In 2013 I bought a sledge from Trespass.

It was a winter so cold, the coldest it had been for a long time. There was so much snow. I did the sensible thing and bought a simple plastic sledge from Trespass which cost me £10.

We were ready! Ready for whatever snow came – we could go sledging!

Except the next year there was no snow.

There was also no snow the following year.

The lack of snow was getting me down a bit, almost as much as when the snow starts to melt and become slush when it does appear. To make matters worse, almost everyone else everywhere in the UK seemed to be having snow. Unfair.

The following year we had snow! Not enough to sledge in though, just enough to make the world’s tiniest snowman. So we did.

The following year? No snow, of course. The sledge was put in the loft.

It must be around 2017 now and I was starting to forget I’d even bought the sledge. It got moved to the shed, a place where even more possessions go to be forgotten over the years (but slightly more accessible).

I thought about Freecycling it. Maybe that would bring the snow back to us here?

2018. The year of the snow. Our sledge from Trespass finally made its debut.

Five years is a long time to not use something and for it to gather dust in a cupboard.

Fortunately it has had two afternoons of optimum sledging after school. Once in Grove Park and then Carshalton Park where my daredevil child sledged down the Hog Pit Pond. It’s steep – she managed three or four goes. I missed it as I got home from work after they had left. It looks like this when there is no snow and is the place where the big bonfire happens each November as it’s such a big slope. It actually filled with water for the first time in years in 2014.

We went to our local park The Wrythe, the old Air Raid Shelters made a fantastic slope, and where I was able to catch Shaun and H up to join in. H managed at least 30 goes!

It’s fairly safe to say our sledge from Trespass has had a lot of use – at last!