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iMagritte

The bench chosen for this work belonged first to the opera director John Pascoe and then the writer, poet and dramaturg Ian Burton. As it was waiting to be installed on an oak tree that had been severely pruned by CRT it was stolen by the (drunken) crew of the Fleet Air Arm boat Warneford VC…

Fleet Air Arm narrowboat Warneford VC

…however the artist was alerted to this and retrieved the bench after a confrontation with the aforementioned crew.

The bench was then taken back to it's correct location and installed by a professional tree surgeon and boater.

Unfortunately the canal and river trust deemed it a health and safety hazard and attempted to get it down. The bench was so securely attached the whole branch had to be cut leaving the bench to smash to the ground.

BBC article here:

The artist recovered the remnants, rebuilt and re-installed the bench in another location.

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