Natural Play at Longshaw

Child with tree-stump Boggart house

Jump into the magical world of your imagination and meet the mischievous Boggarts along our trail.


Boggarty Boggarty Boo!
We want to be friends with you!
Wild and Witchery,
Tricksy, Twitchery,
Hairy, Tattery,
Mad as a Hattery,

Boggarty Boggarty Boo!

(From the Boggart Sandwich by Martin Riley)

Don’t know what a Boggart is? Don’t worry you decide!
Big, small, hairy, fairy, friendly, smelly ….
But where will you find them?

Bogart view at Longshaw


Maybe deep inside their twisty-turny rhododendron Boggart Burrow, or hiding in the trees at Boggart View – look high, look low!
Then again they might just be having fun in their homes at Boggart Rise and Boggart Stump. KNOCK KNOCK, anyone in? Maybe leave them a leaf gift so they don’t play any tricks on you.
Could you play hide and seek at Boggart Bank and venture down into the rockery and to the weeping trees?
And who’s that scuttling over and up Boggart Hole. Could they be the Northern Hairy Wood Ants? Can you find their hills and highways? Can you build some stone towers or bridges as an ant obstacle course?
Why not try and do as many of the 50 things to do before you're 11 ¾ as you can on your tour of the trail, for example:
•    build a den for tea with the Boggarts
•    make a trail with sticks for the Boggarts to follow
•    come and play in the snow and make snow Boggarts
•    make a home for a wild animal and leave it for the Boggarts
Follow the Boggart signs to find the six hidden play areas along a 2.5 km (1.5 miles), pram friendly, circular loop from the tea-room and shop.
An activity map of the trail can be purchased from the shop for 50p.