Playground and Big Bertha.

This is looking from somewhere near the Assembly Hall over the play area. We could and did play full size tennis here, and I would enjoy a good game, and had a good teacher. I was knocked out here one time by a substituted cricket ball, dropping like a stone, when it clocked me on the back of me head. The hillside in the background is the barn field, it was here when conditions were right, we would sledge, or if you were lucky enough to have made some in woodwork class, ski. We had a time when one of the favorite outdoor pursuits was 'Throwing Arrows'.
These were made in woodwork, and were basically a long arrow, with a flight made and fixed into position, with a length of strong string. The skill was to clip your string, loosely to the flight area of the arrow, in a pre-prepared groove, and with a throw, the arrow would set off, leaving the string in your hand, see how high, and far, your arrow would travel, they would come to earth and, as the point was sharpened, stick into the soft grass covered soil. Can you imagine what today’s Health & Safety Nazis would say about this? We were very proud of our handy work, and a lot of the fun was put into making and showing the things.
We also had a bunch of old truck tyres to play with. The favoured use was to get inside them, and roll down from the top, and see how far you could go. We had one beast of a tyre; it was called "Big Bertha"! You could get 2 or 3 kids into this one! It would be rolled to the top of the field, and the chosen kiddies would climb in and OFF..........this thing could travel and by the time it crashed into the wall by the monkey frame, it would have clocked a fair turn of speed, kids would stream out all over the place! Now, imagine! What would the Health & Safety Nazis think of that?