September 2, 2008

As you’d expect, the undertaker business isn’t an industry that’s known for being full of laughs, so the British Institute of Funeral Directors (BIFD) are looking to inject a slightly lighter tone at their annual conference at the Croydon Hilton on the 24 – 26th October this year, by turning up with a fleet of 100 hearses!

Adrian Pink, president of the BIFD says, “I wanted to make this year’s conference something different. We always have a bit of a trade show but we need to do more to open our doors to the public.

“The Funeral profession has a history of conservation and there are many restored hearses around the UK so we thought that we would try and bring a few of them together at the conference. We had reserved 100 places for hearses for the display and by the end of July we were almost fully booked. They range from a Victorian hand bier to the latest Mercedes-Benz based models from event sponsor Binz (UK) Ltd.

“There are a few horse drawn hearses and one or two conversions of carriage hearses mounted on small Austin trucks. From a number of 1930’s Austin hearses to a range of models from the 1950’s through to the current day, including a classic Cadillac hearse. One of the biggest Rolls Royce fleet owners in the world, A W Lymm of Nottingham is sending six Roll Royce vehicles to the event, and Greens the carriage masters are bringing five hearses".

Joining the fun will be the Rev. Paul Sinclair with a convoy of seven motorcycle hearses from Leicester adding yet another “first” to this “first” mass gathering of hearses. 

If you were planning a trip into the town centre on the 25 October you should probably walk in, as the Mayor of Croydon will see the world’s longest cavalcade of funeral vehicles tour through Croydon on the Saturday between 2:15 and 4:00pm.  Even while they are not engaged in active service, it's hard to imagine the even will be anything faster than pedestrian.

Pink concludes, “The BIFD wants to open up the profession and its suppliers to their market, to make the whole process less intimidating. The hearse cavalcade is an event that puts us in the public eye, it lets the public and the funeral directors see the range of vehicles available from the carriage masters. A visit to the conference’s exhibition allows the public to see the wide range of options available to them, without being under the immediate stress of a bereavement".

If you’re in the area on over the weekend and are kicking your heels, why not come over and check out Croydon’s liveliest new attraction?

Leave a comment

Type into the box below