At the height of the floods last month a Symonds Yat pub landlord watched helplessly as ten of his heavy-duty garden benches floated off over the fence and down the fast-flowing River Wye.

Jamie Hicks had bigger problems to worry about, with the cellar of Ye Old Ferrie Inn flooded to chest height.

To his astonishment two of the benches washed up last week on the beach at Portishead in Somerset, 50 miles away.

“The weird thing was that a friend of mine, who got married in the pub in 2016, lives in Portishead and spotted one of the benches on the ‘Turn the Tide Portishead’ social media page and he messaged me!” said Jamie.

“He instantly recognised the bench’s bright turquoise paint and the distinctive number in my own handwriting. We’ve been here nine years and we get flooded every year but this was the worst. We just accept it given the location.

“The river burst its banks overnight and when we came in at about 5am the water was flowing really fast. Ten of the 22 benches, which are so heavy you need two people to lift them, just floated off downstream and I didn’t fancy jumping in to save them.

“We were amazed to hear two of them had washed up in Somerset. One had broken up, but the other was OK and has since been moved above the tideline so the Turn the Tide volunteers, who clean up the beaches in the area, can sit on it and have their coffee and sandwiches.

“They’re going to put a notice on it explaining the story!”

A volunteer from Turn the Tide told the BBC the bench had landed perfectly on the beach against the rock. “You’ve got a view of Black Nore Lighthouse one way and the sunset, and the other way to Portishead lido and out across the water to Cardiff. Honestly it couldn’t be in a better place!” she said.

News of the benches’ maritime journey spread fast.

“The phone’s been red hot. I’ve done 15 interviews with national and local newspapers, radio and TV. It’s been crazy,” said Jamie.

But the story doesn’t end there. “Symonds Yat is a big tourist area and we’re constantly picking up litter dropped by visitors.

“Now there’s a clear correlation between us and Turn the Tide we’re going into partnership to clean up the river banks here and we’ll be pointing out to people just how far the litter they drop could travel.”

Local timber merchants, Walford Timber are known for quality goods, but hearing an eight-year-old picnic table they sold had survived a 39-mile float to Portishead also came as a bit of a surprise for them. “We know our products and workmanship are great,” said Owner George Smith, “but we were thrilled to hear just how sturdy our picnic tables could be and if you’re looking for picnic tables instead of floatation devices, you know where to shop.”

John Kyrle High School student Lucy Rabone who lives in Symonds Yat West took some amazing pictures of the area during the recent flooding.

To see more of her pictures visit www.rossgazette.com