Interviews with Jelka Plate: D. Grace, youth from Huntly

How do you use the Battlehill woods?

A lot of the time we go up there during the day for walking round and having a laugh. It´ s fun to explore all the the different places you can go in. I once went up there and just sat there writing for about three hours. No one else knew that I was in Huntly and I just sat there. We also sometimes go there to camp. One of the places where we camp is where the Sitkas are. They are going to be cut down and the place is probably not going to be that safe for camping anymore. We are a bit annoyed about that.

We usually only stay for one night. During the day you have the birds and sometimes you hear and see rabbits. But in the night you hear animals going through and it is rustling. It´s scary and thrilling. If everyone just sits in silence you can hear owls and you can hear the trees moving. You just get mesmerized by it all. It´s so much better than during the day, because during the day it´s more happy, but if you are there from day until night you can notice the changes quite subtly. If you are right in the woods, without a clearing, it´s magical. It feels like one of the places in a fairy tale.

Which fairy tale do you associate with the woods?

For the place where we camp I would probably say something like Snow White, because you have this rock and it looks a bit like the place where she would have been laying on. If you are further in the woods it is more like the Red Riding Hood, you are just listening out for signs of fairies. When you see light, like the stars or the moon is hitting off things or reflects something it feels as if you could bump into a fairy or a little pixy any minute. But sometimes it´s just playing scary and you think you are in a horror movie like the blair witch project. It gives you a thrill, an energy boost, an adrenalin rush. You get really hyper and think „It´s so cool“.
But I really think that it is going to change quite a lot when the Sitka is cut down. It is going to be a lot thinner.

One of our friends once got lost one night. He had gone back to the car and then came back along the path. Everyone just sat there and had the feeling that something was coming and wondered what was happening. We said „Oh my god, what if he got lost or has been murdered, oh no, no no.“ There was only about five of us and we were so scared and all just sat cuddled up. Suddenly he burst out of the trees and went „Aahhhhh“, because he knew we were scared. Everyone screamed and two of us just ran away, they actually got up and ran away!

Another time we were at the clearing at the starting bit of the woods where the quarry is. We all sat around the fire in a circle telling stories. It was going into morning, the light just started to come back and we suddenly heard something rushing past on the ground. Everyone just said „What was that“ and shut up. It came back and it was just a rabbit. It sat right next to where we were. I have never been that close to a wild rabbit. It just sat there and looked at us for a couple of minutes and then went off again.

What are your favourite places in the woods?

There is the bit with this giant rock where you can sit on. There are about four different places where you can sit on the rock and there is a fireplace in the middle of it. It´s quite creepy. There is also the bit that overlooks the quarry. That´s really nice when the sun is setting or rising. And there is the clearing with that big beech tree. That´s so entwining, it looks like when you turn around the branches will come and enwrap you. You have the feeling that you should be there and shouldn´t be there at the same time. You can be there for ages and not really notice the time going past. It´s quite spiritual as well. When it´s going into night it feels as if there is an aura of the woods and if you are there for long enough you feel like you are entwined with it and that you are part of it.

What is your prefered season in the woods?

I prefer to go there in summer and autumn, but it´s really cool in snow. The snow makes it look like a fairy land all over. Because you don´t get that much snow inside, but around it you get masses and masses of snow and it doesn´t dissappear for ages. It´s so sparkly and white. It looks like a different country when the pine cones fall onto the snow.

One time there was a lot of mist and it went all through the woods, it was so eerie and creepy but it was brilliant. The mist was all over the floor and you couldn´t see three feet in front of you.

What kind of movements do you associate with the woods?

Sometimes you see rabbits go past really fast and it gives you a scare, so you move quickly. It´s again like being one with it, whatever happens there, you feel it. When the wind is blowing, the trees are swaying slowly and when you are moving you are moving quite slowly as well. Even when you are talking, if it´s peaceful and the birds are singing you will just casually and slowly be talking.

A lot of the time you see the branches moving. I remember once I saw a branch falling down, because the wind was so wild, it was one from the top, not very big and it tumbled down and hit some other branches. It was mesmerizing, you just stopped and watched it, it was kind of hypnotic and if that was always happening you would just stand there and watch them.