Thursday, January 22, 2004
dangerous childhood games, first in an occasional series:
THE ROUNDABOUT
this was basically a horizontal wheel made of iron bars, laced with cyclone fencing like a spider's web.
the whole thing sat on a central axle. you could make it spin by running around the side holding on to it. It was maybe 4-5 metres across. this meant that the outside was the fast bit and the inside was the slow bit. to get on, you had to run alongside, get a grip and clamber on. of course smaller children had to be on the inside, but getting there was the challenge. there was a deep track worn around the outside from kids pushing it. I remember the one by the lake where I grew up as always being crammed with kids getting on and off - getting off could mean stumbling along at speed until you found your feet, and there was always the danger of being flung to the ground.
yes, it was incredibly dangerous. I'm sure there are none left now. but hell, it was fun!
THE ROUNDABOUT
this was basically a horizontal wheel made of iron bars, laced with cyclone fencing like a spider's web.
the whole thing sat on a central axle. you could make it spin by running around the side holding on to it. It was maybe 4-5 metres across. this meant that the outside was the fast bit and the inside was the slow bit. to get on, you had to run alongside, get a grip and clamber on. of course smaller children had to be on the inside, but getting there was the challenge. there was a deep track worn around the outside from kids pushing it. I remember the one by the lake where I grew up as always being crammed with kids getting on and off - getting off could mean stumbling along at speed until you found your feet, and there was always the danger of being flung to the ground.
yes, it was incredibly dangerous. I'm sure there are none left now. but hell, it was fun!
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