Daredevil dads who made a big splash!

MANY years ago, my friend Richard and I decided to take our children on a candyfloss-and-icecream day out to Southend-on-Sea. It was a lovely day and we ended up in the amusement park. My two daughters and Richard’s daughter were all under 11, so we were careful about which rides they could go on. All was going well until the girls spotted two large flumes. At the bottom of these twin tubes was an area where rubber dinghies came shooting out before gently coming to a halt, full of laughing children. Mums and dads were cheering them. our daughters wanted to have a go, but Richard and I were a bit wary because the tops of the flumes were accessed from a very high landing at the top of fire escape-type steps. The girls asked Richard and me to go up with them. Neither of us were keen on heights, but we agreed. I had expected to accompany my daughters in one dinghy, with Richard and his daughter in another. But at the top, to our horror, all three girls jumped into a dinghy and said: ‘See you at the bottom!’ Richard and I couldn’t go back down the stairs because there were crowds of children, plus several mums and some much slimmer, younger dads. Two lads said: ‘Come on, gents, you’re holding everyone up.’ So we reluctantly got in a dinghy and, embarrassingly, the lads had trouble launching us. We shot down the claustrophobic tube and came out the other end. The crowd cheered and then laughed as two heavy, middleaged men slid to a halt, tipped sideways and rolled around in puddles of water. What a fun day out!

Don Townshend, Chelmsford, Essex.