When speaking to Pam the lady making the
Floral Tributes for a Luton funeral, David Hall, became aware that there would
be a number of Floral Tributes including a ‘Swinging Open Heart’ , a ‘Flat-Bed
Lorry’, a 12 inch ‘Heart’, a 12 inch ‘Polo Ring’ and two ‘Pillows’. For David
this was like going back ten years when most funerals involved 4 or 5 Floral
Tributes, whereas in these uncertain economically challenging times, the volume
of Floral Tributes has declined and sometimes family members club together to
buy one large Floral Tribute.
David found out that the Deceased had driven
a Leyland Beaver with a Blue & Red livery, identical to MXV 610 and when
the family of the Deceased saw a framed picture of David’s lorry at the Funeral
Directors, the Son said, ‘We’re having That!’
The Florist, who was a niece to the Deceased,
asked David to email her a picture of his lorry so that she could match the
colours she would use in the ‘Flat-Bed Lorry’ Floral Tribute. David, however,
was more interested in the ‘Swinging Open Heart’ as he had carried one before
but it wasn’t as big as the one the Florist was creating, which was estimated
as being 45 inches long.
When David knows that he is going to carry a Floral
Tribute that he has never carried before he has contacted Smither Oasis and Val
Spicer who make the oasis bases. For a funeral for a 17 year old boy in Bognor
a ‘Single Note’ Floral Tribute was ordered by his Grandad and David spoke with
Val Spicer who kindly traced around the Floral Tribute onto cardboard, which
they posted to David to use as a template. This enabled David to position the
‘Single Note’ on a board having black lines across depicting it was on a sheet
of music, and the position of the ‘Single Note’ signified the A note. The
family thought this was wonderful and very fitting for their Son, Angus. Smither
Oasis had previously been extremely helpful sending David actual bases for a
series of standard ‘Hearts’ which enabled him to create support structures in
the shape of a ‘Heart’ so that it would appear to be floating.
The ‘Swinging Open Heart’ was a Smither Oasis
base so David rang to see if someone could take an item of stock from the
warehouse and then make a trace onto cardboard. Unfortunately the lady David
spoke with was unable to help him because she wasn’t prepared to cut the
plastic bag as this would have reduced the value. David was disappointed and
suggested that given the importance of this Floral Tribute to the family, they
should cut the seal and then reseal it in a new bag, however, this sadly was
not possible.
David mentioned to the Florist that he was
struggling to get a template made for the ‘Swinging Open Heart’ and her Husband
asked to speak with David. John, Pam’s Husband said, ‘I have some wallpaper
left over from when we last decorated the house, I could trace the ‘Swinging
Open Heart’ and then post it to you.’
David has often found situations when people
in a big company could have provided help but won’t and then someone who has no
need to help, steps up to the plate. John went beyond his brief, traced the
Floral Tribute and then drove from Slough to Bradford-on-Avon
to hand the template over to David.
John came through the door of David’s garage
with a roll under his arm and with David’s help he rolled out the template on
the deck of the Leyland Beaver. John had made templates for all the Floral
Tributes and he said, ‘I thought that these may be of some use for you in
future funerals.’
John and David then worked together and had
an interactive discussion how best to support the ‘Swinging Open Heart’ looking
at a number of options which David laid out on the deck of the Leyland Beaver.
David’s first priority is to attempt to use existing stained wood, perhaps in a
new way, which is beneficial as it reduces the cost both in time and money if
new wood was required which then had to be stained.
The best option for the ‘Swinging Open Heart’
that David suggested to John was to use a triangular Support Structure which
had been used many times before to carry:-
§
A
‘Butterfly’ Floral Tribute in Snodland.
§
A 24
inch ‘Heart’ Floral Tribute in Swanley.
§
A ‘Car’
Floral Tribute in Bristol.
The triangular Support Structure was also
used in a Theme to depict the wingtip of a Plane being refuelled by a Tanker
for a funeral in Gosport.
By placing lengths of 4 x2 timbers around the
triangle, the shape of a suitable support Structure for the ‘Swinging Open
Heart’ was created and John was amazed at the extent of David’s huge wood
collection. John took a close look at the Leyland Beaver and was very
complimentary about the condition of the paintwork on the 1950 lorry.
