Shoobridge Funeral Services

23/10/2024

16/10/2024

We had the absolute pleasure of meeting the winner of our poetry competition this morning.

Karen Williams came in to our Honiton offices to collect her prize money and stay for a cup of tea and a natter. It was the best way to spend a rainy Wednesday! Karen is so busy with many aspects of writing and her work at the Norman Lockyer Observatory and it was fascinating to hear about it all. We even met Malwyn the Welsh Mouse … check out his Instagram feed to see what he’s been up to!

Thanks so much for entering our competition, Karen. Wishing you all the very best in your writing and everything else 🙏
Caption: Abigail (left) from Shoobridge Funeral Services, presents Karen with her prize.

15/10/2024

Thoughts go out to anyone trying to navigate life after baby loss and their families and friends trying to support them 💗💙

14/10/2024

And now we can announce the winner of the Shoobridge Funeral Services’ Under 16s poetry competition …

We have read some terrific poems and want to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who entered with their heartfelt creative offerings. We loved them all!

Our Under 16s winner is (drum roll!) … Rosa who is eleven years old and literally put pen to paper in the most beautiful way. Congratulations, Rosa! You win a £50 book voucher and there is a reason for this. All great writers are great readers so read, read and read some more … and then get writing again!

11/10/2024

"No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away."

Terry Pratchett for this week's 💛

10/10/2024

Raising a glass and lighting candles to the lovely souls we have honoured and remembered in really special services this week. We love all the families we work with and this is one of those weeks where it feels like they really are a part of us.

“Goodbyes are for those who love with their eyes; because, for those who love with heart and soul, there is no such thing as separation.”

Amen to that. May we meet again one day and what a reunion it will be.

09/10/2024

And the winner of the adult Shoobridge Poetry Competition is: Karen Williams from Honiton, with her poem, My Grandad.

It is atmospheric and poignant - and the imagery is just wonderful. I feel I am there. I especially like ‘the thousand questions I never asked’. We never do, do we? And then it’s too late.

Congratulations, Karen, and thank you for entering this fantastic poem in our competition. We look forward to meeting you in person on Wednesday to give you your prize, over a cup of tea and cake!

Stay tuned for the winner of the under 16 competition …

MY GRANDAD by Karen Williams

Old fashioned lanes,

A patient walk

Through fields of barley;

Feeling the ripeness in our hands,

The taste of summer in our mouths.



In your shed

Musty corners full of secrets.

The magic in your hands

To make and mend.

A store of countless interesting things.



Rose petals crushed into scent,

Striped lawn, edges neat,

Roses and soldiers’ buttons,

Gooseberries plump and ripe,

Dahlias for your daughter.



The tales of Flanders, the RHA,

The thousand tales you never told;

The thousand questions I never asked.

“Forty winks”,

Dreams of times past.



Hand rolled ci******es,

The ‘baccy for your birthday.

A ready smile. a listening ear.

A link with the past

In the chain of life,

my Grandad.

09/10/2024

We’ve had your entries! We’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading them! We are so delighted that the writing of poetry is alive and well in our local communities! And now the winners of our poetry competition for National Grandparents Day … are you ready …?

03/10/2024

Happy National Poetry Day! To celebrate, here is “Reminiscing”, a wonderful poem written by Jane Hugen-Tobler, as an entry for our Shoobridge poetry competition. Thank you, Jane! It’s a gorgeous poem. The sights and sounds and smells are as fresh as if we were there …

The smell of baking bread

Synonymous with her.

My delicious, comforting,

Wonderful Grandmother.



The mornings then, a happy ritual

Never changing. My privilege to see,

Ensure the long table was laid ready with knives,

And plates with saucers balancing cups of tea.



Carefully opening the sideboard door,

I would cautiously, reverently bring out

The heavenly, heavily laden ‘Lazy Susan’

And give it a gentle twirl about.



A wheel housing honey, marmalade, jam.

Beautiful wooden object, round.

Smooth turning table keeps on

Spinning slowly around.



The centrepiece elevated on the table.

We sit round and anticipate the food.

The arrival of the toast holder, carrying

Perfect golden triangles tasting so good.



Served with love, spread thickly.

