22/11/2026

T. Cribb & Sons is one of the oldest funeral directors in East London, specialising in the traditional cortege of Friesian horses complete with plumes and accoutrements, just as they were in 1881.

The Cribb patriarch, Stanley, joined the family firm as a boy during World War Two, leading the horses through the blitz that rained bombs on the East End. 'No mention has ever been made,' he says, 'of how the funeral trade coped.' Stanley, his son John, his granddaughter Sarah and all the Cribb family are all about preserving the high standards of the past, when East Enders were 'funeral connoisseurs' and lined the streets in their hundreds to give a neighbour a good send off.

But what does a horse drawn funeral mean in the rapidly changing East End of today?

T. Cribb has adapted to meet the needs of its modern clients - the West Africans, Sikhs, Hindus, Eastern Europeans and Chinese Londoners, who’ve embraced the customs made popular by the death of Prince Albert in 1861, and added their own. 'What you tend to find,' says John, 'is that people, cultures and religions, tend to take things from other cultures. With white being the traditional colour of mourning in much of Asia, people wanted a white horse and white hearse.'

'Nowadays, the plumes for the horse heads can be baby pink, baby blue, orange, purple, cream, dark purple,' says the head coachmen, Peter Gibson. 'You can have the colours of the flag of your country, your favourite football team...'

T Cribb owns its own horses, grows its own hay, and maintains a fleet of original hearses, lovingly restored by Dave Childs. 'It's been my life really,' says Dave. 'It's part of us. It's who we are.'

With special thanks and gratitude to Edward and Jacqueline Darkah, and all the Darkah family and friends.

Mixed by Peter Ringrose

Producer Monica Whitlock, with Stephen Coates

A Storyscape production for BBC Radio 4