Jims Bench at The Leasowes

Had a 'Thank You Jim' pie (ASDA's best pork of course) and a bottle of Spitfire beer, although tea would be a bit more to Jims preference . . . he did enjoy a pint or two, Bathams often, legless and wobbly after two.......... hic ... oops where's me feet?

Anyway it is a delight here sitting on his bench at the Leasowes, every couple of minutes the sun shining through the trees, a lovely and very fitting place indeed.

The inscription on the bench says:

"What gifts pray, can I give you for such a song? For neither the rustle of the rising Southern breeze nor shores lashed by rolling waves, nor streams tumbling amidst the rocky glens grant me such delight"

on the other side its in Latin.... most academic eh!

This was a place regularly visited during the Stourbridge College techno refurbish he was in charge of, as the college has a site at the top end of this lovely place.
It was also visited by us when we first moved to Bumble Hole as there is a canal link at the car park end. Earlier in the year I took the pictures of the bluebells, they carpeted the ground and made a stunning display, also loads of wild garlic in flower. The 'bears paws seat' is a delight cut from the trunk of a felled tree, the roots at the front carved to look like front paws........I think Jim would have found this one right up his street and better to drink tea from ha ha...... seriously well done whoever thought of that one.

The dog, well that was very funny. She is the spitten image of the Bella, mother of Ritzy (more about her when I get a pic scanned). Jim always had a pie for Ritzy and she followed him everywhere. Anyway this black dog was just trotting past me sitting on Jims bench when she spotted the pork pie and woofled down a piece before her owner could stop her. Now Jims motto has always been ' if it moves, feed it' so I was more than happy for the dog to have a share in the goodies and it was really so funny and her owner was fine once I had explained my presence. I have to admit that I did eat most of the pie and drank most of the beer, the rest I scattered for any other wildlife to have a nibble on.

The Heron I have also seen perched on a roof between home and the Leasowes and have several pics of it. In fact I have loads of pics of the Leasowes as I look out on it from my loft, it faces East and indeed the sun rises over Jims Bench. . . . how fitting is that eh!

Well done to Big Ken for organising The Bench Memorial Gig, link added to their website.

PS, it says on the Dudley Borough website that :- The Leasowes is a 57 hectare park ... a mixture of woodland, grassland, streams and lakes, designed and laid out by the poet William Shenstone between 1743 and 1763 .... ranked alongside Blenheim and Stow ... marked a fundamental change in garden design . . . utilised the natural landscape . . . listed as grade 1 on the English Heritage 'Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic interest in England' . . . .

well just fancy that then ......