My Instagram page started as something to amuse my friends, but it took off – and led to me meeting Sophie, who is now my wife

The idea came to me in summer 2019, when I finished studying at Swansea University. One day I went walking with friends around the beautiful Penllergare Valley woods. As they played Poohsticks, I sat on a bench and took in the view.

I noticed that someone had left flowers on the bench. I wondered who had put them there, who they were for, and why they’d chosen this location. By the time we reached the next bench along the route, I was deep in thought about all the people who had sat there before me.

Both benches had beautiful views, and my friends and I started comparing them. I joked that someone should start rating benches of the world. In the following days, I set up an Instagram account called RateThisBench and then posted a handful of reviews of benches near my family home in Bristol, mostly to amuse my friends.

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At the end of the summer, I planned to close the account. But my dad, Chris, had become quite invested in it. It became our joint project; after dinner we’d go out for a walk and assess a bench.

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