AS IF growing up amongst the decaying tenements of the old Gorbals wasn't exciting enough, the locals kids were amongst the first in Glasgow to have their own adventure playground.

Created with the help of legendary Glasgow folk singer and city school teacher Matt McGinn, the park - nicknamed The Venny - was a veritable pleasure palace of rope ladders, tyre swings, shoogly platforms and skelf-infested climbing frames.

The gallus McGinn was once quoted as saying: "My job here is not to tell the kids to do this or do that, but to be there if they want help. Another important, if unofficial job, is to give them lights for their fags."

Needless to say, such talk didn't go down well with the city council, who promptly cut their annual grant to the park by £1000.