David left Bradford-on-Avon
just before 0600 hours for the funeral at 1500 hours which gave him until 2100
hours to get home. As the Leyland Beaver was climbing the A46 hill on the
outskirts of Bath David noticed that the temperature of the water in the engine
started to rise beyond its normal level and towards the top of the hill the
needle on the dial was still climbing. David resolved that if the temperature
hadn’t stabilised by the time he crossed over the M4 roundabout he would stop
and investigate what was causing the problem. As David stopped at the traffic
lights on the M4 Junction 18 roundabout he noticed that the temperature had
stabilised at a higher lever than normal and David decided to keep trundling on
with his first stop scheduled to be at the Co-op Foodstore in Long Hanborough,
which has a large rear yard and a Manager who permits David to use the staff
toilet.
David then took the A44 around Oxford and then selected
the A418 through Aylesbury, the A505 around Leighton Buzzard and finally the A5
into Dunstable. The Leyland Beaver just fitted onto the apron in front of the
Funeral Directors and David was pleased that the journey had taken only 4 hours
20 minutes, including the comfort stop at around 0830 hours. The Funeral
Arranger was pleased to see David and showed him a ‘DAD’ Floral Tribute which
had turned up unannounced and the Funeral Arranger was concerned as it was not
on the Sketch that David had drawn and agreed with the family. David said, ‘No
worries, I always try to expect the unexpected’, as he created a ‘pop-up’ ‘DAD’
support structure at the rear of the deck.
The bulk of the flowers were at the family
home and David had to load the coffin at the Funeral Directors and then load
the flowers later. This is not David’s preferred mode of operation because the
Deceased in the coffin must always be respected and no flowers can be
positioned temporally on the coffin. Also the straps over the coffin present a
trip risk. David has also learnt that the risk of damaging a Floral Tribute
goes up exponentially with the number of times a Floral Tribute is handled.
David positioned himself on the deck and members of the family and Funeral
Bearers handed up the flowers, but instead of waiting for David to request a
specific Floral Tribute, Floral Tributes were just deposited haphazardly on the
deck. This meant that when David was attempting to lift the ‘Flat-bed’ Lorry
tragically it snapped and David needed some assistance to help him fix it to its
stand. However, once it was fixed to the board the problem was not evident and
the family thanked David for all the care he was taking. David thought that it
would have a complete disaster if a hearse had been used because the two halves
of the ‘Flat-Bed Lorry’ Floral Tribute would have been left on the floor of the
hearse.
At the crematorium the ‘Swinging Open Heart’
was taken from its stand and placed on top of the coffin and the family were
delighted that the ribbon was still in place.
On the way home, David found his way through Luton and he took a break at Thame Services on the A418
to let some of the rush hour traffic subside. The route home involved the A420
from Oxford to Swindon
and also diverting onto the B4508, which runs parallel to the A420, to avoid
stretches of the A420 which are only single carriageway with inherent problems
of getting reluctant overtaking drivers past the vintage lorry. David refuelled
at Sainsbury’s in Melksham at 2030 hours and was home by 2100 hours.
An inspection of the Leyland Beaver to
investigate the higher operating engine temperature found that the rear bolt
holding the dynamo had sheared and the dynamo was being held by only two front
bolts, causing it to twist, which resulted in the water pump and the fan not
turning as quickly as they should have done. The head of the bolt had gone but
the thread of the bolt was still in place even after a 255 mile journey which
luckily limited the movement of the dynamo and kept the fan belt in place. John
Satchell, of John Satchell Motors, who looks after the maintenance of the
Leyland Beaver, came to David’s garage and had a new bolt in place in no time
at all. John had recently replaced the same bolt in March earlier that year and
it is amazing how the original bolt remained in place for 67 years and a modern
bolt only last 6 months.
John is responsible for the maintenance of
over 550 pieces of equipment (Tractor Units and Trailers) runs a three bay
workshop in Westbury and employs 6 Mechanics. However, he always finds time
after work to look after the Leyland Beaver. David is always grateful for
everything that John does and David’s wife always prepares a light snack which
sometimes in the summer John eats at the garden table and probably for the
first time that day he relaxes and listens to the birds in the garden.
