Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Conversations on a Bench

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Anna Scott-Brown hears stories from the people who stop to sit beside her on benches.

Anna Scott-Brown hears stories from the people who stop to sit beside her on benches around the country.

BBC Radio 4 FM

Conversations on a Bench: Series 2

Conversations on a Bench: Series 2: Manchester - Andrew McMillan

Audiobooks

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Manchester - Andrew McMillan

29/08/2017

Series 2

BBC Radio 4 - Conversations on a Bench, Series 2, Manchester - Andrew McMillanSearch BBC

A poem by Andrew McMillan echoes stories told to Anna Scott-Brown on a Manchester bench.

A new poem by Andrew McMillan echoes remarkable life stories told to Anna Scott-Brown on a bench beside Manchester's gay village in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing.

Anna Scott-Brown hears more stories from the people who stop to sit beside her on benches around the country. In this edition, she sits on a bench next to Manchester's gay village, in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing. 

Throughout the programme, a specially commissioned work by poet Andrew McMillan draws on the voices and stories of those passing the time in Sackville Gardens - a man with schizophrenia and a woman drinking to forget, a potter looking for inspiration in the shape of the trees, a man and his ex boyfriend walking a dog from one of the nearby penthouse flats, the young carer with great compassion, and the woman driven by her past to fulfil her dreams. 

The impact of the recent bombing at the Ariana Grande concert in the Manchester Arena is never far away, while the stories depict a noble city with a distinctive spirit, which comes to the fore at moments of crisis. 

Andrew McMillan's poem creates a glimpse of snatched moments and the painful and beautiful stories people tell Anna Scott-Brown in this busy urban setting. 

Hidden lives are revealed and common threads recur as Anna's gentle - but insistent and sometimes extremely direct - questions elicit poignant and profound responses from those sitting on the bench.


Presenter: Anna Scott-Brown
Producer: Adam Fowler
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Conversations on a Bench

Series 2

Manchester - Andrew McMillan

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4