Progress

Three coats and a light sand between:

And I've managed to change the eBay photo into a format that will work with Blogger. So here's the "Before":

It doesn't show quite how badly weathered it was - some of the joins had opened up, but after three coats of oil, the timber has expanded and closed up the gaps quite a bit. I'm going to leave it (under cover, of course) for six months to allow the oil to really penetrate, then oil it again. After that, a yearly treatment should keep it in good condition.

In case you're wondering what I used....

We're huge fans of the Intergrain range of products. They're water-based, low-odour and Australian made. I used Nature's Timber Oil on this, in a clear finish. It nourishes the timber and brings out the natural colour, but you can get tinted versions as well. It smells strongly of eucalyptus, rather than some of the stinkier products around that smell strongly of mineral oils.