Oakwood

A Memory of Southgate.

I lived in Oakwood in the 50s as a child and would regularly be in Oakwood park all day on a Saturday. Quick return home for lunch in between playing on the swings, fishing nets at the wild pond, buying a packet of crisps with a twisty blue salt bag at the cafe. The boating lake on a Sunday would be covered in toy yachts one of which my brothers and would frequently get marooned out in the middle. In the school holidays mum would pack up a picnic of sandwiches and tizer and we would go to 'the log'- an old tree trunk which lay in the middle of the park and play ball and cricket. Later, as a teenager, I played tennis on the tennis courts - I think it was 1s 6d for the hour. Before the large petrol station was built near the shops we used to climb the trees on the 'wasteland' and make camps. There was a track through the trees to the shops - a short cut with hawthorn bushes and lots of may blossom in spring. Great memories of an outdoor childhood, I wonder how many children today are allowed to play in the park all day with their friends and no adult present.

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