It was just such a mess down there, all the way down the steep bank behind the banana slide. In late April, 2005, a sort of access point was reached behind the Tar Bar’l hut, itself behind the library building, and the ladder went down down down. What an accumulation of junk!
Heavy Lifting: quite how some of the stuff made it up the bank, whether on the ladder or by scrambling while pushing, we don’t really want to remember. As I recall, there was no attempt to make a Risk Assessment of the day’s adventure. Back in the days, eh? But the happy faces tell an important story.
The heroic ascent was possibly just as frightening as the descent, earlier in the day. Of course, being Allendale, there had to be a fire to clear up some of the brashings and whatnot that didn’t need to come up to the skip.
From the photographs, we can see that the happy band of volunteers comprised at least: Julie and Davey Humes, Lynda MacGregor, Stephanie Atkinson, Margaret Stonehouse, Yvonne and Graeme Leighton, Nigel Baynes, Ann Potter, Christine Hutchinson, Peter Aldcroft. There must have been others; I thought I was there, for example, but maybe that was on the second group effort. ?Was there another foray, later in the year, or was this the big and only clearance?
There was still the decrepit Band Hut behind the hall to take apart, and the renovation of the entire park to consider. There must have been the clearance from directly beneath the recreation ground for a second foray. Still plenty of work ahead, no matter which way you looked at it that much was for sure.
Meanwhile, if these images should jog anyone’s memory, it will be lovely to include their thoughts and reminiscences.