Although according toTerry Pratchett it was more of a ho-ho…
A ha-ha is a one sided ditch that prevents cattle wandering across your lawn, whilst still allowing you to enjoy the view unenumbered by fences, inbetween the odd game of crochet. Or if you listen to Pterry, it was to stop inconvienient peasants maring the view. Given the cattle that often wandered along the A123, and the boys that loitered at the end of the school field, our ha-ha could fit the definition either way.
So we had a ha-ha. While perhaps not as tall as Blood Stupid Johnson’s 50 foot ho-ho that had claimed the lives of several undergardeners, it was still perhaps genuinely about 25 foot tall. In summer, it was an obstacle, made worse by the limitations of flimsy cotton summer school dresses. In winter, (specifically, in snow) it was a daredevil slide of doom. In both cases, it was often the case that once you started your descent, you had to finish it, one way or another, and usually at a faster rate than that at which you started it.
Our ha-ha was made more challenging by the random oak tree stump halfway down. This could act as both a brake (in a good way) and a brake (in a bad way).
Still – what other 11-18 year olds could claim personal and daily knowledge of a 17 Century gardening innovation?
I won’t mention the Greek Theatre we also had…
the massive sand pits / long jump pits at the bottom of the haha also helped cushion the fall. I loved our school grounds.