Autumn has arrived at The Friendly Bench in Brandon, bringing with it a celebration of spiders, creativity, and community spirit.
This year’s Halloween display turns the season’s familiar spider sightings into an opportunity to learn and create. The exhibition explores why spiders become more visible in autumn, highlighting their fascinating life cycles and their vital role in keeping insect populations under control.
Helping to bring the theme to life were the children from Glade Academy, who designed and built a giant spider from recycled materials and a web filled with handmade cork spiders. Their imaginative contributions are at the heart of the display, combining environmental awareness with hands-on creativity.
The project was also supported by the Brandon Creative Forum and the Brandon Yarn Bombers, who added their own flair with colourful knitted spiders and webs. Alongside these eye-catching creations, visitors can also enjoy a series of fun and fascinating spider facts, helping to demystify these often-misunderstood creatures and spark curiosity about the natural world.
Together, these local groups have transformed The Friendly Bench into a vibrant celebration of nature and community collaboration. As autumn sets in, spiders are more active than usual — many species are reaching adulthood, searching for mates, or seeking out warmer spaces to spend the winter. While their sudden appearance can cause alarm, understanding these behaviours helps us see spiders as essential parts of our ecosystem. By controlling insect populations, they help maintain a natural balance that benefits us all.
Visitors to The Friendly Bench are encouraged to stop by, admire the display, and perhaps see these eight-legged creatures in a new light. Through creativity, learning, and teamwork, the community has shown that even the spookiest symbols of the season can teach us something valuable about the world around us.
