Interview with Nancy, who was born and grew-up in Huntly

What are your first memories of the Battlehill?
The thing that I remember most is the freedom we had, being able to run about and enjoy ourselves. You were away from the town as well - that was exciting. That is my really big impression: the freedom that we had up there, because it was so open and different from now.

What kind of games did you play?
Cowboys and Indians. We used to go to the picture house in Huntly and see films and we used to re-enact some of the films in the Battlehill. That must have been a bit funny. Some of the boys had little toy guns. At that time you could play with guns, not like nowadays, you can´t really play with guns. They just had like cowboy guns, wee revolvers. They used to get caps to put in and it made a bang.

Did you have any favourite places in the Battlehill?
I just remember the big stone where we used to have our picnics. That was sort of our base and we just played around there and some of us went off and did our own thing. It was just so free. There was no fear in those days either, like there is now. You would be scared to let the children run off on their own. At that time you could just run about in the Battlehill.

What did it look like around the rock?
It was mostly just shrubbs and small trees at that time. It seems so closed in now compared to what we had. As I said you could run about and there was so much space. There does not seem to be the same space now with the trees. It was quite green up there at the Battlehill, but with the trees the vegetation does not get the same chance to grow. I think you could actually see Huntly from the Battlehill.

Do you remember any animals?
Rabbits probably. But we were probably making so much noise that we would have scared the wildlife away. But there certainly were rabbits.

Do you still go there for walks today?
Yes, my friends and I sometimes have a walk there. It´s a nice walk but I must admit that I prefer to be in spaces where you can see the countryside rather than just walking through trees all the time.