Judith Lacy's Jottings: New Savage Reserve playground a hit with this history buff

You can swing on what you fancy at the new Savage Reserve playground - stars optional. Photo / Judith Lacy

The English word savage is in part derived from the old French sauvage.

Sauvage means wild and it sure sounds a lot sexier than savage. In fact, Johnny Depp is the face of Dior's Sauvage cologne. Google doesn't allow me to sniff said perfume but I can use my imagination.

Nowadays, savage is mostly associated with dogs. It used to be associated with colonisation with white people thinking they were better than the indigenous people they encountered. In reality, the colonisers were the savages, so out of tune with the natural environment.

Yet, for those of a certain generation and political persuasion, the last name Savage took on almost God-like proportions mid-last century.

As New Zealand History notes, Michael Joseph Savage's avuncular image hung in the homes of the Labour faithful for decades.

And Palmerston North's Savage Cres, with its garden suburb state housing, is named after Savage, New Zealand's Prime Minister from 1935-1940. We'll overlook the fact he was born in Australia.

The newly updated playground at Savage Reserve has a historic theme, evoking play equipment of old but with modern safety features.

The retro-inspired equipment brought back memories.

The monkey bars were only ever aspirational for me, having the upper arm strength of an eggshell. I'd act like I was too tall or bored to swing myself along and quickly move on to the next piece of equipment.

The seesaw was always about calculation - would the person on the other end of the wooden plank behave themselves or try to send me into the cloud (and not in a storage kind of way)? Then there was the coming down to earth and the dismounting - how to do it without getting a sore bum or your legs tangled somewhere?

Swings were definitely my thing. Despite my wobbliness and lack of thirst for heights, I can do swings. Great for your ab muscles and your mental health. We need more adult swings. The swings at the reserve have remained at the Park Rd end.

When I turned into Hodgens Place on Saturday the first thing I noticed was the attractive gazebo, then the disability parking, and how the carpark is separated from the road. Great stuff, city council.

It was one of those rare cloudless and windless Palmy days where you have to check the location on your phone in case you have been transported to Palmerston, Northern Territory.

There were children playing when I arrived and more appeared. I love how kids talk to each other. "What's your name?"

Two boys joined me for a go on the spinning seat, but they didn't have much room with my adult-sized legs hungry for space. But it's a unique way to take in the architecture of the state houses.

Unfortunately, the water fountain wasn't working on Saturday and it appears the fences were removed before the grass seed won its war with the mud.

I was surprised at how big Savage Reserve is. Most of it is just grass but it was great to see newly planted mandarin, grapefruit and pear trees.

Sitting on the grass, I could almost imagine it was the early 1940s when the state housing area was completed. The only giveaways were the rotary clotheslines, Sky dishes, and the height of several trees.

Savage spoke of "smiling homes". I'm sure he would approve of the smiling kids and the amused adults reliving their childhoods. Back in my day ...

Let's get sauvage, Palmy.

This is a Public Interest Journalism funded role through NZ On Air