Dangerous Play (Playgrounds; Carnivals; Amusement Parks; Etc.)

[Lord Lucan]

Goodness sakes...

You are so spot on with this.

Brought to mind, how often we used to climb onto the roof of a nearby factory.

The attraction was said roof being completely flat and covered with sheets of corrugated plastic.

When you ran along it, you could make an echo sound, because of the drop beneath.

Pretty certain there was a contemporary news report, of someone falling to their death, when a similar roof covering couldn't take their weight.

The other thing I have strong memories of, was climbing up a drainpipe to reach an elevated space where we could play.

Although terrified - it must have been around 30 feet upwards - you simply had to comply or face ridicule.

Used to also be the best at jumping between roofs of aligned 'bin sheds'.

Would have been a fair distance to cover and necessitated a, 'runny jump'.

Right enough, when you think back on the mental risks taken for granted...

I grew up in Sydney in a suburb called Woolwich which is on a small penninsula that divides Sydney Harbour into the Lane Cove river on the north side and the Parramatta river to the south. My folks owned a marina there which moored, built and repaired boats.
Next to the marina was an old abandoned smelting works where me and my friends played almost every afternoon, doing much the same kind of thing that you've described above. There were all manner of buildings to explore, left over, rusting machinery to play on, thousands and thousands of bits and pieces of metal strewn all over the place and best of all, a bomb shelter built for the war... just in case. It was filled with spiders and all sorts of rubbish and one of our challenges was to see who could make it from one end to the other in the dark. Good times.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Next to the marina was an old abandoned smelting works where me and my friends played almost every afternoon, doing much the same kind of thing that you've described above.

Terrific story!

Abandoned factories...

Oh boy, that takes me right back.

There was one nearby we used to play in. Cousin and myself were there one night and he was climbing up to see a pigeon's nest, held onto an overhead cable and received an electric shock. Fortunately, it wasn't severe and he was OK.

We then discovered a tin filled, for some unfathomable reason, with large, rifle bullets.

Decided to bash them open and extract the gunpowder.

Made a plie of same, with a slight trail acting as a fuse, and got the box of matches out.

We absolutely did not anticipate size of ensuing explosion...

In retrospect, it's a wonder I'm still alive.

 

[Mythopoeika]

We then discovered a tin filled, for some unfathomable reason, with large, rifle bullets.

Decided to bash them open and extract the gunpowder.

Bash them open? Gasp!
You...dodged a bullet, so to speak.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Bash them open? Gasp!
You...dodged a bullet, so to speak.

Realised I can accurately date this.

We would both have been 7-y-o...

 

[MorningAngel]

I remember the Witches hat at Butlins. I’ve seen many articles claiming that five children died in a year from using it but none are saying how those poor kids met their fate. So is it true with no facts to back it up. I know they weren’t very safe.

 

[GNC]

Even as a kid I wouldn't go on those because they looked as if they were about to collapse at any moment!

 

[MorningAngel]

Even as a kid I wouldn't go on those because they looked as if they were about to collapse at any moment!

I don’t think the collapsing was the issue.

I used to like the horsey ride which has also had its day.

 

[GNC]

What was the issue? Getting trapped in the mechanism? Actually, maybe I don't want to know!

 

[Mythopoeika]

What was the issue? Getting trapped in the mechanism? Actually, maybe I don't want to know!

Falling off and getting crushed underneath or kicked by other kids.
I remember it all too well, although that never happened to me.

 

[MorningAngel]

Falling off and getting crushed underneath or kicked by other kids.
I remember it all too well, although that never happened to me.

I thought it would be more a crushing issue as they’ve come up with a new one and that’s not going to stop you getting trodden on. But like I said they’ve not said what killed those kids (if it’s true).

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...nned-30-years-ago-dangerous-set-comeback.html

 

[GNC]

I remember the ground underneath a playpark used to be solid tarmac when I was a kid. It's amazing so many of us survived, really.

 

[MorningAngel]

I remember the ground underneath a playpark used to be solid tarmac when I was a kid. It's amazing so many of us survived, really.

Oh yes, that was dangerous. Much better with the squidy stuff now.

 

[Ladyloafer]

I remember the Witches hat at Butlins. I’ve seen many articles claiming that five children died in a year from using it but none are saying how those poor kids met their fate. So is it true with no facts to back it up. I know they weren’t very safe.

Ooh we had one of those 'down the rec'. I don't remember injuries but its possible. I'd assume broken limbs or cracked skulls from falling off 70's era play equipment. One local park was made of paving slabs. Ah happy days.

 

[Ladyloafer]

A report here https://adc.bmj.com/content/89/2/103
About playground safety changes and injury prevention.
I've only skimmed over it but it seem pre soft-surfaces, head injuries were common but deaths v rare. Factures seem to be fairly common despite soft surfaces but there are less minor injuries.
Reducing height of equipment was also important. That why you dont see these bad boys any more


The report also says that most deaths by playgrounds seem to be accidental hanging or strangulation from rope swings and such

 

[MorningAngel]

A report here https://adc.bmj.com/content/89/2/103
About playground safety changes and injury prevention.
I've only skimmed over it but it seem pre soft-surfaces, head injuries were common but deaths v rare. Factures seem to be fairly common despite soft surfaces but there are less minor injuries.
Reducing height of equipment was also important. That why you dont see these bad boys any more
View attachment 28005

The report also says that most deaths by playgrounds seem to be accidental hanging or strangulation from rope swings and such

Is that why sing have chains now? Hopefully less fatal.

