My playground.

Starting our journey on the far left hand side of the windowsill, we first come to an

orange Tuperware container which contains a plastic pot of Hormone Rooting Powder for plants, a metal camping bed spring, 2 large plastic front door numbers ‘6’ and ‘0’ sprayed silver, spare jacket buttons in plastic wrapping, 2 old eroded padlock keys, brass picture rail hooks, a plastic bear playing a guitar with an aqua blue jacket and white headband, a green dog with a distorted face and large teeth, various metal & plastic curtain hooks and rings, a silver wood screw, a used 2^nd class stamp with a snowman post office frank, a silver 1990 five pence coin, and a square bolt.

Next to that is a small pink & blue glass St.Christopher fridge magnet made in Italy.

On the right of that is a broken self-standing wooden crucifix previously held together by blu tac, lying on its right side with a metal Jesus still clinging on arms outstretched.

Next to that is a tall spindly Lemon scented plant in a plastic pot swathed in dense cobwebs.

This pot sits inside another plastic pot that is bright yellow with a pattern around it not dissimilar to the stripes on the side of a police car.

Moving right we next come to a large wild looking spiky leafed Aloe Vera plant, overflowing from a plastic container, which sits inside an old dark brown glazed clay pot, that sits on a faded blue patterned china saucer.

Beneath this to the right is a tall pile of one pence pieces, thirteen in total, with wet mossy earth stuck to them, which was left by the front door by a tramp that wanted to repay my mum & dad for being given a turkey roll slice sandwich and a cup of sugared tea.

My mum calls tramps ‘Men of the Road’, which I always thought sounded like a Heavy Metal rock band.

Next up we have a Twinings English Breakfast tea tin with a dried out plant in it, and a Palm Sunday cross that has faded in the sunlight stuck down the back standing upright.

To the right of that is a large pile of envelopes & postcards, and miscellaneous pieces of paper, some held together with elastic bands, all held upright by a yellow plastic eggcup with half a medicine tablet inside it, and a heavy blue floral glazed pot filled with plastic holly leaves with a faded orange bow on the side.

Behind this are more swathing cobwebs, and to the right is a large black and white plastic dice, with ‘Paper Mate’ printed on the side, which has a yellow HB pencil standing upright in a whole on the topside, the lead end pointing upwards. Underneath the dice is a 2^nd class Christmas stamp which has been torn from a white envelope, depicting Father Christmas walking across a snow covered rooftop.

To the right of that approaching the far right hand side of the windowsill we come to a misshapen pottery ashtray which contains a large green coat button, paperclips, various coloured elastic bands, a miniature red comb, a large rusty wood screw, old dried out blu tac, curtain hooks and rings, more miscellaneous buttons, a silver bolt, a rusty nail, an old eroded brass St.Richard ring, a rusty wardrobe key, a small silver spring, pins and needles, drawing pins, picture hooks, and some red beads.

Lying next to it, having probably fallen out of the ashtray is a large brown elastic band and a small red biro from Argos, and a large pile of envelopes, card and copy paper torn into small A5 pieces, pushed up against the right of the windowsill by the heavy ashtray.

The windowsill is tiled and covered in a fine coating of dust, with cheap sun bleached floral green curtains, and a roller blind that is never used.

The window has small glass panes, black and mouldy at the edges where the woodwork has become damp and swollen, and the windows latches have security locks on them that were fitted in 1980’s that have since eroded and oxidized so that they no longer turn or unlock, serving no real deterrent anyway as each individual pane, of which there are 18, could easily be removed, smashed or knocked in, and the weak wooden frames would easily yield.

The window looks out onto the garden lawn, the washing line, a fence, a sycamore tree and an old stone shed completely buried beneath a sea of ivy and brambles.

Words by Professor Julian Roberts