Daring the Mardyke
It was very territorial when we were kids. There was Cherwell Grove, we weren't part of them. There was Corran Way, which is our gang, and then there was Cullen Square. We didn't have anything to do with that lot. It was catapults though, it wasn't like New York. It wasn't The Famous Five either - we thought they were a bit twee.
It would be the case of come back before it's dark, here's your bottle of water and your cold bacon sandwich. We would play in the fields by the river here. We would be gone all day.
We used to go fishing for sticklebacks in the Mardyke. With our little jam jars, and our bamboo canes. We would cut up safety pins to different sizes and tape them to the pole. Knick some of mum's cotton-reels, thread it through, put another safety pin on the end with your 'ook. We would look for frogs and newts too, and slow worms. They were my favourite. You hardly ever see slow worms any more.
I remember one of the dares, too. As you go down from Ford Place, down by Stifford, look to your right. You can see these huge pipes that go over the River Mardyke, and they had what we called The Collars of Spikes at each side. If you wanted to be in our gang you had to climb from one side to the other, negotiating these spikes and crawling across the top of the pipe.
From stories told at High House Community Group
It would be the case of come back before it's dark, here's your bottle of water and your cold bacon sandwich. We would play in the fields by the river here. We would be gone all day.
We used to go fishing for sticklebacks in the Mardyke. With our little jam jars, and our bamboo canes. We would cut up safety pins to different sizes and tape them to the pole. Knick some of mum's cotton-reels, thread it through, put another safety pin on the end with your 'ook. We would look for frogs and newts too, and slow worms. They were my favourite. You hardly ever see slow worms any more.
I remember one of the dares, too. As you go down from Ford Place, down by Stifford, look to your right. You can see these huge pipes that go over the River Mardyke, and they had what we called The Collars of Spikes at each side. If you wanted to be in our gang you had to climb from one side to the other, negotiating these spikes and crawling across the top of the pipe.
From stories told at High House Community Group
