A new bench has been installed on a popular Lake District trail in memory of a local man.
The oak bench on the Torver Trail was unveiled yesterday, Sunday June 4, and was a partnership between the family of Leslie Nigel Pattinson, Torver Parish Council and The National Trust.
The Pattinson family were keen to commemorate the life of their charismatic, spirited and much loved relative who grew up in Torver Station House in the 1940s and 1950s, attending Torver school and developing a love of the Lake District countryside, walking and running on the local fells.
Torver Parish Council and The National Trust agreed to support the project and to be involved in the design and installation at the highest point on the old Foxfield to Coniston Branch Line, now a bridleway.
The bench seat has been designed and constructed by Nigel Pattinson, Leslie’s nephew, who worked closely with Chris Bradley of Torver Parish Council and Carole Barr.
The design of the bench seat reflects the shape of steam engine nameplates, and the branch line stations between Foxfield and Coniston are carved into the edge of the oak seat.
The seat is supported by stone stoops which were once part of a field entrance on the old railway line, and these are inscribed with the Torver Shield and the Medieval name for Torver village, Thorvergh.
At the top of the central upright is the inscription Alt Maen the ancient Celtic for High Stone which has been corrupted over time to Old Man.
The bench was unveiled by Leslie Nigel Pattinson’s sons and daughters, Paul Pattinson, Jill Vial, Helen Quinn and Andrew Pattinson.
