Once the children's zone was in and clearly well loved, the natural next step was a garden swing.

A 3-metre post, concreted in with anchor bars at the base, connects across to the existing fence post on the opposite side. A 2-metre horizontal bar made from leftover galvanised pipe spans the gap — picked up for a couple of pounds in a sale — and the swing hangs from it.

Total cost: minimal. Amount of use it gets: substantial. It is hard to argue with that ratio.