WHEN two trees near a school were blown down during a gale, staff and pupils turned the incident to their advantage.

The fallen trunks at Standlake Church of England Primary School became useful aids to play and work.

The trees came down side by side on land behind the school during high winds in January 1968.

At first, it was thought that tree surgeons would be needed to cut up the trees and dispose of them.

But headmaster Gordon Snelling, seen here with some of his pupils, had other ideas.

Why not keep the trees where they had fallen and use them as a permanent feature for fun and activity?

Fortunately, they had come down in a corner of the playing field and there was no danger of games being affected.

Mr Snelling trimmed the branches off the trunks himself, then got permission from the county education department to use the trees.

He said at the time: “It has cost the ratepayers not a penny. Nature was kind to us.

“We have already, in mathematics, produced graphs of endurance showing how long each top junior could hang from a bough – the shortest four seconds, the longest 78 seconds – producing the all-too-familiar curves encountered in graph work.

“The thrill of playing on the trees is still enough to make it the No 1 play activity, and we already have rules which make for safety and are being obeyed willingly by the children.

“There is a place on the trees for all ages and types, and it is a progressive pastime.”

The rocking motion which the children could produce on the trees gave them plenty of thrills – but hopefully not too many spills.

As a teaching aid, the youngsters produced lots of poems and other writing about the trees.

According to some of the pupils, their parents were envious, wishing they were young again!

Do you recognise yourself or anyone else in the picture above? Let me know.