Peter: My favorite childhood play area was the back
garden. Back in the days when I was growing up on a large housing estate, the
"goals" would be a pair of garage doors or two jackets laid out in the garden. I
would spend hours kicking a ball about with my dad, learning how to control,
dribble or kick it. Simon: The playground was quite
small. The floor was covered with flat bricks and there were many that were
cracked or broken or missing, and a few weeds struggled through. It was totally
enclosed on one side by the school and on the other by high brick walls. It was
more like a prison yard--on top of the walls was a layer of concrete into which
pieces of broken glass had been stuck. After school was finished my friends and
I would climb a lamppost outside the school and sit on top of the wall, slowly
breaking off the bits of glass. Alan: I come from an
area of terraced houses, pavements and streets. There were no gardens. My first
school was Prince’s Street Primary and the room in which I received my first
lessons had large, folding glass doors that opened onto a small playground that
had grass, bushes and flowers. My amazement at seeing these items, which are
normal to most of the world, has stayed with me all my
life. Nick: I was strictly forbidden from the obvious
playground--a long, overgrown ditch running through waste ground, mainly built
to take away the rain. It was irresistible to us local school children. Its
charm, compared with the surrounding tennis courts, football pitches and
farmland, was purely because it was out of bounds. That area was truly where I
grew up, more than in the rest of the little town’s correct and neat suburbia,
where my house was. Julie: Until I was twelve I was
brought up on airforce camps and each camp had a small playground in the middle
of the houses. It was always a great meeting place and I remember sitting with
my friends on the swings many evenings until dark. You would often go out and
swing for hours until someone else came out. I always liked
swinging. Now match each of the people (61 to 65) to the
appropriate statement. Note: there are two extra
statements. Statements [A] I enjoyed the feeling of
flying. [B] I never went straight home from school. [C] I developed
sporting skills there. [D] My play area was just outside my classroom. [E]
I enjoyed both being alone and with friends. [F] I played in a place
dangerous in others’ eyes. [G] There were some playground equipment around my
play area. Simon