Wide eyed back in the days of Cinerama

IN this era of augmented reality, virtual reality and a general shaky grip on reality, it's hard to imagine the primitive ways in which the children of the 1960s got their thrills.

- GUY HENDERSON

Today if you want to experience the joy of a rollercoaster ride without actually having to get on one of the beastly things, you simply place a pair of high-tech goggles over your eyes, fire up your mobile phone and enjoy the queasy experience without leaving your armchair.

Back then, though, unless you actually lived close enough to one of the big coasters to go and get on board yourself, the experience was very different indeed.

For anyone fortunate enough to have been a primary school pupil in the sixties, it would mean a bus ride or a long walk in crocodile formation down to Clennon Valley, where all of the wonders of the world were on display inside a giant blue tent.

I am very grateful to the custodians of the Undiscovered Torbay page on Facebook for reminding us all of the giant blue tent that used to go up at Clennon Valley back in the mid-sixties, just about where the velopark’s excellent pump track for intrepid bikers is now.