Take 10: Funeral workers  Funeral worker Dianne Daniel-Pink
Funeral worker Dianne Daniel-Pink. Photograph: Barry Lewis
Someone dies and someone else deals with the body. Aside from
these unalterable facts, almost everything else has evolved in
the funeral trade. Today, you might see the deceased off in an
ecofriendly wicker coffin, and you are as likely to hear the
soundtrack to Blade Runner as you are a traditional funeral
march. Gone are the traditionally restrained white floral
tributes. "There was one person who had a flower arrangement
that spelled out 'Tell the Doctor To F Off'," says John Harris
of T Cribb & Sons. But those in the industry also understand the
weight of tradition, whether it's the washing, wrapping and
prayer of a Muslim funeral or the plumed horse and pinstripe
trousers of an East End procession.  It's not just the
ceremonial traditions that have changed. "The death rate has
declined," says Michael Bontiff of Harold Wood funeral
directors. The mortality rate for those between 65 and 7