 

[Ladyloafer]

Is that why sing have chains now? Hopefully less fatal.

That includes informal swings and garden play. And even then it says deaths are extremely uncommon.

 

[Kondoru]

I noticed the witches hat comming back too.

When will we see the return of the climbing frame shaped like an Apollo re entry capsule?

 

[MorningAngel]

I noticed the witches hat comming back too.

When will we see the return of the climbing frame shaped like an Apollo re entry capsule?

That was probably due to when it was built. Lord know what they’d get these days.

 

[MorningAngel]

That includes informal swings and garden play. And even then it says deaths are extremely uncommon.

We’ve got a round around that our roads feed off that now has a play area and community centre. I remember someone at school saying someone hung themselves there. I’m not sure if it’s true and if so when. There were trees there at some point, so it’s possible then and now. But I really never heard anything about it.

 

[hunck]

I remember the Witches hat at Butlins. I’ve seen many articles claiming that five children died in a year from using it but none are saying how those poor kids met their fate. So is it true with no facts to back it up. I know they weren’t very safe.

You'd probably have to try hard to be killed by one but I'd forgotten how long it is since I saw one - there used to be in every park. They were pretty boring. Do you still get the roundabouts like this which used to be a staple & cause of many an injury from being thrown off?

 

[MorningAngel]

You'd probably have to try hard to be killed by one but I'd forgotten how long it is since I saw one - there used to be in every park. They were pretty boring. Do you still get the roundabouts like this which used to be a staple & cause of many an injury from being thrown off?

Our local play park had this one.

 

[Cochise]

I don’t think the collapsing was the issue.

I used to like the horsey ride which has also had its day.

Was that the long horsey thing that had six or seven seats on it and people tried to make it go as violently as possible? in my pre-teen days Southend Council used to just dump an old bus or fire engine in the corner of the playground, which would get systematically shredded over time. At least they took the windows out first.

Parents were different then - if you came back bleeding they'd patch you up while grumbling about getting the blood out of the nice new shirt or trousers or whatever that one was invariably wearing, and had equally unvaryingly been told to not get dirty. And then there was the iodine or TCP on the fresh wounds. I really don't know why anyone is surprised that so many of my generation think we are invincible - we have proved we are by still being here

Of course our parents had been through WW2 and all of them were familiar with sudden death. So anything short of actually losing a limb was pretty trivial.

 

[Victory]

Swings were fun - often rumours that someone went "all the way round loop-the-loop" but I never saw anyone actually do it.

And the slide - took more time to climb up than it took to slide down.

The rocking horse of six or seven kids was nasty - kids would bang their heads on the metal at the front of that and it made you feel sick.

As did the roundabouts.

 

[Cochise]

When I was about 12 we had a scandal because some bastard - never caught as far as I know - stuck razor blades between the ?zinc plates on the big slide in one of our parks.

Shit - it's still happening:

https://www.theguardian.com/society...ched-to-childrens-slide-in-aughton-lancashire

Although those aren't actually razor blades, they are from an X-Acto knife. I know this because said knives were an essential tool when building balsa wood aeroplanes.

 

[MorningAngel]

Yup one of these.

 

[Swifty]

Was that the long horsey thing that had six or seven seats on it and people tried to make it go as violently as possible? in my pre-teen days Southend Council used to just dump an old bus or fire engine in the corner of the playground, which would get systematically shredded over time. At least they took the windows out first.

Parents were different then - if you came back bleeding they'd patch you up while grumbling about getting the blood out of the nice new shirt or trousers or whatever that one was invariably wearing, and had equally unvaryingly been told to not get dirty. And then there was the iodine or TCP on the fresh wounds. I really don't know why anyone is surprised that so many of my generation think we are invincible - we have proved we are by still being here

Of course our parents had been through WW2 and all of them were familiar with sudden death. So anything short of actually losing a limb was pretty trivial.

I remember my Mum often picking bits of gravel out of my knees and then splashing TCP all over them .. some stand up comedian was talking about this a few years back "What's all this now with kids wearing elbow and knee pads of their bikes? .. when I was a kid, your scabs were your pads."

 

[Analogue Boy]

You'd probably have to try hard to be killed by one but I'd forgotten how long it is since I saw one - there used to be in every park. They were pretty boring. Do you still get the roundabouts like this which used to be a staple & cause of many an injury from being thrown off?

Plenty of scrapes from one of these. And it was free!

 

[escargot]

Our park had a swing called 'The American' which was a huge wooden beam, about 20' long, suspended on metal rods, that moved like a battering ram. You need ten or more kids to get it going. Everyone knew stories about the kid who walked into it head-on...

 

[Xanatic*]

The hangings are when a kid gets the hood of their jacket or so stuck on something, and then gets asphyxiated.

 

[Naughty_Felid]

I remember my Mum often picking bits of gravel out of my knees and then splashing TCP all over them .. some stand up comedian was talking about this a few years back "What's all this now with kids wearing elbow and knee pads of their bikes? .. when I was a kid, your scabs were your pads."

TCP? We used to dream of TCP my mother would cauterize our cuts with a hot poker left in the fire for just that purpose.