The yellow butter, her plum jam would

Make me feel no breakfast since then,

Has ever tasted as good.



She was a giver, not a taker.

Strong, capable, caring for me.

Always nurturing, loving

Feeding her family.



A fabulous cook. I picture her

Standing, holding aloft proudly

Sumptuous, crispy roasted duck,

Which was her speciality.

After breakfast one day, my grandfather died.

A heart attack. We watched it together.

The past we had known, loved and lived gone

Hopelessly clinging to it and one another.



Her smile faded, went, and the pain

Became etched in her face, deep lining.

She stooped and began to shrink,

Her eyes dull and red from crying.



She changed completely before my eyes.

I changed but did not want to at all.

She asked me to hold her arm, when we

Went out as she was scared, she would fall.



I held her up and learnt to make tea

Helplessly trying to make her happy.

Bewildered wanting to turn back time

Both my Grandparents were lost to me.



The smell of cooking toast

Synonymous with her.

My delicious comforting

Wonderful Grandmother.

30/09/2024

❤️

24/09/2024

23/09/2024

Today we at Shoobridge Funeral Services are delighted to share another poem we have received for our poetry competition. This one is by Jenny Johnson and it is beautifully uneasy, set in a church when her grandfather was playing the organ. We love it!

Please do keep sending your entries in. The theme is ‘Grandparents’ and we will be announcing the winners on National Grandparents’ Day on October 6.

THE DISTURBANCE AT ST ANNE’S

How conspicuously small I seemed

within the empty Saturday church!

Grandfather Godfrey was playing the organ:

the sound pained me.



Surely that silver-and-red stained window

admitted suspect light –

while the knotted floor was being

polished by a dishonest spirit.



I whined.

Grandfather ceased rehearsing:

he turned towards me, benignly –

yet unable to communicate.



Outside, we paused on exposed, supposedly

hallowed ground – contemplating valley things;

stung by the spring wind….

We descended the hill, hand in hand.



How I longed for our cottage – for the

curative steam and warm towelling of home…!

And I fell asleep so tranquilly, so gradually that night:

only in my dreams was I conscious of unevenness.

20/09/2024

If you missed the latest column in the Mid Week Herald and the Exmouth Journal by Abigail Price, our celebrant here at Shoobridge Funeral Services, catch it online on our blog!

Poetry is such a wonderful blessing in funerals. Even if we are not normally ‘poetry people’, poems often tug at something deep within us …

And the poems we are receiving from YOU for our Poetry Competition in honour of National Grandparents’ Day tug at our heart strings, too. Put pen to paper! We ALL have something beautiful to say ❤️

https://shoobridgefunerals.co.uk/for-the-love-of-poetry/

11/09/2024

We have received some beautiful entries in our poetry competition in honour of National Grandparents’ Day! This one, called My Grandad, is from Karen Williams in Honiton. There is still time to enter. We will announce the winners on October 6.

Old fashioned lanes,

A patient walk

Through fields of barley;

Feeling the ripeness in our hands,

The taste of summer in our mouths.



In your shed

Musty corners full of secrets.

The magic in your hands

To make and mend.

A store of countless interesting things.



Rose petals crushed into scent,

Striped lawn, edges neat,

Roses and soldiers’ buttons,

Gooseberries plump and ripe,

Dahlias for your daughter.



The tales of Flanders, the RHA,

The thousand tales you never told;

The thousand questions I never asked.

“Forty winks”,

Dreams of times past.



Hand rolled ci******es,

The ‘baccy for your birthday.

A ready smile. a listening ear.

A link with the past

In the chain of life,

my Grandad.

16/07/2024

With Midweek Herald – we just made it onto their weekly engagement list by being one of their top engagers! 🎉 hurray for local news 🗞️

15/07/2024

Only a few days into the launch of our poetry competition, we are already receiving some great poems!
If you would like to enter, send your penned creations to [email protected]
Please include your name and contact details.
The theme is ‘Grandparents’. There are two categories: adult and under 16s. If you are entering the latter, please also include your age!
Happy writing 🖋️

Shoobridge Funeral Services has launched a poetry competition with the theme 'Grandparents' - the winner will be announced on National…