South Yorkshire times, February 9, 1963.
Useful Skiers on Conisbrough Slopes
Passers-by, glancing up at the garden of “the Terrace,” Conisbrough during the past few weeks might have rubbed their eyes and thought for the moment they were in the Austrian Alps, for they would have seen a pair of intrepid skiers gliding down the slope.
The skiers were the son and daughter of Mr and Mrs D.J.C.Macaskill – 13-year-old Angus, and nine-year-old Carla. The skis were home-made – the work of Angus.
Said his mother, Mrs M.Macaskill yesterday, “Angus has a Norwegian sledge but he seemed to find that a bit tame, so he made himself the fourth feet long skis out of some wood he found lying about. He’s very keen on making things, and it only took him an hour or two.”
Angus, a pupil at Hale House, Prepratory School, Doncaster certainly knew what he was doing for for he has gained plenty of experience helping his father , who is Group Manager of Cadeby and Denacy Collieries to build the families `Graduate Dingy. His mother added , “Whatever my husband is working on , both the children join in.”
Although neither Angus nor Carla have done any skiing before they soon became adept and even improvised a slalom run. “Angus hurt himself on Saturday but it did not deter him,” continued Mrs Macaskill, “they have certainly caused some amusement in the village.”
One of Angus’s ambitions is to go to Switzerland, which explains why he was so keen to learn the art of skiing. Now the thought has arrived to ruin the scheme, so it looks as though he and his sister have to wait another year for the again transform Conisbrough into a miniature “Tyrol”.