Some families cannot bear to wait in the house for a vehicle to arrive, and would far rather be doing something, even if that something is a drive they will remember for years. Heavenly Pastures arranges pet cremations for households across Runcorn and the surrounding Halton area, and roughly a third of the families we see prefer to come to us. Since this page is about visiting, the location matters more than usual. There is no branch of ours in Runcorn. The crematorium is at Burscough, near Ormskirk, which is the only place any of this happens.
Why People Choose to Drive
The reasons vary and none of them need justifying. Some want to see where their animal is going. Some cannot face strangers in the house. A few simply need the day to contain a task, because sitting still with it is unbearable. All of those are reasons we hear regularly, and nobody will ask you which one applies. There is also a straightforwardly practical group, families whose animal died while they were already out, or who happen to be passing this way, and that is as good a reason as any of the others.
Ringing First
A phone call beforehand helps, chiefly so that somebody is expecting you and the door is answered rather than you standing on a step. It also lets us set aside the room properly. That said, we understand that these things rarely happen to a schedule, and turning up on the day with little warning is usually manageable. If you have set off already and are ringing from the car, that is fine and it has happened plenty of times. What we would ask is that somebody else makes that call if you are the one driving, because a phone conversation about this while at the wheel is not a good idea and we would rather you arrived safely than promptly.
The Journey Itself
From Runcorn it is a reasonably straightforward run, out past Widnes and north, and it takes rather less time than people expect. Take somebody with you if you possibly can. Not for the practical help, though that is useful, but because the drive home afterwards is the part families consistently describe as the hardest, and doing it alone in an empty car is a good deal to ask of yourself.
What Happens When You Arrive
You will be met rather than directed to a waiting area. If you would like to carry your pet in yourself, you can, and if you would rather not, that is dealt with without anybody making a moment of it. There is a chapel of rest, and you are welcome to spend time in it. Nobody stands over you, nobody has a clock running, and it is entirely normal to sit for a while and then decide you would like a few minutes more.
What You Might Want to Bring
Families often bring a blanket or a favourite bed, and if you would like that to stay with your pet, it can. A collar is different, since most people want it back, so say clearly what you would like kept and what you would like returned. Children sometimes bring a drawing or a note. None of this is required and there is no expectation attached to any of it, and nobody will think less of a family who arrives with nothing but the animal. There is no correct way to do this and no one here is assessing how it is done.
The Two Options Explained
A decision is needed before anything proceeds. An individual cremation service means your animal is the only one involved from beginning to end, and their ashes come home with you afterwards. A communal cremation service means several animals together, with no ashes going back to anybody. If you have driven over specifically because you want the ashes, say so plainly on arrival so there is no possibility of a misunderstanding. Both are costed on the pet cremation price list, and our our standards page sets out how the work is done.
Coming Back for the Ashes
Where ashes are being returned, you can either collect them yourself on a second visit or we will bring them to you. Families who came out the first time quite often prefer to come again, and say the second journey is nothing like the first. Either way they are handed over by a person rather than posted, which matters to us rather more than it probably sounds. An animal who spent a decade in your house should not come back through a letterbox.
If You Would Rather Not Drive
Nobody should feel obliged. Collection from your home is our main service and it is what most Runcorn families choose, arranged for a time you pick rather than one we impose. The travel-time bands that determine the cost sit on the areas we cover page. If your animal died without warning and you are unsure what to do in the meantime, our page on the cremation service following natural death deals with that first stretch.
Arranging a Visit
Ring 01704 776976 to arrange a time or simply to ask what the place is like before you commit to anything. It is a fair question and we would rather answer it than have you arrive uncertain. If you would prefer to write, the contact form is there.