Location

Burslem park holds so many special memories for me. My father used to walk my brother, sister and myself, along with some of our friends from Smallthorne to the park on Sunday mornings during the late 1960s.

He'd have us singing all the way there to make Smallthorne Bank not such a chore - we didn't mind as we knew we were in for lots of fun and the water fountain in the swings area always refreshed our thirst.

We'd walk past the bowlers on the bowling green, fascinated by their accuracy of aim - there were always plenty of benches filled with old and young people relaxing and watching the game. The greens were kept in immaculate condition and the Parkies had the respect of all. The gardens and borders were full and annual flower displays filled the air with a fragrance of new beginnings.

In between the bowling greens was a pond in front of a memorial stone (I think that's still there), I remember when I was older paddling in this pond just to get a shilling out off the bottom. A shilling was the cost of getting into Burslem swimming baths so this was an excellent find. The grand pavilion was used a lot at the time and held a snooker table. I would imagine that I was a Victorian lady who lived in the pavilion, taking a turn around the rose gardens whilst listening to a band playing in the band stand.

We'd run to the play area which was edged one end by enormous trees that you could almost touch with the swing once you got going. The swings now are so small, you can't get any real height with them. The slides were much higher too (Tunstall park had one of the best slides locally though - your stomach turned just looking down its steepness). My favourite was the teapot lid - it was shaped like a teapot lid with seats all around with a bar to hold on and the middle pivoted on a thick pole. When it was spun around it would go in and out at the same time - poor dad must have been shattered but he never said so - we just shouted for more.

After a refreshing drink from the fountain, we'd walk down to the waterfall, duckpond and birdhouse. You got to know the markings of the birds and would look out for them each week, excited when fledglings were leaving the bird boxes.

Back home we'd walk, singing all the way, looking forward to a lovely Sunday lunch knowing the whole family would be there because all the shops were shut.

As we got older and were allowed to venture on our own, we'd go into the park after swimming on a Saturday and during the summer we'd queue for the tennis courts. You had to pay a small fee then so we'd hide away until the parkie had gone past and then sneak onto the courts.

In my twenties, the park still held its allure for me, I'd get up early before work and meet a friend for a game of tennis. Then later on I played bowls for a ladies team and found myself playing against the Burslem Park Ladies team, that first green certainly held some challenges.

Onto the scene came my two lovely daughters and what better a place could I teach them to run. cycle and play tennis but Burslem park - not forgetting skateboarding. As infants they enjoyed the swings but unfortunately, little else moved and the slide soon seemed to small to offer enjoyment - I don't envy our young people, they live in a world where genuine accidents are followed by a law suits and then a facility is closed or pulled down.

My children are in their teens now and rarely use the park but I still play the odd game of tennis or bowls there. It's good to see the park being refurbished, the duck pond area is looking better. Sadly, everything has to be made of metal, totally fireproof and secured down otherwise it will either be destroyed or stolen. A lot of damage has been done to the park over the last few year and wall coping stones and gone missing - let's hope that this generation will appreciate what the Regeneration is trying to achieve. I live in hope...

GILL CATON