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‘The ash tree is surrounded by grass at the rear of the car park. The car park is at the rear of two small blocks of flats. there used to be houses here from 1920-ish until 1990, when they were replaced with flats. The tree is near the back fence, with other small trees, hazel, elder and lots of berried ivy. It was a sunny day, I was happy and relaxed. The grass around the tree was longish and there were some wild flowers and plants growing amongst the grass. I began to notice how beautiful these tiny plants were, plants which most people dismiss as weeds. I didn’t see a fairy as such, but I was aware of a small very light presence, about a foot high and it spoke to me and told me [a] rhyme relating to the plant I was looking at. I can’t remember the rhyme or what the plant was, but ever since I have paid close attention to indigenous wild plants. I live on the North Downs and we have some tiny native plants. I also went organic in my garden after that. I also notice in my garden that the fairies sometimes place plants there perfectly, without any help from me. I am a trained scientist and I view this particular encounter as part of a much wider spiritual growth that I was embarking on at that particular time. It was part of a number of experiences which completely changed my life direction. I believe in fairies and angels. Angels help me every day. I would say it was a fairy and not an angel because it was small. When I’ve seen angels they have been much bigger, human size.’ ‘I couldn’t see it clearly, just like sunlight sparkling on water, like a sort of reflection.’ ‘It was a quiet, soft voice, couldn’t tell if it was male or female, chanting a rhyme and it conveyed a feeling of being pleased with me, that I had noticed and appreciated the plants.’ ‘[A fairy] because it was small and related directly to natural things growing.’ ‘I don’t really know [what fairies are] but I think maybe they are the spirits of things which grow, like plants and trees and their job is to make a bridge to help humans understand how to look after the planet.’ ‘I strongly believe in God and He made angels to look after us and help discover and interpret His will for us, so why wouldn’t He do something similar for the flora and fauna, as we are all interdependent.’