Part of Rhyl life is Rhyl death. Recently I had to arrange my own funeral and hoped to be buried in a
Denbighshire woodland cemetery, pay off my funeral director, and then
forget about it.
But Denbighshire County Council does not
allow the purchase of plots in advance. Therefore I could not be guaranteed a
place at the cemetery of my
choice, and nor could I 'pay and forget' because I have to keep an eye
on the council's price for a plot and make top-up payments to my funeral plan accordingly.
The council's policy of not allowing the
purchase of plots in advance has made a complete mess of my arrangements
and introduced elements of worry into what is already a delicate and difficult
matter. My enquiries about
the situation continue.
Meanwhile, a High Street worker tells me that her father
is buried in a Denbighshire graveyard and her mother – still in good
health – expressed a wish to have the plot next to him. The family were told they could not buy it in advance and therefore the mother’s choice of a final resting place was thwarted. What a disgrace!
Denbighshire council is an authority with a dubious sense of what is important to the public.
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MON 23rd MAY 2016 UPDATE: I have had a telephone call from the relevant Head of Department at Denbighshire County Council. He says that the policy was introduced in 1976 (which is a couple of decades before the present Denbighshire was formed). He does not know why the policy was introduced and has no plans to review it.
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FRI 9th FEB 2018 UPDATE: On the subject of our mortality, here is a 1950 bill from H. Batten-Jones, Cemetery Monumental Works of (No. 56) Brighton Road, Rhyl, to Mr. A. Ogden of Prestatyn:
On the letterhead, note the distinctive flat-roofed H. Batten-Jones building, an enlarged version of which is now occupied by Tong's Funeralcare:
This photo was taken today by Yours Truly.
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MON 23rd MAY 2016 UPDATE: I have had a telephone call from the relevant Head of Department at Denbighshire County Council. He says that the policy was introduced in 1976 (which is a couple of decades before the present Denbighshire was formed). He does not know why the policy was introduced and has no plans to review it.
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FRI 9th FEB 2018 UPDATE: On the subject of our mortality, here is a 1950 bill from H. Batten-Jones, Cemetery Monumental Works of (No. 56) Brighton Road, Rhyl, to Mr. A. Ogden of Prestatyn:
On the letterhead, note the distinctive flat-roofed H. Batten-Jones building, an enlarged version of which is now occupied by Tong's Funeralcare:
This photo was taken today by Yours Truly.
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