A SEAT WITH A VIEW - MY NEW CHALLENGE

I said a few weeks ago that I would be starting a new challenge and I hope that it will be as interesting to those who read and see the photographs as it has been for Mr. HCB and me today.

After a good service at Church, we couldn’t get out of Swindon on the route Mr. HCB had planned, so we had to find an alternative route.  He knew where he wanted to take me but I confess I had no idea.  We wound our way through the narrow country lanes of Wiltshire, enjoying all that we saw on the way - fields of ripening corn, thatched cottages, beautiful gardens and cows and sheep in the fields until Mr. HCB suddenly exclaimed, “Yes!” so I knew we had reached our destination!

There was the seat he remembered, high above Stitchcombe with the most wonderful view looking over to Mildenhall and through his binoculars he could even see the clubhouse for the Golf Course at Marlborough.  Although it was cloudy, it was warm and not too windy, so we sat on this seat and ate our picnic.  This particular seat is dedicated to Dennis Lofts, who lived from 1927 to 1992 and was a River Keeper on the River Kennet, which meandered gently through the countryside below.

I found out that Dennis had died from cancer that he believed had been triggered by radiation from atomic tests he had been ordered to watch when he was a sailor in 1952 at Montebello Island in the Pacific Ocean.  After his death in 1992 his family put a wooden bench at one of his favourite spots at the top of Stitchcombe Hill, overlooking the same stretch of river where he had been a water bailiff.  We only had water, but we raised a glass to Dennis and although we never knew him, we thanked his family for putting the seat in such a beautiful spot.

After we had finished our picnic, we saw a tractor coming along that had been spraying, so spoke to the farmer, whose name we found out was Simon, telling him how thankful we were to have this seat to sit on and admire the view.  He chatted to us for quite sometime and said that he farmed quite a large area, which had once belonged to the Crown, but was now owned by Stefan Persson, the current owner of H & M, the Swedish fashion company that is now an international retail giant.  As I usually do, I explained to him about Blip and said that we were delighted to find this seat and it was the first one for a new challenge I had set myself.  

We later walked along the bridle path towards his farm, as I had seen a derelict barn from the road, and as a good Blipper, had slotted this into my head for one of the Derelict challenges;  because I try and stick to the true ethos of Blip, we will come back at another time so that I can take the shot actually on the day.  A man in a 4 x 4 passed us and as with most country folk, waved and carried on.

We then meandered down the hill on our way home as Mr. HCB was keen to get home to watch his team playing football.  On the way down, we stopped at the mill pond at Stitchcombe and who should we see but the man who had passed us earlier.  As we got out of the car, he called to us and we went over to see him.  Again, I explained what we were doing and about Blip and when I mentioned my new challenge, he told me that if I went into his garden, which was next to the River Kennet, I would find another seat with a beautiful view. We stayed and chatted to him for about ten minutes and we have permission to go back in a few weeks to take photographs.  He did tell us that Dennis Lofts’ son goes up to the seat every day and sits there for a few minutes - obviously thinking about his Dad - perhaps I can find out where he lives and send him a copy of my Blip.

Both the men we met today were so kind and we have had such a pleasant afternoon, so I am now starting to make a list of seats and look forward to finding out more about them and why they are put in a particular spot.

"Love is what makes two people 
     sit in the middle of a bench 
          when there is plenty of room 
               at both ends."
Barbara Johnson