Fen School B, to Dead Man's Wood

This walk starts at around 2 PM on a cold, clear winter’s day (16th of December, 2011) near Christmas. We walk with ten children, a teaching assistant and the class teacher.

We head out from the school along the main road towards our first stop. This is by the side of a tall tree trunk which is all that remains of a tree that has been hit by lightning. The Big Tree featured in their discussions during the mapping session. They tell us about how it had been struck by lightning before being cut down a few years ago. The tree is closely associated with Henry VIII, and some of the children even say that Henry VIII planted the acorn that the tree grew from; from here we can see the manor house which is quite an important place in the village, being where Henry VIII is purported to have visited. The children know this story well and talk about it with us and their teacher.

From here we enter the playground that is in the field next to the Big Tree. They tell us about the fireworks display that happens here every year, they call it the Big Boom. However, the playground itself is now deemed to be disused: “this is the old boring playground; there were rats here, that's why they built the new one”.

As we walk along, we see mounds of earth near the playground; the children explain these to us: “there's dunes over there”; “they're not dunes, they're ramps”; “for riding your bike on, but they're too difficult, most children just play there… they're perfect for pretend battles”.

We stand for a minute with our eyes closed and then ask the children what they sensed: they describe the breeze, the sound of birds, the smell of mud and leaves, and cars. The sound of cars comes from the Stretham Road, which is very busy, and indeed it takes us a long time to cross it, and as we stand waiting one of the boys remarks sarcastically, “brilliant view!”

One of the girls who is walking with this group instigated the direction of the walk [we call her Mary for the purposes of this account]. She identified Dead Man’s Woods as an exciting destination. She knows it well as it is on the edge of her father’s farm and is somewhere she often goes, accompanied by her dad and their dog. She says: ‘We are off to Dead Man’s Wood. There is a caravan with shotgun holes in it.’ Her father is involved with hunting in the area and some other children also have family that shoot. They talk about the different birds that are shot in the woods, including pheasants, pigeons and so on.

By now we have crossed the main road and are onto a smaller road that is more of a farm track. It is a very quiet road so we fan out across it and continue our meandering pace; with children ambling along, dipping in and out of muddy puddles and chatting amiably to each other and to us. The road is quiet most of the way, though when we remark upon this we’re told, “It was rush hour here 5 minutes ago – 2 cars!”

At one point we pass a sign that says: Beware of Free Range Children which the children get quite excited about and we take some photos of it. One of the boys tells me about a chest that he has buried in the ditch. He says that he stores metal in it, like shot gun cases that he finds when he is out exploring.

They also talk about horses and some people who own them. Mary knows all about who owns which horses in and around the village. At this point Mary’s dog joins the walk. This leads to a discussion about Mary’s dad’s guns. Apparently he no longer has them so his involvement with the hunting has now changed.

We pass a spot where a girl remarks that she got an electric shock. Then we pass a house which we are told is an orphanage for girls.

The sun is now very low on the horizon and the children remark on how pretty it looks. From here you can see it setting in amongst a little wooded area at the end of track that we are walking along.

They talk a bit about the mound near Dead Man’s Wood. This mound is very pronounced in this landscape which is otherwise characteristically flat. One child says; "In the Roman times they used to live there and then when they died they were buried there and then they levelled off the ground and that is why it is higher. Buried with gold and all that stuff but we haven’t found it yet unfortunately."

When we ask "So have you been looking for it all these years?" the reply comes: "No because we didn’t want to dig up the bodies". They also talk about seeing fossils and skulls and bugs… "insects eating the bones", all of which they imagine they might find if they try digging up the bodies.

We are instructed by Mary: "Quietly, because of the pheasant". Mary’s friend adds: "I feel a bit scared because it might be a bit ghostly and stuff and there might be funny noises and I don’t want to hear them".

A boy tells us about a visit to the woods: "Once when we were down here a piece of paper flew into the crops and they were like climbing the trees and stuff to try and direct us to it but we never found it".

We spot a white pheasant which raises much excitement. They are still really enjoying jumping in the muddy puddles that we pass all the way along the road. One boy tells me how he jumps in the ditch in the winter when it fills up with snow. "Please tell us some more facts about Dead Man’s Wood" I ask. A boy replies: "It is good for ditch running". This is an activity that is specific to the fens where ditches border all of the fields to keep the soil drained and useful for agriculture.

The children ask Mary about the pheasant shooting but she is reluctant to talk about because she thinks they do not really want to know. It also transpires that another boy’s father comes down for the pheasant shooting but he is reticent about this.

They discuss that they might have seen a dead man in the distance. Their imaginations are clearly ignited by this place of mystery and local myth. We are now walking along a small grassy track towards the woods. As we arrive at the woods Mary leads us to the caravan that they have been talking about during the walk. There is great excitement about the bullet holes in the caravan. "There is a skull in there!", one girl cries; "We have found a skull of a dog!"

At this point the father of Mary (and owner of the dog) arrives. He tells us that this is in fact a Muntjac skull. "It is a Muntjac. It looks like there is a fox in there as well", he says. He goes on to tell us that he comes down here to help with the shooting and that "[Mary] does the beating".

We do a meditation minute and they identify the sounds of twigs, birds and wind blowing. "It smells – smell like after a fire", It is ‘more peaceful’ here.

We ask them about how we think the place will be in a 100 years. One boy suggests the trees might be cut down. Others note that the fields below the woods are empty of buildings, and so suggest that building work might take place. At this point Mary’s dad comments that it won’t be built upon, because it’s flood plain; he tells us about the draining that took place here in the late 1950s. He tells of the black peaty organic matter that is good for farming that comes from the bottom of the lake. He also tells us about the way that the soil changes in this area to clay which is difficult for farming. He points to a rise in the land which demarcates this change. It is clear that Mary knows this story well already.

Perhaps picking up on this account by Mary’s father, one of the boys now remarks “Might be water again, stuff will be destroyed so the water will come back”; while another says that it will be “marshy”.

This has been a long walk so we are now on the way back and we have to walk very quickly. One of the girls has a hole in their boot, which slows her down. She jokes, “I could reflood that field with the water in my boots!”

Not much of interest is remarked on as we return although they do mention Doghouse Grove which we had missed during the mapping session. One child also tells us about a spot which used to be a field but has been turned into a playground for the children that live around the area. It has not yet opened but they are excited about it as it has an area for each different age. For these children though, Dead Man’s Wood is a landmark that dominates both in the landscape of the place and the memory-scape of their childhood.

On the way back to school, Mary tells her friend, “I'm getting the [Muntjac] skull at the weekend”. Her friend replies “That's disgusting”, but Mary doesn't agree: “Not really”, and goes on to explain how it could be soaked in boiling water to get the dirt and anything else off it.