Interview with Poppy and Niamh, both 10 years old

Where do you go when you go to the Battlehill Wood?
We go to the beginning and there are paths which you can follow.
Yes, we follow the path and then go up to the hill bit.

Do you sometimes leave the paths?
Yes. I like running through ferns and stuff.

What do you play in the Woods?
My dad put up a swing where the steps are. Or we play this game where we are in a sort of tribe and we have to build our own little things and we climb trees and stuff. We kind of use the trees as our houses and we build pretend fires. There is only two of us, so we just pretend there is more.

We also have this place which we call the kingdom. It´s a fallen tree but there are other trees around it. You can go around the back and then go in it. It´s become a bit damp now because of the rain.

I like to pretend that I am wild animals. I like being griffins, sometimes wolves and sometimes horses.

What are griffins?

They are mythical. They are half a giant eagle and half lion. They are cool, I like them.

What kind of movements do they do?
Oh I just run through the forest and jump quite far and go on rocks. Sometimes I growl.

Are you allowed to go into the woods on your own?
Sometimes, but not usually. Sometimes- we then just take drinks and food but not really anything else. Sometimes I have picnics with my mum and dad.

Do you have a favourite place to do that?
When you go up the steps there is a green bit so you can sit there and eat your picnic.

What kind of animals do you see in the woods?
I have seen a lot of birds. I have seen a lot of rabbits. I think I once heard a woodpecker, but I never saw it. You see a lot of butterflies.
There are quite a few squirrels as well.

And what sounds do you hear there?
Sometimes when it´s quite windy the trees are creeking. And you hear birds.
We stopped in the middle of the woods and listened for a minute and you hear a lot of bees buzzing.

Did you ever get lost in the woods?
No.

Do you find it more a light and happy space or more a spooky place?
It depends where you are. Where you can see the fields it´s kind of peaceful.
But when you go into the Kingdom and you go really far in, it get´s really dark, so that would be a bit spooky.

Why do you call it the Kingdom?
I don´t know, me and my other friend and her little sister found it and we just went, „Oh well, this is the Kingdom.“

Do you play kings and queens in there?
We did once but we don´t really do that anymore. We more kind of just explore now.

What do you find when you explore?
Me and my brother used to collect pine cones and we once found about four inched long pine cones. It´s good to go on your bike because there is a lot of curves and dips, so that´s quite fun. There is also a bit where there is a style, so that you can climb over the fence to play on the rocks on the other side.

What do you play on the rocks?
I play griffins a lot. And me and Niamh we like to howl a lot.

That would be the wolves howling to the moon?
Yes.