The Big Untidy Magazine

THE DRAGONS IN BATTERSEA PARK

The dragons smiled in Battersea Park
Fairy lights twinkled in the trees
As a child I found sanctuary here
Away from the dirty city.

As a special treat
I was taken to the funfair
To go on the tree walk ,
The dodgems.
And the big dipper.
The drunken sailor staggered about so absurd
The laughing policeman hit you over the head with his truncheon.

Drinking chocolate
Bile beans
Wrights coal tar soap
The toucan on the Guinness advert.
I taught the Budgerigar to swear
But I didn’t care
I wanted to be a punk
Just like my hero Dennis the Menace.

The dragons smiled in Battersea Park
They lived high in the trees
Near a fairy village
And fairy lights reflected on the River Thames
A secret place in run down Battersea.

The dragons played pranks in Battersea Park
A fairy land in the inner city
Candy floss
Fizzy drinks
Ice cream
Things that make a child’s eyes glow
All those little buzzes.
Paper rounds
And hard earned pocket money
Factory smells that you learned to accept
The grit and grime of childhood.

Delicious bread pudding a penny a slice
Dripping sandwiches
The Bash Street Kids,
Beryl the Peril
Minnie the Minx
Desperate Dan
Colonel Blink
Rupert the Bear
A little childhood mischief.

The dragons smiled in Battersea Park
I explored a magic summer evening,
The dragons smiled in Battersea Park
As a child this would make me happy.

Frank Bangay
First written spring 1995
Revised spring 2007

The above poem about the Battersea Park fun fair/pleasure gardens, was originally known as The Gnomes In Battersea Park. However as far as I can remember there weren’t any gnomes in Battersea Park. I just liked bringing gnomes and teddy bears to life in stories. There was a tree walk with lots of friendly dragons and glow worms and a fairy village. Battersea was a mostly poor area with a lot of industry along the River Thames. Both the stretch between Chelsea Bridge and Vauxhall, known as Nine Elms. And the stretch between Battersea Bridge and Wandsworth Bridge, and on towards Putney. Were very industrial in those days. The Worlds End area of Chelsea was also seen as a slum area. In the middle of all this Battersea Park seemed like a little paradise. The fun fair was built in 1951.The year that I was born. It closed down in 1974. In an earlier era Battersea Park rivalled Kew Gardens for it’s plant life. The industry along the Thames is gone now. The area has been somewhat gentrified though a lot of the old housing estates still remain. But growing up in the borough of Wandsworth I have fond memories of younger years and the Battersea Park funfair.
Frank Bangay Spring 2007