Shhh! Schoolgirl's Wicksteed Park trip was a 40-year-old secret

A girl who bunked off school to play on Wicksteed Park's water chute kept it a secret for decades - before finally admitting it to her mum when she needed cheering up in a care home.

Gill Thornton, who lives in Finedon, came forward with her story after an appeal by the popular Kettering attraction and the Northamptonshire Telegraph to find the park's biggest fans.

She recalled a day which she kept secret for more than 40 years but Gill, 78, remembers it fondly having broken the rules to do it.

She said: “I am now in my 70s but when I was eight-years-old I used to go to school in Kettering by bus.

“One day I got off the bus outside Wicksteed Park, changed out of my school uniform behind a tree and walked down to the water chute.

“I had saved my pocket money for several weeks and spent the next few hours going up and down the chute. I had a wonderful time, changed back into my uniform and caught the bus home."

Gill lived in Wellingborough at the time and went past the park every day on the bus to St Peter’s School in Headlands, and often wished she was going to the park instead of school.

She said: “I don’t know what made me do it apart from every time we came to Wicksteed Park I used to go on the water chute as often as I was allowed.

“I just loved it. Obviously in those days there weren’t as many rides for us to go on apart from the boats and the top play area.

“I never bunked off again. In fact in later years I became an education welfare officer and at my interview I was asked if I had ever played truant myself – naturally I did not tell them of my Wicksteed Park adventure.”

In fact, Gill did not tell anyone about her adventure for more than 40 years until spilling the beans to her mother, Grace Roper, who was in a care home and needed cheering up.

She said: “When I told her the story she was shocked but also rather amused that she never found out and I had got away with it!

“I am not sure what my reaction would have been if my children had done something similar.

“Life is very different now and I would worry if my children or grandchildren were on their own – very vulnerable in today’s world. I think I would be very annoyed with them!”

Anyone who would like to share their stories of Wicksteed Park can email [email protected] or contact the Northamptonshire Telegraph, marking their email Wicksteed Park’s Biggest Fan.