My first encounter with the pond was on the way to my first day at Bankhead Primary School.   At the pond, my mother took me to the water’s edge where she pointed out that the water was very deep and very dangerous and not to come here alone. In fact, the depth of the water was only twelve to eighteen inches. 

This warning however, was only heeded for about three weeks and then my pals talked me into visiting the pond most days. This resulted in me getting home later and later, and my mother started to ask lots of awkward questions.

Sorry to say, it had to happen.  Things got out of hand and I slipped into the water, soaking both feet.  It took me ages to get home and my ‘so called pals’ had all disappeared leaving me to face the music on my own. Two of them were neighbours who said they had not seen me coming out of school.

As you can imagine, I was in deep trouble when I squelched into the house.  The questions came thick and fast and I got my backside skelpt and was confined to barracks for almost two weeks.

Nevertheless, that was the start of lots of adventures at the pond.