Bluebell Woods

Today I returned to the nearby Badby Woods, which I visited last month. This time I was there to wander amongst the sea of bluebells that flower at this time of year.

I took a different path into the woods today, which includes walking along a partially sunken track, up to six feet below the level of the ground in places. Very atmospheric!

There is a field to cross before you reach the woodland and you are faced here with a sign warning of man-eating sheep ahead! OK, I exaggerate a little, but, in any case, there were no sheep to be seen there today.

Here we are, finally with a view of the woodland.

As you enter, you immediately find yourself looking out at a sea of blue.

And the bluebells really are everywhere. There are acres of them to been seen.

In places bracken is starting to unfurl its fronds and the fresh, vivid green looks great alongside the eye-popping blue of the bluebells.

Badby Wood is heavily populated with beech trees, which are relatively late to come into leaf and this suits the bluebells very nicely, hence why they do so well here.

There are lots and lots of streams that run through the woods, most of them running off the adjacent farmland. In places they have worn their way down into the soil and you can find little gullies and mini water-falls.

Then, having completed my circuit round the woods, I am back out into the open, looking northwards across a grassy field, on the far side of which a fine specimen of an oak tree is just starting to come into leaf.

It was a very muddy experience, that walk, and once or twice I thought I was going to fall flat on my back, but it was deeply inspiring and an absolute joy. Here’s to repeating it all again next year.