A special Britten-themed bench overlooking the reed beds to commemorate the founding of the Suffolk Craft Society at Snape Maltings in 1970- funded by Britten Pears Arts, Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape and the SCS.The seagull shape is copied from a hand-written letter that Britten wrote to Peter Pears explaining a new musical annotation he had invented for his Curlew River opera- appropriately it means “rest”.Britten’s 1cm long squiggle is transformed into a 25-foot long bench. Britten’s possibly mis-placed dot is reproduced as a separate stool for the less sociable while the dual horseshoe shape lends itself perfectly to gently encourage conversation between those using the bench.The poem On This Island by Britten’s friend Auden is routed into the back slats.
