Put in place by a four year old

LAST weekend, I was brought down to earth psychologically, if not literally, when Saturday's glorious weather offered the ideal opportunity for me and my wife to treat our two young grandsons to a late-summer session at Brooklands pleasure park in east Worthing.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Sep 2007, 17:57 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 01:06 BST

My "moment of truth" arrived when I took the older one to climb the concrete "hillocks" just north of the paddling pool.

When I said we should climb up a particularly steep bit, he replied earnestly: "I'm not sure about this, grand-dad, I don't want you to fall down!"

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Having been put firmly in my place by a youngster who was only two weeks past his fourth birthday, I decided not to disown him, but continued to enjoy an action-packed afternoon.

And the happy ambience was shared by the hundreds of other people at Brooklands, all having a great time on what was probably the last really warm weekend of 2007.

It's a nice change to be able to applaud the provision of a rather special place where children can have a great time without their mums/dads/grandparents needing to spend a fortune.

Brooklands' large, fenced-off play area has plenty of challenging play equipment which gives great scope to most active youngsters (a shame, though, that I didn't see any toddlers' swings).

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Without even considering the added, paid-for attractions of the miniature railway, summer boating on the lake, pony rides and a mini go-kart circuit, Brooklands is a prime example of an energetic play experience which should be available to all of today's children.

They mix and learn to interact with so many other children in a safe environment, realise the need for "sharing" the facilities, and enjoy a degree of outdoor freedom which has, sadly, been curtailed amid fears of them coming to harm.

I must say that the play equipment at Brooklands (and at similar places we've been to along the coast) is nothing like as potentially risky as the exciting recreation-ground rides with which I grew up.

Still, at least the "elf 'n' safety merchants haven't prevented all the fun! In fact, I was pleasantly surprised not to see a "Danger, keep off" notice stuck up over the concrete blobs over which I received my verbal come-uppance!

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, even these toned-down attractions are certainly a lot healthier than the youngsters being given a TV-game console '” what better way to prevent childhood obesity than combining a better diet with an energetic play experience which was the norm for past generations.