When David
Hall in 2002 first started Vintage Lorry Funerals he contacted a number of
Funeral Directors close to his Bradford-on-Avon base to ask if they would be
interested in taking a Marketing Pack, which includes a framed picture of the
1950 Leyland Beaver. The gentleman who answered the telephone at a Funeral
Director in Bath
declined to take a Marketing Pack and told David, ‘There will never be a need
for your type of vehicle in our part of the city!’ Whereas this would have put
off a younger person, David was in his 50’s and has a high level of resilience
and conversations like this made him more determined to succeed.
One of the
Funeral Directors in Bath
that has been most supportive is Carol Spalding who acquired Clarkson’s in
2004. She has transformed the business, building up an excellent reputation and
has opened further Funeral Homes in Frome and Saltford.
David Hall
was contacted by Dr. Alex Starkie in 2014 and was given his first funeral for
Clarkson’s in Frome. It was also the first time that David Hall has ever worked
for a former Forensic Scientist and Alex’s attention to detail and quality of
planning were transferable skills from her previous employment. The funeral was
for a former Coach Driver and as this was the first Bus Driver that David Hall
had carried on his lorry, David agreed with a member of the Family that he
would create the rear of a School Bus in front of the coffin.
As this was
the first time that Vintage Lorry Funerals was asked to go to Mendip
Crematorium in Shepton Mallet, David asked that the height under the Porte
Cochere be measured. Given that the clearance to the top of the cab was less
than 2 inches David decided to visit the site to check whether the slope of the
ground would dictate a specific angle of approach. The staff members John and
Bethany, at this Dignity facility, were very friendly and were very interested
that the Vintage Lorry would be visiting their site.
David also
looked at a number of options for strategic parking around Clarkson’s Frome
location. This would allow the lorry to be parked in a 0730-0800 hours window, whilst the Funeral
Director was opening up the facility and moving out two vehicles, clearing
space to accommodate the 26 feet long Leyland Beaver. Within 100 yards of
Clarkson’s there is a property that was previously a Fuel Station but was now
manned by Car Washers, who were from Eastern Europe
and spoke little English. David gave one of the men a Vintage Lorry Funerals
business card, which features a picture of the lorry in action, pointed to
Clarkson’s and wrote the date and time that he would require temporary parking
on the back of the card.
Two days
before the funeral David became aware that his own Father was critically ill
and arranged that once he had returned from Shepton Mallet he would immediately
drive in his car to Coldsprings Care Home in Penrith.
David left
for Frome at 0645 hours and for the first time ever he took no packed lunch with
him. The Vintage Lorry arrived at the Washing Facility at 0715 hours and David
found that the security chain had been removed, making access possible. As
David was reversing into the yard one of the Eastern Europeans, who was
starting work, put up his thumb to signify that everything was alright and
David reciprocated the gesture. The thumbs up or down gesture is apparently
recognised outside Britain, however, it probably originates from Sunday Night
at The London Palladium , when Norman Vaughan was the Compare, taking over from
Bruce Forsyth in January 1962. Norman
used the thumbs up and down gestures with his catch phrase, ‘Swinging or
Dodgy’.
Reversing
into Clarkson’s facility wasn’t easy given the slope of the road and angle of
the wall and David was disappointed that he didn’t get in on his first
approach. Alex Starkie was very interested in how the coffin would be loaded
onto the vehicle and turned on the deck, and decided to use a Mortuary Trolley,
given that only 3 staff were present. This was the first time that when using
such facility that the coffin was loaded and turned in the same motion. Alex
explained that no limousines had been booked with the Family meeting at Mendip
Crematorium. So for the first time the 1950 Leyland Beaver went on its own,
from the Funeral Directors to the Crematorium. With no one in the cab with him,
David cruised down the A361 and no one tried to come past him, with drivers
displaying a high level of respect.
The Mendip
Crematorium is situated in open country with the access being on a narrow road
out of Shepton Mallet. Just before the entrance, heavy rain the previous day
had caused water to stream off the fields and caused a flood on the road and
this was the first time that the Leyland Beaver had to go through a stretch of
water before a Crematorium.
As David spun
the Leyland Beaver under the porte cochere some of the mourners looked aghast
worrying that the cab may catch the main support timber of the structure. David
smiled and used the thumbs up signal to relate that he would have no problems.
After the
funeral David took a picture of Alex Starkie ,on the right, and Bethany Welch,
Memorial Consultant at the Mendip Crematorium being on the left. David felt
that the picture he took was very interesting as it contained Dr. Alex Starkie,
a former Forensic Scientist like those featured in Silent Witness, next to a
lady with more than a passing resemblance to Dr Nikki Alexander, of Silent
Witness.
From the cab
of the Leyland Beaver David sees a lot of interesting wildlife on his travels
including badgers, foxes, deer and all types of birds particularly Red Kites in
certain parts of the country. Coming north on the A37 out of Shepton Mallet
David saw an 8 foot deer fawn for the first time, not in a field but on a
concrete plinth outside the Babycham Factory.
When David
arrived home he jumped out of the lorry and into his car reaching Coldsprings
Care Home at 2200 hours. David’s sister made him a cup of tea to quench his
thirst (first) after a long day. David and his wife spent some quality time
with his Father before he passed away on a Saturday morning at 0300 hours.
In the
Historic Vehicle world there is competitive tension between people who own a
bus and those that own a lorry and this manifests itself at gatherings with
lorries parked at one end of the tarmac and the buses at the other end. So
David was very pleased that he had taken his first Bus Driver on his final
journey and he approached Coach & Bus Week to see if an obituary article
could be submitted. Gareth Evans, Editor, was very interested and printed 500
words with one picture and he told David that he was keen to push the boundaries
in everything he did. He also confirmed that this was the first time a lorry
had appeared in Coach & Bus Week.
