Well done, the village. You did it again with a wonderful turn out for the unveiling of Ben Hiscox’s memorial bench. Even in the middle of the school holidays, on a day when there is a football tournament and two cricket matches involving the village, we were there.
We stood on the green to hear some words from local vicar Simon Jones and his female assistant who seemed to rejoice in the name “Wizz”. They captured the mood perfectly and, it seemed to me, understood the legend that remains Ben Hiscox, a lovely, charismatic man with a heart of gold, whilst simultaneously growing into the role of the cheekiest of cheeky chappies!
Ben’s ashes were laid to rest by a beautiful apple blossom tree in the very heart of our village, just behind the bench. Four months on and the feeling of disbelief still remains, although there is now a sense of resignation that things will never again be the same and life is slowly beginning to move on. The Rev Jones rightly said that we should celebrate Ben’s life and this will happen sometime in the future, by a process of evolution through the passing of time. He is a great ambassador for his church and his words resonated with all of those present including those of faith and those with none. Not an easy trick to pull off.
The service ended with Ben’s mum Gloria leading us through the chorus of “Goodnight Irene” which of course was extremely fitting, given the family’s close allegiance to Bristol Rovers Football Club and the quite magnificent way the club responded following Ben’s passing. These have not been a good couple of weeks for the Rovers following the unfortunate outcome to the Sainsbury’s court case, but make no mistake when the club was needed for a local community, it delivered. Clive Hiscox and I will be meeting with chairman Nick Higgs soon, to thank him in person for all the club’s efforts.
The family will be reassured and hopefully comforted by the size of the turn out today. They will know they are not alone in grieving for Ben and that none of us have forgotten him, nor shall we ever.
Ben Hiscox village legend.
