The Lake.

In the summer months during the years 1947 to 1954, my brothers and I and our friends would meet at the Lake. This was privately owned by a kind old man named DR. Fox who allowed the public access to the lake which was set in a large area of woodland and we swam and played and picnicked as much as we could in this heavenly place. There was a diving board at the deep end of the lake, about six feet above the water. Every so often , a young man who obviously thought the world of himself, would arrive , change into his brief swimming trunks and pose for a while before
executing quite a good "jack knife " dive in front of what he hoped was an admiring audience.
He had long black hair , heavily oiled and combed into two large waves which was fashionable then.
One day, we were lounging in the sun at the deep end , and he arrived and an expectant hush descended over us we watched him begin his ritual . The diving board had developed a large lateral crack and we had stopped using it , knowing it was now very weak.
The Adonis walked up to the board , looked at the water below and asked us if it was warm today. We assured him it was. He then walked along the board . Noticing something different in its feel, he saw the crack and asked if it was safe. We again assured him it was fine saying we'd been using it all day.
Now, the jack knife dive involved at least three progressively higher jumps on the end of the board then the body is folded as the diver touches his toes whilst in mid air. He then straightens
and enters the water cleanly to eventually emerge , climb the iron ladder to bask in the admiration of the watchers.
We all held our breath as he tentatively bounced up and down . He sprang upwards and descended for the first time .The tortured board managed to propel him back up this time but
when he came down from his second leap it broke cleanly with no resistance and the diver fell straight down in a shocked and ungainly sprawl into the water to disappear for several seconds, leaving behind a large multi coloured patch on the surface of the water from his hair oil!
He came up at last and staggered to where his clothes lay , saying nothing whilst we clung to each other, helpless with laughter.
We never saw him again.
There was a funny sequel to this event. Having no diving board now , we looked for a replacement. At last, in the boat house, we found a nice long plank which we borrowed and laid on the bank over the remains of the old one and with four boys standing on the rear end we were able to take it in turn to dive.
At last, tiring of this , we walked around to the shallow end on the other side of the lake to sunbathe and chat. Suddenly we saw, across the water, a man about to take a running dive off the board, not realising of course that it wasn't anchored to the ground! We shouted and waved in an attempt to warn him but he just waved back, not understanding and sure of our rapt attention , he ran lithely along the board which of course collapsed beneath him and nearly brained him as he entered the water in a tangle of arms and legs!We all collapsed with laughter again and indeed , still do laugh to this day at the memory.