Daventry Country Park memorial bench fire leaves family ‘devastated’
Story by Catalina Constantin • 6mo
The memorial bench pictured after it was destroyed.
The wooden bench was installed in Daventry Country Park, in memory of William McDonald’s wife.
The widower has said the destruction of the bench left him and his family devastated.
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The community has been expressing their support on social media, and Daventry Banksie placed a wooden board and pens at the scene yesterday (Monday July 1) so people could write condolence messages on it. Mr McDonald described the gesture as an “absolutely beautiful idea.”
The wooden board pictured at the scene yesterday.
He said: “We’re all a bit devastated at the moment and trying to cope with it all.
“When Linda passed away, it was totally unexpected, and it was such a shock, and this is just the same feeling again; it’s just brought it all back again.”
The memorial bench was placed in the park overlooking the reservoir in 2021.
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Mr McDonald said: “After talking to the family, we decided to put something—a bench somewhere—where we could sit, reflect, and take flowers up. It’s for the future. It’s for the grandkids as well.
“The reason we put the bench up there was because Linda and I loved walking; we had a dog, and we loved walking. (…) The location is absolutely beautiful. So we were lucky enough to get the spot the bench was on.”
Over the weekend, Mr McDonald came across a social media post about a memorial bench that had been set on fire. Shortly after, he and the family headed to the park, and it became clear that it was Linda’s bench that had been destroyed.
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Northamptonshire Police said the bench was set on fire just before midnight on June 29.
“We saw it right away. We were absolutely devastated.
“We’ve been consoled by a lot of lovely messages from people and friends, which has helped as well,” said Mr McDonald.
Police are appealing for people with information or who witnessed anything to call 101 and reference incident number: 24000384653.
Daventry Banksie is urging the community to cover up the scorched grass with flowers so that the family visiting on the weekend will not see it.
The memorial bench pictured after it was destroyed.
Mr McDonald said: “Everyone has been so lovely.
“We really appreciate the support we’ve had.”
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