A place to quietly remember – Anne’s Memorial Bench

It is really hard to think that this July it will be 3 years since we lost an integral part of our family, Paul’s Mum, my Mummy number 2 and the kids Nanny.

It was very hard for us all, and although time heals a little there isn’t a day which goes by where she isn’t thought of and isn’t missed.

I’ve told you before just how hard Emmy took this loss, how she struggled and the amount of tears she cried. What I haven’t mentioned is how that loss was felt by us all – of course it was but it was just far too hard to write about and it still it.

We talk about her all the time and visit her grave as often as possible, its a comfort to sit with her and chat, as we always used to. Gossip with her about what is going on in the world, who’s seen who and who is fighting with each other. We know she is listening even if she isn’t present to respond.

A little while ago we were very kindly sent a Memorial bench and we knew the perfect place for it, by a tree over looking her grave so we could all sit and spend time with her, chatting away without perching on the floor.

The bench is from Sloane & Sons and is The Cambridge Teak Memorial Bench, available from the memorial benches section of the website and is a perfect fit for at least 3 adults – Paul, myself and the kids have been sitting on it comfortably and it’s not too cramped at all, it is 1.5m long

It comes flat packed so you have to assemble yourself, a top tip would be to assemble where you want to keep the bench unless of course you have a van to transport it to a different location. You are also kept up to date with the delivery status which is rather handy as thos is a very heavy item.

My Father in Law assembled this in his garage, with a helper – you could most likely assemble single handedly however its far easier with a helping hand. It is a simple case of following the instructions and there really aren’t too many pieces to put together. It took around half an hour at the very most but you will want a drill or an electric screwdriver to make the process as simple as possible.

This was then loaded into my father in Laws van and taken to the cemetery, because of the location, the lack of security and the fact lots of things are stolen from cemetery we purchased a ground anchor kit to help secure it in place, you can get ground anchors for grass as well as those which secure it into concrete. Adding the grass ground anchor was really simple, you screw the brackets into the base of the bench and then secure the ground section into the grass – much as you would do with anchors for trampolines or even large tents.

It is now in place and looks perfect.

It has given us somewhere to actually spend some time and allows us to visit for longer periods.

The finish and quality is amazing, with all edges rubbed down really well so as not to leave any shape edges/surfaces.

It is made from……which means it actually doesn’t need treating even if its to be left outdoors – of course you can treat if you prefer but we’ve chosen not too currently.

It has now been in place since Christmas, has been snowed on, rained on and even seen a little sun but it hasn’t faded at all and is still as beautiful as the day it was installed.

Memorial benches are items which you really want to last the sands of time and I can see this being one of those items – hardwearing, sturdy and very well made.

As with most benches there is space to add a personalised plaque, due to the fact this was to be installed in the cemetery we were only able to do so if the plaque was in-place before installation. I ordered this up separately as it took us a little while to come up with the perfect wording but Sloane & Sons also offer this as an additional product along with the ground anchor to fix into place – there are two types of ground anchors, those for soft ground (grass) and those for hard surfaces.

I’m so glad we waited until those words were chosen by Paul as they are so fitting.

If you are looking for a memorial bench to remember your loved one I can highly remember these – and of course you can choose to place them wherever you like (permission permitted) so they could even go into your back garden.

Disclaimer: We received this item in exchange for this post, all thoughts and opinions are my own