Our playground

This afternoon I went to post a letter at the end of the road, having been pottering around filling bird feeders and watering the plants in the cabin. It was very mild when sheltered from the wind, so I took my camera to see what I might find to blip.

The light was bright as the sun was starting to set behind the Rodborough Common on the opposite hillside. I walked back on the footpath through the children's playground, which lies in a triangle between the local houses. The estate was built in 1937 on an old field near the edge of town, and a small group of play equipment must have been installed soon after it was built, probably just after the end of the war in about 1946.

I have been involved in saving this large playground area from being developed into a housing scheme. It has been a long story, but everyone is now delighted that the scheme has been abandoned and the District Council forced into renovating the four houses they were threatening to pull down. A new enclosed small football and basketball area was built next to this original play area about ten years ago.

But I love the old play equipment. Here is the original rocking horse, which still works perfectly and is much loved. It has been looked after and even manages to absorb the purple graffiti ,which has also been painted on various other bits of equipment. In the past, there have been a lot of problems with vandalism and bullying in this enclosed area, but with the recent changes this seemed to have subsided; fingers crossed.