I suppose we should be thankful that the school was open…
Grumpy old man mode/
At my primary school, during the 1970s, our playground was rarely gritted. The edges were done, and main through-ways - but not the playground itself.
The rear of the playground was hemmed in by a steep banking with a flight of 20 concrete steps up to the playing fields. Barking-mad slides were constructed by shuffling down the banking on coats, and then sliding on foot. A polished strip would encroach further and further onto the tarmac. Imagine the efforts of a school-full of children: five or six of these ‘runways’ were achievable within around 30 minutes, each strip traversing around 20 metres or more into the playground!
The janitor, Mr Cochran, would only spoil our fun after he’d given us all a fair crack of the whip. He wouldn’t lay grit until at least 24 hours had passed. We still complained vocally though!
Now, to all those folk who say we misremember snowy times at school: talk to any ex-pupil of Rimbleton Primary School, and they’ll corroborate my story!
/ grumpy old man mode.
