Year 4 take the book bench trail

Take the Explore-a-book bench trail while it lasts

The popular ‘Explore-a-book’ bench trail will come to an end in June.

The trail, funded by the Norfolk Strategic Fund encourages people to walk around King’s Lynn, Downham Market and Hunstanton spotting the colourful new benches. It’s been organised by the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk in partnership with Stories of Lynn and Kick the Dust.

Children from Whitefriars Primary School recently took the bench trail around King’s Lynn for their Local Study, part of the History curriculum. Rachael Williams, Learning and Engagement Officer at Stories of Lynn, explained: “The benches provide a unique feature in the areas of the town selected for being a well-used entrance to the town, for having special architectural significance or being a key area of interest for those returning to "normal life" after lockdown - cinema, museums, shopping centres and theatres.

“Having the trail leaflet enabled children to follow the map, familiarise themselves with key routes through the town but from a different perspective. The links in the leaflet also helped to give clues to what they could find on the bench and in that area, linked to King's Lynn's rich history.”

Cllr Graham Middleton, Cabinet member at the borough council, said: “These artistic and eye-catching benches were added to our three towns back in March to encourage people to return to our high streets following the lifting of lockdown restrictions.”

The trail consists of seven benches, supplied by Wild in Art, who have produced trails in this country and abroad. Six of these decorated benches have been temporarily placed in landmark locations around King’s Lynn and one in Hunstanton.

Cllr Middleton added: “A further three benches have been decorated by local artists with designs submitted by local young people. I’m pleased to say that these will remain as permanent features in King’s Lynn, Hunstanton and Downham Market. I urge people to visit the Stories of Lynn website to download the trail and go spotting all of the benches before some of them leave in June.”

The trail leaflet  and additional information about the towns’ history has been developed by the Kick the Dust group and is available at https://www.storiesoflynn.co.uk/explore-a-book/

Notes for Editors

Pictures from the Whitefriars trail can be found here: 

Whitefriars vs Book Benches - 13 May 2021

About Stories of Lynn

Stories of Lynn invites you to discover the tales of seafarers, explorers, merchants, mayors, magistrates and miscreants who have shaped King’s Lynn, one of England’s most important medieval port towns over more than 800 years. Some of our treasures include the sumptuous King John Cup, the old Gaol House and our Mayoral regalia.

Stories of Lynn is based at King’s Lynn Town Hall, a venue run by Alive West Norfolk on behalf of the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk.

For more information visit www.storiesoflynn.co.uk