Broads School A, Walk 1

Class 3: From school to swan green, then up to park

The whole group sets off along the pathway from the school towards the village, which is set back from the road for a way. We pass besides a farm field, and I ask the children I’m walking with what is grown in the farm. One girl answers: "Is it Kettle Chips?" - the teaching assistant explains that the potatoes for Kettle Chips are farmed nearby. The girl continues talking to me about taking her dog for a walk along here, and the one time it went in the river and her dad had to rescue it.

Near the top of Ferry View Road we see new houses being built; I ask about them, one boy says "probably holiday homes" and another adds "a load of people come here cause of the broads". They then continue talking about the broads and the birds on the broads, particularly herons. One boy tells me "I've got a heron in my garden"; "Harry the heron"; "all Herons are called Harry!"; at this point a girl interrupts, "No, there's one called Pippin" before explaining to me that the Broads Authority people have named some of the birds. The boy who was telling me about the heron in his garden originally goes back to his explanation about this - they left out a can of fish for the heron, and now it "comes to our house sometimes and sits on our roof".

Passing by Ferry View Road, it's explained that there used to be an amusement arcade at the Ferry, but it's not there anymore. However, there is play equipment there at the pub. A discussion takes place about whether this is only for paying customers, with some children pointing out that it is for everyone to use.

We walk past the entrance to the pathway that leads between Lower Street and Pinewood Drive. One child says: ‘We are going down the Dark Alley, the Dark Alley.’ Another responds: ‘What? down there? Yeah, I love the Dark Alley!’ The children call this pathway the “dark alley” and it is indeed a very shady passage due to the tall trees either side; the children explain that they like to play manhunt here. It clearly has significance for them as a place to play and their excitement about it points to it as a place which fires their imagination.

We are now heading down past the river and the following conversation unfolds between two children: ‘We are now going down to the um river, so do you have any memories?’ A girl says in reply: ‘Well, I have my granddad, he fell into the river, he got soaking wet.’ A boy interjects: ‘When it gets warmer we will start walking down here and biking and stuff.’ The girl who asked the question about memories goes on to say: ‘I don't remember anyone falling into the river apart from my dog.’ ‘In front of you?’ her friend asks. ‘Hugo fell in the river, well he was round by Juno's house, it wasn't here it was round by Juno's house, and he was just standing there and he slipped on some moss whilst my dad was still holding the lead, and my dad had to like pull him out and had to like carry him. So we had to drag him, well we didn’t literally drag him, well, we just pulled him.’ This exchange prompts further conversation about dogs which are clearly important in the lives of these children.

Then the following exchange occurs: ‘Yeah, it used to haunted, ooo’ says a child. A boy responds, ‘yeah, it was haunted.’ They appear to be talking about a house where one of their friends lives but it is not clear which one. They then also bring up an incident where someone got run over by a jeep on the road. We continue with our walk. As we reach Swan Green (the green beside The Swan pub) I ask about what has changed in the village. "The sailing club hasn't changed its looks, but there are much more boats". Some of the children have the impression, gained from their experience boating, that the water level has risen. "The water's gone up"; "I remember when it was much much lower".

I ask what this part of the village will be like in 100 years. "If you were coming here in 100 years..." one child starts, only to be interrupted by another: "nothing would be the same. The pubs and shops won't be here". Another imagines the erosion effects of the water, saying "a lot of it will be worn away". "There'll still be shops and sailing but water level will change". When I ask how it will change, no indication of up or down, but another child adds, "water will be much higher, you can see it going up". Finally one boy suggests, "The tree [on swan green] will be cut down". This last comment prompts a lot of disagreement. "No it won't because it's been there for ages"; "It's important for Broads VillageA, it's the centre". In fact, there is a collective intake of breath and a general sense of horror at the idea that this might happen. It is clear that this tree has meaning for these children but also for their parents. One child tells us of how his mother used to play there under that tree when she was younger. This conversation indicates that the tree has intergenerational significance too. It seems like the tree has meaning for the village and its inhabitants, both individually and as a community. As one boy says: ‘It has lots of lights on it, and you can still see it {at night}. It is like a big thing to the community here.’

We stand here for the sensory exercise. Asking the children what they sensed when standing with their eyes closed, one boy said they heard "Gulls and ducks and the wind"; another boy says they heard water sounds, though then one girl explains that because of her experience on boats she doesn't hear these sounds as much; "don't hear it, like when I'm sailing I concentrate on other sounds".

The children like to play on Swan Green in the summer, or to sit there with ice cream. Several fondly recalled watching the boat show there. On the way up to the park, one girl explains in a lot more detail about the boat show. "I love the boat show. You have to take your shoes off and you can go on the expensive boats." Last year she went on a 3 deck boat. At the park, we're told that there has been new equipment installed in the "past few years". Other games they like to play, including take-down bulldog, cricket, and football.

One boy explains to me that it’s common to use the Xbox to arrange play at the park and especially to arrange games of take-down bulldog. "I say, if you're knocking up and down the avenue, let me know so I can come." It's hard to arrange meeting to play because of the distance in the village and because it's not easy to walk along some of the roads – some roads have either very narrow pavement, or no pavement at all, making it quite hazardous – but the Xbox has made arrangements for going to play so much easier. "I don't know anyone who hasn't got an Xbox". It's also useful for keeping in contact with those who move away from the village.

We head back towards the school. As we return along the dark alley, there are more accounts of playing manhunt there and how 'scary' it is. One boy has realised that we are interested in the way they play here so he makes a special effort to come and talk to us and tells us in depth stories about playing here late into the evening in summer. His sense of enthusiasm for this place is palpable in the way he talks about it.