Bench 2020 – Steven Lovell

Park Bench 2020

Me on the bench about 9 hours after it was installed.

Why

Like the first one, I thought it would be nice to have a bench next to a tree, and it would be good to have somewhere else to sit and enjoy. I thought it would also be good to be able to see this one from from my house. When I decided to make another bench, it was going to be somewhere else on the field, but I eventually decided that having a bench further away, at the opposite end of the field seemed like the best idea.

The area I’d selected to have a new bench.

When

Fabrication in Summer 2020 and Installation in October 2020.

Where

On the field opposite my house.

Materials / Media

Concrete, wood, paint, bolts etc.

Production

Fairly similar to the first park bench. One pain in the arse with this one was that the area I had to dig out had unexpected obstructions like heavy duty plastic bags, litter, bricks, rocks and some kind of furniture springs.

I had no difficulties with the concrete forms this time and only had to make two.

Location preparation began with some strimming.

Hera inspects after 2 hours of tedious initial digging through springs and other obstacles the night before.

Some more thorough clearance and an old railway fence post support removed. Sand also added.

The forms were adapted from the first one, so that the bottom join up instead of just being legs.

Execution

After having all the components hanging around my back garden for months, I finally got round to installing it in October 2020. It took about 7 hours and 11 round trips with slabs, concrete forms, planks, concrete and water.

I was fortunate enough to borrow some wheels from the same neighbour that donated the concrete slabs, to transport the various heavy parts.

Notes

The biggest problem I found with this project was finding the time, energy and enthusiasm to do the difficult lengthy tasks involved. Satisfying to complete though. It’s also nice to be able to see this one from my house, which I couldn’t do with the restored or first benches.