When people at home asked how I felt about leaving all my friends, I told them I had a much better social life than I ever had in Scotland."The Sikkim region is boxed in by Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan and produces tea, oranges and cardamon. The population is predominantly Hindu with a smaller proportion of Buddhists. There are also a number of Christians, the Church of North India, a union of half a dozen imported denominations including Baptists and Anglicans, works alongside the existing religions.The winter school term breaks for Christmas or for the local festival, whichever comes first.And while schoolchildren sing Jesus Loves Me and read Saki in English for their exams, local people still worship the divinities they believe reside in the mountains and the forests. "The Christian colleges in India have a very good reputation But of course most of our students weren't Christians It was up to them if they wanted to come to prayers. There was a need for a good education and it was a way of helping people - that's what Christianity is about."She was often the only resident from overseas for miles around. There was only one bus out of town a day but she found that talents such as a Scottish country dance coach and Guide leader came in useful."I first went out to Sikkim in 1966 and everybody tended to know everybody else," she says.

But I was quite sure there was work I could do in India, that I could contribute, that I would be of use. I came to the conclusion later that I had gone out with very few preconceived ideas."Many schools and universities in India use English as their main language; she taught economics in Bombay at the Wilson College and was later invited to Sikkim to be headmistress of a girls' school in Gangtok."For me, to be a missionary was to be part of an educational service for the people," she says. We lived in an old mission bungalow with oil lamps and toilets called Thunderboxes because you had to empty them yourself. A notice closing the "fun factory" was placed on the play area when a third parent complained to environmental health officers.Their inspection found concrete on the base of the pool instead of padding, rips to a padded slope repaired with staples, inadequate netting to stop children falling from a raised area, and loose carpets. Her choice of college work meant a posting to India and she went out in 1955 after graduating in economics from Edinburgh University. It took 16 days by boat to reach Bombay and she spent the first three months up-country at one of the old mission stations learning the local language, Marathi She was 23."It was absolutely fascinating," she says "And no, I don't remember being surprised by India at all. As the play areas were not licensed, no one knew how many there were.The number of inquiries from members on play issues had nearly doubled in 18 months, indicating a rising level of concern.But Mr Smith said the number of accidents was bound to increase as the number of play areas rose, because not every accident was preventable.A spokesman for Bass said it used an experienced equipment company and fully- trained staff.

"We even audition the staff, not interview them," he added."It's a different kind of job from what was traditionally seen as bar staff.". "I'm always the white ghost in the middle," says Ishbel Ritchie. In her hand is the Paljor Namgyal Girls High School magazine. She appears in almost every photograph; the same over-exposed face set among perfectly ordered rows of Indian girls in pristine uniforms. The former headmistress is the last of the Church of Scotland's long- term missionaries in India. In 1963 there were 101; but the era of the life-long mission is over. Visa requirements, changing priorities and a general unwillingness to spend more than a couple of years in the Third World have led to shorter terms and fewer applicants for overseas posts. After more than four decades, Ishbel Ritchie has returned from the remote Sikkim region in the Himalayas to retire to her home town of Dunfermline.

"I always felt God had sent me to the right place," she says sipping Sikkim tea from a wafer thin cup and saucer, "but when I went out I didn't contemplate being there for 40 years."She decided she wanted to be a missionary while she was at school. Mr Balmforth said the key to safety was regular maintenance and inspections. By law, any major incident, such as the breaking of an arm, should be reported by staff to environmental health officers.Peter Heseltine, play safety adviser for Rospa, said there were British safety standards for outside playgrounds but none at all for inside.He estimated there were between 100 and 200 fractures a year, but hundreds of lesser incidents.Mr Smith of Ilam said it was now lobbying for the Government to gather statistics on indoor play accidents. She said the company had developed a code of practice including safety plans, which was reviewed every six months.Nick Balmforth, an independent children's play consultant, said Allied Domecqopened about 40 indoor play areas in the last 18 months and was expected to open another 100 in the next 18 months.Bass has 14, with another six in the pipeline, and Whitbread said last year it was creating at least 70 new indoor play dens.But the first code of conduct was written only last year, by Nick Balmforth, after the boom prompted Ilam, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) and the National Playing Fields Association to take action. The council is still investigating the incident.The play area was repaired and reopened, but Miss Glinn said: "It was a shock to discover that the safety of small children had been neglected."A Whitbread spokeswoman said that "very regrettably" an error was made at the Bathpool Inn, but changes were carried out immediately and staff retrained.