; wildflowers and native trees preferred.

🚍Transport: Using local materials and funeral services reduces carbon footprint.

📍Stroud: Leading the Way
Places like Brimscombe Cemetery offer meadow burial plots, strictly for biodegradable coffins or shrouds, and do not allow embalmed bodies (unless for legal reasons). Meadow plots are single, natural, and kept as peaceful wildflower meadows—no large monuments or decorations.

❓Why Choose a Green Burial?

✅No toxic chemicals or plastics
✅Low impact, cost-effective, simple and beautiful
✅Promotes wildlife, wildflowers, and healthy soil
✅Leaves a gentle, living legacy

👉🏽There are still spaces available at Brimscombe's meadow burial area for local families. If honouring your loved one's memory in harmony with nature matters to you, we're here to guide you through every green option with kindness and clarity.

🗨 Contact Family Tree Funeral Company if you'd like to learn more about how a green farewell could work for your family.
familytreefunerals.co.uk

23/10/2025

We’re proud to be a sponsor of the British Institute of Funeral Directors 43rd Annual Conference & Gala Night, taking place this October.

It’s an honour to stand alongside others in our profession who share the same commitment to dignity, care, and excellence in service.

Motorcycle Funerals - For a dignified final ride, crafted with distinction.

15/10/2025

We join the Wave of Light to remember all the young lives lost before their joy spread to the world.

This flame unites with those across the world in remembering those precious lives.

Baby Loss Awareness Week comes to a close at 7pm on the 15th October with a wave of light from house to house in the quiet of the darkness we remember them. 🌙🎩🕯️

02/10/2025

Crafting with care, from willow to farewell

Did you know our willow coffins are woven using Musgrove Willows Ltd, grown on a willow farm in Somerset, in the UK? Every coffin is made in-house, with no glue or nails, dyed by hand and built with dignity and respect.

Read the full story here: https://www.coffins.co.uk/musgrove-willow

16/09/2025

Another stunning coloured Coffin being made today

11/09/2025

when you come to pick your Willow up this week…… we are training a new member of staff….. he’s quite good at loading a sleigh, but he’s not really that good about putting Willow into a car- we tried a red one just in case he preferred that colour!

11/09/2025

A beautifully natural way to honour a loved one💚🌾

Our English Willow ashes caskets are handwoven with care, available in a range of styles and finishes – from traditional to colourful. Designed for interment, burial, or to keep safely at home, each one reflects craftsmanship and respect for nature.

Explore more: https://www.foreverurns.co.uk/site/interment-burial/

27/08/2025

Paging the Cortege 🌙🎩

In a recent national newspaper article, a well respected London Funeral Director was criticised for paging the cortege (walking in front of the hearse) - it stated he was “showing off and making it all about him!”

This has puzzled us and we wondered if people really know why this is done?

Paging the cortege is a tradition that dates back to the smog filled days of Victorian London. It is not only a deeply respectful act, allowing those on lookers and street users to know what was coming and for them to pay respects to the departed, but it actually had a practical and sometimes more sinister role.

In the smoggy days before well lit roads, the Funeral Director with his cane would be leading the horses through the streets, ensuring safe dignified passage of the cortege and the person who had died. The cane would be there to ward off any unscrupulous persons wanting to cause harm or even rob the funeral party and to feel ahead any obstacles hidden in the smog.

As modern day Funeral Directors, paging is more ceremonial and less about the need for providing safe passage, however it does provide a dignified presence to the preceding, allowing those who wish to know what is coming, allowing them to pause for a respectful moment.

Some Funeral Directors do this with great flair and show, we prefer a quieter dignified acknowledgement of the traditions of yesterday, still wearing the formal Top Hat, but choosing rolled gloves instead of a cane and a more contemporary take on the formal attire.

Of course, any funeral is not about us, or any funeral director, if your family do not want those traditions of paging and Top Hats, just speak to us when arranging the details of the funeral and we will carry out those wishes to the letter.

Remember, a Funeral Director is there solely to facilitate your needs for saying goodbye, it’s never about us and you will never hear us saying, “that’s how it’s done!”

So if you want a nod to tradition and respect then we can do that!

If you want Darth Vader to page the hearse, that’s ok too. Whatever your needs, we will always help you to get it just right, with care, respect and compassion 🌙🎩

22/08/2025

Close ups of the stunning send off for such a special lady.

31/07/2025

We are so lucky to have a team that are like family to us and the best of friends as well

Along the way we meet and work alongside so many people from every walk of life who help us to provide our services, people who we meet professionally and those who we work alongside in providing a continuation of our their care.

We are fortunate to call so many friends and today on Friendship Day, we want to say how much we appreciate them all!

The relationships we build in life make us better and stronger to face whatever life brings and we think this is worth shouting about, not just today, but always. 🌙🎩