A father mourns the progress of society to his son:
'I remember when there used to be tennis courts here, yes, and astroturf. Now look at it! You see where that wall is? That used to be the back wall of an indoor football pitch. I know! There was a whole leisure centre here once, a gorgeous place. No trace of it now of course. Some of the original paving is still there I believe though. They say this sunken garden used to be an Olympic size swimming pool. The lifeguard would have sat somewhere over by those azaleas. Yes, just beyond the geraniums.
Those high walkways up there (their proper name escapes me for the moment) would have been used as viewing galleries for squash matches back then, although the squash courts themselves were knocked down. You'd hardly believe it now. Apparently a large number of tennis and squash balls were found in the grounds and are preserved in cabinets. The beautiful underground parking network remains, but is no longer accessible to the public. Such a shame. It's hard to imagine what it would have been like isn't it? I can’t imagine what this hole in the wall was for either. Some say there was an ATM there once, but I’m not so sure.
Sickening isn’t it? A flourishing leisure centre like that. And some prince has only gone and built a bloody great castle on it.'
