I stumbled across these benches while walking section 14 of the Capital Ring (highly recommend the entire route). They are situated along the ‘greenway’ — a long, straight walking route that follows the path of an old railway line, and is not far from the olympic park in Stratford.
They are kind of willfully ugly in a way that I respect — and which, presumably, is as a result of their use of recycled materials for construction. The seats are obviously made up of old railway sleepers (which makes sense given the history of this route), but it’s less obvious to me whether the concrete is also a remnant of something else.
They cane in a few different shapes and sizes and configurations, which makes me think yes, maybe?
This one in particular intrigues me, as that raised, bricked area feels like definitely part of something historic.
They were all, without exception, heavily graffitied.
They sadly weren’t the most comfortable to sit on — the railway sleepers make for an uneven seat, the concrete backs are too low to serve much function and the metal armrests are hard and un-ergonomic.
All of that said, I found myself strangely fond of them, these somewhat bleak resting spots in this somewhat bleak stretch of industrial, developing, east London,
Comfort of bench: 4/10
Capacity of bench: Varies, 2+
View from bench: 6/10, fine if you like industrial wasteland
Accessibility of bench: The greenway walk is a pretty good walk accessibility wise — long, straight, wide, level and paved. Some of these benches had small steps or lips in their way though.
Adventure level: Bit off the central London beaten track, but still not exactly hard to get to.
unprecedented bench enthusiasm 