People’s Palace bench
On a recent visit to Glasgow Green, I spotted this unusual wooden bench in the garden outside the People’s Palace. I don’t remember noticing it before, nor the statue of the Pied Piper (shown below with the former Templeton’s Carpet Factory in the background), but that’s probably just me being unobservant. Coincidentally, I had just read that Jude at Travel Words was looking for wooden benches for her monthly Bench Series, so I thought I’d enter that for the first time.
So what was I doing on Glasgow Green? I’d arrived for a rehearsal for March of Women, an adaptation of a suffragette pageant that I was taking part in to mark International Women’s Day. John McPhun, a timber merchant and East End councillor, helped to found the People’s Palace in the 1890s. His daughters inherited his sense of social justice and became suffragettes. Two of them – Margaret and Frances – were imprisoned in Holloway and subjected to force-feeding. They were featured in March of Women, played by Maggie McDonald and Teresa Cresswell respectively.
Interested? There’s a full account of March of Women on my other blog, Adventures of a Retired Librarian.
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
I don’t recognise the bench either; I think it must be new! I certainly would have photographed it had I seen it before. Now I have an excuse to go back. Thanks!
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No excuse needed!
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This must be Canadian and I could see it coming from B.C. It is very unique. It is sad to know that these great women from yesteryear were imprisoned, beaten all because they wanted equal rights. We are still fighting for this. Did you hear about the tags on clothing from Thailand? ( I think it is from Thailand). It gives how to wash the clothes and then states “or give it to a woman, it’s her job anyways”. Something like that. The people who put this out thinking it was a bright idea have been back-pedaling but not working!
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No, I didn’t hear about that! Depressing that this still goes on. Some political dinosaur here referred to our First Minister as a “wee lassie with a tin helmet” (in reference to her hair style). Now Twitter is full of women (and some men, cats and dogs) with saucepans or colanders on their heads and the hashtag #tinhat. Fight it with humour!
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Oh, thank you for linking to the challenge, that is some unusual bench – looks Canadian. I don;t suppose you known anything about it? I think I am going to have to spend some time having a look around your blog Anabel – I have spotted some interesting topics in the category cloud 😀
Jude xx
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Thanks for all the likes and comments! I’m now on a train off to a meeting so I’ll reply properly later. I couldn’t find anything online about the bench but agree it looks Canadian. It might have been part of the Commonwealth Games last year which would explain why I hadn’t noticed it before.
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