Ardmore – over the years, this is the playground where I have spent the most time. I’m now into my 18th year of slipping into the little dale, an oasis in a mixed residential – commercial neighbourhood in the west end of the city. I think of the lone tire swing creaking on its chains as I sang to my now 19-year-old daughter, “Round and round on the tire swing/High in the sky like a bird on a wing/Round and round and round she goes/Where she stops nobody knows.” The little wooden bridge linked to the tiny tot yellow PVC tunnel slide was a world of pretend. This is where Alexa and I, playing three billy goats gruff, trip trapped our way to confront the ogre lurking underneath – truly a case of life imitating fiction.
All the equipment has been replaced since those days. The gazebo at the southeast corner of the park is gone. The grounds continue to be well maintained. Just west of the fenced in basketball court there is a nice strip of grass ideal for ball sports. On the periphery of the playground equipment there are stone benches and tables to sit down at for a breather, a snack, or a picnic lunch. On the east side of the basketball court, which becomes a community rink in the winter, there is parking for five or six vehicles. The playground is on the Number 1 bus route.
Ardmore started out on a complete makeover in 2005. There is plenty of sturdy equipment for toddlers and the grade school crowd. The park is fenced on the southern, western and part of the northern perimeter. It is well frequented by neighbourhood kids and families. We have frequently met parents from other parts of the city who make this playground a regular stop for their families. We’re now part of that itinerant Ardmore crowd dropping in occasionally when we’re in the area. Just three blocks to the north on Oxford St. is Local Jo, a children friendly café complete with play area that caters primarily to the two to six-year-old set.
This is a cosy playground and park for children and parents to indulge in the joys of climbing, swinging, balancing and sliding. Listen and you will hear the squeals of laughter punctuated with the happy refrains of ‘higher, higher’ and ‘more, more, more’.
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