My pilgrimage up to Poets Corner in Richmond Park, Surrey has taken me far to long to make. I visit London 4 or 5 times a year but for one reason or another I’ve never made it to Ian’s Memorial Bench. For the younger generation of Bench Fans, Ian Dury was a singer/songwriter who rose to fame in the late 70’s. I knew him as the lead singer of the Blockheads but before that Kilburn and the High Roads. Although many peoples favourite song would have been ‘Hit me with your rhythm stick’ my personal favoute was ‘There ain’t half been some clever bastards’.
Ians Memorial Bench is no ordinary bench, his Bench allows people to actually listen to a selection of Ians songs by scanning a QR code on each of the Benches two arms. You are then transfered to a Royal Parks link which has a list of the Blockheads tracks to listen to or you can also listen to Ians Desert Island Disc selection which feature artists such as Dean Martin and Gene Vincent.
If anyone is wanting to visit Ians Bench, look for Poets Corner on the park maps and it is a 10 minute park from the Richmond Hill entrance. Don’t forget to check out the other memorial Benches as you walk up Richmond Hill, you will shed many a tear I promise.
Paul
