Broomfield Park Childrens' Boating Pond c.1985

A Memory of Southgate.

In 1985 my son, daughter, niece & nephew were in the 7 to 10 age bracket. Included in their favourite places were the Broomfield Park kids' playground, the kids' assault course and the kids' boating pond. On various occasions we made Sunday afternoon, family picnic trips to the park to take in these places.
We adults - me, my wife, my sister, my brother in law, my father and his partner - would allow the kids to get the assault course and playground out of their systems and would then advance to the boating pond for the kids to sail their toy boats and for the adults to play croquet on the grass next to the pond whilst keeping an eye on the kids. On the frequent occasions that a boat got stuck in the middle of the pond or a croquet ball got hit into the water, I would pull on my angling waders and wade out to rescue the stranded vessel and/or missile.
Come tea-time, we would spread our blankets on the grass, erect our deck chairs, relax and feast heartily on the picnic fare we had brought with us. Great times were had by all.

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