The Bench

Or a case of, if you don't ask you'll never know what is possible.

In the summer of 2022 I was starting to get out and about a bit more. One of the most frustrating things I had found was not being able to take the dog on our normal walk.

Instead I had been taking the dog out in the car with me, and driving the very short distance to our local common. It was a short walk from the car park to the first bench, and then we could slowly work our way along a route, stopping at any number of the numerous benches. Rosie was happy as there were plenty of good sniffs to be had around each bench.

Our regular walk pre-pandemic, was walking down the road, turn left at the mini-roundabout and then along a short distance until the road becomes a dead end and meets a track. ¹

Locally we call this area, ‘the spinney’. It is a nondescript piece of scrubland, with a small brook that passes through. Further down the track are meadows which take the excess water should the brook flood. Over the ten years of walking Rosie, this area has grown on me and it is one of my favourite places to walk. It is not glamorous or majestic. There are no grand views but it is nature on our doorstep. It is always less busy than the nearby common and often we will be the only people there. The bonus being that it is so close to home and only takes a few minutes to walk there.

If only there was bench on our old route. I had this thought several times as I would make the short car journey back from the common. Rather than driving such a pathetic distance, which is so damaging environmentally, I would much rather be able to walk from home.

I had experimented with perching on a road sign for a rest … however it seems that the modern plastic ones are not designed to take the weight of a modest adult female and it cracked.

Over that year, I continued to have thoughts about a bench from time and time. Having no idea how you would make such a thing happen, I did nothing about it. Then one day, I came home from driving to the common yet again, found out who my local councillor was and sent them an email. I have no idea what spurred that action, just that I did it.

The counciller replied, I’ll find out who is in charge of benches at the council, she said. A few days later I got an email introducing me to the Head of Green Spaces at our local council, and from there on the wheels were set in motion.

A meeting was arranged at the proposed site, it was explained that the place I had thought about as a site for the bench, was not suitable as:

a) it was under a street light and therefore more liable to vandalism, and

b) it was county council land and would take forever to get permission.

At that point, I thought that there was now no chance of my dreamed of bench.

But, then the man from the council turned to me and said, we can put it anywhere over there - he waved his hands indicating the start of the path a few metres away. That is all our land, he explained.

A couple of weeks later, I hear on the dog walking grapevine that works have been undertaken. I decide to venture up with the dog, bravely walking along our old route. I’ve resolved to sit on the grass if I need to have a rest before we come home.

As we turned down the track, I can see something. And there it is, a bench, nestled a little way down. I sit on it, Rosie gives it a good sniff around.

The bench is nothing special, but it is there, perfectly placed so I can sit and rest before we continue our dog walk home. Sometimes I see other people sat on it, which gives me satisfaction that it is being used by more than just me.

The moral to this story is, if you don’t ask, you won’t get. And that your local council can sometimes surprise you with both speed and amenability.

I don’t walk everyday, but the bench has transformed my life. There is no longer the guilt of having to make such very short car journeys to walk the dog. And it has given me much more than that.

Each time we do the route, I take time to sit. Over the winter months, I started a little notebook. Each time I sat on the bench, I would listen to the birdsong. Using the Merlin app to identify the birds. ² I’d tune into my senses and make some notes and if Rosie was patient enough, I would do a little sketch.

This small ritual on each walk, helped me connect back into the natural world.

1. The video is of a book titled ‘Pix Brook’ that I made in 2017. It is curated from all the many photographs I have taken in the area over the years.

2. I really cannot recommend the Merlin app enough. It really is one of the very best examples of what the internet can provide. You can download here:

https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org