Collett Park & The Lake

A Memory of Shepton Mallet.

As a youngster in the late '60's I was very keen on aquatic life, & there was plenty in the lake. Minnows, sticklebacks, Great Crested & other newts/amphibians, dragonfly & diving beetle larvae. It's an interest that has stayed with me - I have a large wildlife pond in the garden. The island in the photo is smaller than I recall - maybe it was made bigger later, as more modern pictures show.
Behind the pond there was a overflow ditch or brook, & my mother once pulled out a toddler who had fallen in & was obviously in trouble. The child's mother seemed quite unconcerned that her offspring had nearly drowned. As mum had lived through the Blitz, she was not worried about letting the parent know what she thought!
Often wonder what became of the kid, & if he(?) remembered what happened, & his mother being shouted at by an irate lady.
On the Charlton side of the park there were a couple of football pitches, & if there wasn't a match on, a group of us would have a kick-about. There was an Anglo-Italian lad who's house backed onto the park, & I would sometimes go for tea to his house. I'd never had fish-fingers & crinkle chips before, or heard of the Kinks. Or even watched a colour TV apart from in a shop window!