SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF
The Matthews Family have donated two benches at Brayshaw Park’s Riverside Railway. Pictured are the “Matthews twins” Shirley Hawtin and Janette Simmons, with Prue Matthews QSM (centre).
If you have ever sat on a public bench bearing a placard in the memory of someone, you may have allowed your mind to drift as you waited, wondering about those memorialised in this way. Two new benches at the Blenheim Riverside Railway Station certainly have a story to tell, and one that is rich with the history of Marlborough and the railway itself. Snippets of the story were revealed when the benches were unveiled during a reunion of the pioneering Matthews family.