Take a Seat
Conversations on my Mother’s Bench
‘I’ll remind you, to remind me
we said we wouldn’t look back.’For M – Mum, Gran, musicals fan
Inscription on Margaret Birkett’s (1933-2024) memorial bench, Russell Square, close to the cafe.
An ordinary bench is a spot to sit, wonder and chat. Passersby from all over the world take a seat to rest from their worries, share a coffee with a friend, have a lunch break from work, revise for their studies, remember something or someone they’ve lost. This bench – in memory of my mother Margaret, known as M – encourages and cradles these stories.
Coming soon: moments, memories and tales by those who’ve rested on the bench. Take A Seat shares their ordinary and extraordinary lives.
Left to right Storme (granddaughter), Kevin (son in law), River (grandson), Freddy (grandson), Pepa (seated, granddaughter), Chris (son), Savanna (granddaughter wearing her grandmother’s fake fur coat), Dea (daughter)
Russell Square
Russell Square was the pivot of Margaret’s adult life. She worked for almost 50 years in Senate House, then the administrative hub of the University of London, the tall Soviet-style building to the west side of the square. Included in the bench’s stories are the voices of Margaret’s family – me, her daughter who studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies, tucked next to Senate House; her son Chris who had holiday jobs in our mother’s office doing the filing, at a time when filing was done by human hands; her granddaughter Storme who trained as a teacher at the Institute of Education, behind the café, where we often met for lunch; her grandson River who graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in Gower Street, just two streets over.
I invite you to get to know my family, my mother, and the connection to Russell Square, and to share your own stories. Do take a seat. Let’s have a chat. You’ll always have someone to talk to on my mother’s bench.
Want to contribute your own story to Take a Seat? Contact me takeaseat@deabirkett.com and we can take a seat together and have a conversation.