I wondered if Pamela Whittaker’s picture of the big old slide in Holland Park would spark up memories, and indeed it did. Today I received this wonderful pair of photos taken there, sent by reader David Cresswell. I love the period feel to them – the pram, the clothing, the fact that the trees in the park hadn’t yet grown very large.
I tried to remember the equipment I played on there; witches hat (replaced by a climbing frame shaped like a boat with a small slide), wooden and metal roundabout, swings, the iron horse and a climbing frame that seemed to be on very tall legs, shaped like a space rocket. I remember playing in that sandpit on a sunny afternoon while my mum sat chatting to other mums on the bench nearby. I can remember sheltering from a sudden summer storm with other kids in the bandstand that used to face the annexe.
I thank David for his wonderful contribution to our collective historical record, and if you have any pictures of Brownhills or Walsall Wood that you’d like to share with other readers, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. That’d be brownhillsbob at googlemail.com – thanks.
That pram is a piece of work. I think that horse was the first of a couple of versions of it - I'm sure I remember a metal one.
I'm sure I remember playing in this sandpit. Anyone remember the bandstand?