Christ Church funerals generally take place at West Norwood Cemetery and crematorium, a less well known member of the series of London's atmospheric Victorian burial places that includes Highgate Nunhead, Kensal Green, and where the graves include those of Mrs Beeton, Sir Henry Doulton (with ceramic decoration, of course), Dr William Marsden, Baron Julius de Reuter, Charles Spurgeon and Sir Henry Tate. There is a small somewhat antiquated crematorium where the attendants are really friendly and keen to show you round (and have promised a private tour of the catacombs in the spring). I think I'm very lucky to be able to learn my new trade here rather than in the slick, conveyor belt setting of Croydon or Streatham. An additional bonus - I think - is that, as I prepare, the accompaniment in my brain is often a song by my incumbent's rock band, the Effras,which tells the story of a coffin from West Norwood that sank through the earth into the underground River Effra and finished up in the Thames..... worth a listen, as you already know if you clicked on the link.
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