Blog: We’ve all done it. Looked at the weekend weather forecast, seen that (for once) it’s going to be nice, and thought to ourselves: “You know what? I might get the tent out and head out to the countryside.”

We get the tent out, just to make sure all the bits are where they should be.

And that’s when it happens.

We remember that when we packed the tent up in Cornwall last time it was because it had rained all night and we’d frankly had enough of those screaming kids in the tent right next to us.

When we got home, we bunged the tent in the shed and went to the pub.

That’s why now the tent is smelly. And mouldy.

“Why, oh why,” we think “didn’t I get it out over the winter and clean and air it?”

Too late now. It’s unusable. Weekend away knocked on the head.

Now, imagine you are a local authority. And your tent is a public paddling pool in the middle of a public park. And the mouldy smelliness is damaged fibreglass.

Ask yourself again? “Why didn’t I check it over the winter?”

The last few days we have been blessed with proper summer weather. But on the very first day of the school holidays Shropshire Council closed the paddling pool in the Quarry because the fibreglass needs to be repaired.

“We do not anticipate this being resolved immediately,” said a spokesman.

Well, no rush. As everyone knows, Britain is blessed with long hot summers which stretch out for months on end. Oh, no. Hold on. That’s Turkey. Here it rains. A lot.

So when we do get the odd warm spell, is it not reasonable to assume that the people who take a fair chunk of our salaries to pay for public services might have one of the facilities designed for those very days up and running? Is it not reasonable to assume they would have seen the school holidays looming and thought: “Let’s go check everything’s working okay.”

I know the council is struggling to make ends meet (aren’t we all? That’s why so many people want to use the Quarry and the paddling pool – cos they can’t afford to go away. And their tent’s probably mouldy) and if they’d said: “Look, we simply can’t afford the repairs,” then I might have some sympathy.

But they say they are working to reopen it “as soon as possible” and that, to me, says massive oversight.

So, best get out the sponge. Wipe down the tent. Air it in the garden for a couple of days (providing it stays nice long enough) and head off to somewhere where you CAN play safely in the water.

Or maybe don’t bother. There’s bound to be screaming kids in the next tent. And it’ll probably rain.

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