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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Sam Wilmot

Experience: I rate benches

Sam and Sophie sit smiling on a church bench, fields stretching into the distance behind them
‘We’ve spent hours sitting here’: Sam Wilmot with his wife, Sophie, on their favourite bench. Photographs: Gareth Iwan Jones/The Guardian Photograph: Gareth Iwan Jones/The Guardian

The idea came to me in summer 2019, when I finished studying at Swansea University. One day I went walking with friends around the beautiful Penllergare Valley woods. As they played Poohsticks, I sat on a bench and took in the view.

I noticed that someone had left flowers on the bench. I wondered who had put them there, who they were for, and why they’d chosen this location. By the time we reached the next bench along the route, I was deep in thought about all the people who had sat there before me.

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