Wicksteed Park memories: I was first person to ride fairground roundabout 67 years ago

Wicksteed Park has been flooded by support from the public since it announced the operating company had gone into administration.

The public have donated more than £130,000 to Wicksteed Charitable Trust to save Kettering's beloved park.

The Northants Telegraph has also been sharing memories of the park throughout its 99 years of existence.

Stephen Burwell, 73, who lives in Kingsley Avenue, Kettering, has a very special memory of Wicksteed Park.

He was five or six years old in the early 1950s when he was taken to Wicksteed Playgrounds' factory.

Stephen said: "I was taken by my grandmother to visit the Wicksteed factory where her brother was one of the managers, to be shown around the works.

"While I was there I had a ride on a newly-built kiddies fairground roundabout that was still being tested."

In a testament to the longevity of Wicksteed Playgrounds' equipment, the roundabout is still in the park.

Stephen said: "Who would have thought it would still be in use today and I regularly walk past where it is now, next to the children's indoor play area."

Later in life, Stephen had a working connection with Wicksteed as he became an apprentice auto technician at A.B.C Diesel Electric Services in Durban Road, Kettering in 1962.

Stephen said: "At that time the park did not employ its own engineers and repairs were carried out by engineers from G. Lewis and Sons agricultural engineers and they would subcontract electrical work to A.B.C. Daniels.

"In 1983, I started the partnership of Burwell and Ward Auto Electrical Services and the park then used us for auto electrical repairs."

Stephen's family has other connections with the park, his father had worked for the famous playground makers.

Stephen said: "In about 1934/35, my father left school at 14 and started work as a trainee pattern maker in the Wicksteed factory foundry where the playground equipment was made.

"Among other things, he was involved in making the mould for the head on the Wicksteed rocking horse."

Stephen's brother Richard joined the Rowing Club at Wicksteed and took part in a few regattas on the lake. His sister Elizabeth helped with the ponies and pony rides for children and Stephen's future wife was a St John's Ambulance Brigade Cadet who helped with first aid.

Stephen has happy childhood memories from Wicksteed Park.

He said: "In the 1950s, as children a visit to Wicksteed Park was a special treat. Occasionally, on Saturday or Sunday afternoons, mum, dad, my older brother, younger sister and I would travel to the park from the north end of Kettering on United Counties buses, changing at the bus stop outside the library.

"Mum would pack a picnic tea of sandwiches for tea, but the drinks were bought from the Pavilion tea bar that sold an aluminium jug of tea with the loan of the required number of cups."

Stephen said his children and grandson love the park too.

He said: "Of course our children, as well as our grandson, have all been brought up with the delights of Wickys and even now during retirement we still enjoy walking round the park feeding the wildfowl and meeting friends for coffee.

"The real point about Wicksteed Park is that you could and still can spend a whole day in the park and use the playground equipment and it won't cost you a penny.

"All in all, Wicksteed Park has played a large part in my family's life and will continue to do so for many years to come."

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