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I was born on 17th October 1967 and lived in Swaffham all my childhood life, I attended the local schools, both South Greenhoe & Hammonds High.
My parents lived (and still do) close to the “Rec” on Haspalls road and I have fond memories of this place while I was growing up.
That place was a voyage of discovery for a youngster, I rode my first bike there in ever decreasing circles and fell off repeatedly, I climbed the trees and again fell out of them, the grass always saved me from cuts & grazes and the trees always gave shelter against the rain & sun, another thing that gave us shelter was a structure which was there while I was very young – a stone/brick pavilion over near to the Haspalls road side, about half way up the field. It was made of brick/stone and was painted sky blue, it had a pitched roof from all sides covered in grey/blue slates, there weren’t any windows in it, but I remember the front & sides having half walls and pillars on top of them creating openings, possibly a pair, or maybe 4 pillars at the front supporting the roof. The rear wall as far as I remember was solid; the whole building rested on a concrete slab and there was I believe a tiled surface in front of the structure (under the roofed in area) with path ways leading up to it made of asphalt.
It was in a dilapidated state of repair when I played there which would have been in the early 70’s, over the next 10 years I believe it fell down and was then cleared out, as it was deemed unsafe.
The footings should still be in the ground as they weren’t removed as far as I know.
For the future I believe plans are underway for a new structure on the originals site; it would be a great thing to have there in that area as a focus of the local youth’s social life rather than being “let loose up town” to do what ever they want, I believe the social standings need to be addressed and not just from a younger standpoint. I remember being told off by adults when we made too much noise on the Rec which was our only place to play & have fun in, we need to integrate the older generation & the youths and stop putting labels on those that just want good clean fun, Yes even a graffiti wall might help, with the premise that it has to be non swearing or crude images, some graffiti is brilliant and accomplished by some very talented artists...
I have these memories of “home and the surroundings” that after reading the Swaffham & Watton times net pages I felt I should write them down for you. I keep an eye on my “Home” as I immigrated to Canada 2 years ago and like to stay in touch with my roots, mum & dad still live there I have friends in the area and my son still goes to college in Kings Lynn while living with his grandparents, that is before he emigrates out here too if he so wishes it.
Paul Dowden
(posted by Moderator)
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