North London Food & Culture

Bench Tales – back now as a regular series


[quote] It’s about the democratisation of human stories; the idea that no-one is boring” [/quote]

For Ben Weinreb whilst he can still sit on it (1912 – ?? ), Hampstead Heath. Photograph: Stephen Emms
For Ben Weinreb whilst he can still sit on it (1912 – ?? ), Hampstead Heath. Photograph: Stephen Emms

Readers may remember my scribblings on the stories behind memorial park benches over the years. There was the Free Weekend piece encouraging people to contemplate the inscriptions; the tale behind the Postmen’s Bench outside Kentish Town Delivery Office; and one of London’s finest inscriptions – the Memorial to the Unknown Husband on the South Bank.

These snippets in fact formed part of a wider study. Originally called They Could Do With A Bench Here (after a dedication to the scriptwriter Lewis Greifer just outside Kenwood) it began life as a photography project.

Back in 2006, early one May morning, I decided to snap 160 memorial benches on the Heath, taking care not to disturb them. The previous night had been warm and the evidence was strewn over the Heath: beer cans, empty sandwich packets, wine bottles. Some of the benches bore discarded coffee cups; some plastic bags; some sleeping people.


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What emerged was that each bench, with its juxtaposition of functionality and poetry, was a snapshot of a life. In their reduction of a human life to a line, the dedications were funny, touching, aspirational, literary.

Uncovering a range of individual, often touching, personal stories, I wrote a five page article for the Times Magazine on the subject (read an edited version here), before starting a weekly column in Time Out called Bench Marks. By 2009 its popularity led to some friends and I creating a pop-up exhibition called Tales From A Park Bench in a disused shop on Chalk Farm Road.

Tales From A Park Bench (August 2009, Chalk Farm Road)
Baby Archie poses at Tales From A Park Bench (August 2009, Chalk Farm Road)

I still get a stream of emails about memorial benches from others seeking to explore this intriguing phenomenon. A couple of years ago a student was inspired enough to film his own short called Benches, which we covered here.

Tracking down relatives or friends when compiling the stories behind the inscriptions for my weekly column back then, of course, was a major task – especially before the craze of Twitter and Facebook.

So it seems right that now, over the next few months, we revisit the series and publish the highlights from these many investigations. The simple rule per tale? Each is told in around 100 words by a relative or friend connected to the bench.

And ultimately? It’s about the democratisation of human stories; the idea that no-one is boring.

#1. ‘For Ben Weinreb whilst he can still sit on it (1912 – ?? )’
‘Now in years bestride my 80s, This Elysian seat I have vacated. But gentle neighbour sigh not yet, I’ve only moved to Somerset. (died 1999)’

Ben Weinreb closeup Matthew Weinreb, 49 (son): “My sister Deborah and I bought the original bench for my father as a 70th birthday present. The inscription was a joke and read ‘For Ben Weinreb – whilst he can still sit on it (1912- ??)’, because benches always say things like ‘in loving memory of darling Fred who used to adore this spot’. When my father moved away from Highgate to Somerset, we added the second half, which he wrote. Although he was a self-taught antiquarian bookseller, he had dreams of being a writer, and had even once shared a room with Dylan Thomas, taking it in turns to sleep in the bed. When we replaced the bench in 2006 we added the date he finally died. It’s nice to think that, with so many po-faced ones around, his will get a smile out of people as they walk past.”

Find it: Hampstead Heath, on the main path running alongside Highgate Ponds before the Men’s Pond. Look out soon for our Nearby map listing the locations of all the benches covered in the column.

Words & Photos: Stephen Emms

Further Reading

Contemplate a Park Bench
They Could Do With a Bench Here


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The award-winning print and online title Kentishtowner was founded in 2010 and is part of London Belongs To Me, a citywide network of travel guides for locals. For more info on what we write about and why, see our About section.