“How can you not have insurance?”
“Because I spent my money on the Clapco D29, the most impenetrable lock on the market today. It has only one design flaw, the door must be closed!”
The best bluebell woods in Britain
The woods are in bloom and ideal for a spectacular day out: but you’ll have to hurry to catch the finest display in years.
Photo by Herry Lawford
They are the great opportunists of woodland flora, exploiting the moment when the leaves aren’t yet fully out and the ground beneath the trees is drenched in April sunlight. That’s when the bluebells pick their moment, sprinkling our woods and forests with blue. Of all the staging posts on the road to summer, it’s one of the most beautiful.
This year, according to Ray Hawes, head of forestry at the National Trust, there seem to be more of them out than usual. “They’re also a little earlier than normal,” he cautions. So, if you want to get out there and soak up all that vivid, life-affirming colour, now’s the time to do it. Here are six of the best bluebell walks to try this spring.
OXFORDSHIRE
Badbury Hill
Part of the National Trust estate of Buscot and Coleshill, Badbury Hill is the site of an Iron Age hill fort. During the middle of the 20th century, it was planted with beech, and the displays of bluebells at the moment are stunning, especially when set against the delicate greens of the first fresh leaves. Don’t think in terms of clumps of flowers: there are carpets of them here.
There’s plenty more to see. Once you’ve wandered the woods, cross the road to Great Coxwell Barn — a 13th-century tithe barn, admired by William Morris, with a cathedral-like interior of oak timbers. To the north lies Buscot Park, an 18th-century house with paintings by the pre-Raphaelites, Reynolds, Rembrandt and Van Dyck.
Three miles down the road, the Radnor Arms (01793 861575), at Coleshill, does a fine lunch. Popular, too — book ahead.
Free; nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-buscot_coleshill
STAFFORDSHIRE
Yoxall Lodge, Newchurch
“We opened a week ago,” says Sue Featherstone, of Yoxall Lodge, “but the bluebells haven’t quite peaked yet. They’ll be at their best sometime this coming week.” Yoxall Lodge is a working farm, but each spring Featherstone opens up two of her woods and the surrounding parkland to bluebell lovers, and has laid out five walks. They close on May 17.
The longest is 2½ miles, the shortest just half a mile, but all take in Lodge Hill Wood, a relic of ancient Needwood Forest. The bluebells have had centuries to take hold here, and spread a thick blanket of blue beneath the mixed oak, ash and beech.
Once you’ve had your fill, the Meynell Ingram Arms (01283 575202, themeynell.co.uk) at Hoar Cross, is the place to go for lunch: it serves guest ales from local microbreweries, too.
£3; bluebellwoodsofyoxalllodge.com
WEST YORKSHIRE
Hardcastle Crags
Back in the early 20th century, Hardcastle Crags was a honey pot, visited each year by half a million people and home to at least six cafes, as well as tea dances and a roller-skating rink at Gibson Mill.
It’s much quieter than that now — and after centuries of charcoal burning in the valley, the woodland is making a comeback. The mile-long walk up from the (small) car park on Midgehole Road to Gibson Mill runs through oak, rowan, birch, beech and sycamore, and wherever the forest canopy allows, there are bluebells. The clearing at Rom Folly is particularly good.
According to Andrew Marsh, the local National Trust warden, the lower end of the valley is already dusted blue, and the colour will creep upwards over the next 4-6 weeks. If you haven’t brought a picnic, the Muddy Boots Cafe, at Gibson Mill, is the spot for lunch.
Valley walks are free, but parking costs £3-£4; nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-hardcastlecrags
DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY
High Camer Wood
Think of this as the highlands of the lowlands, an area broken by rolling fells, lochs and burns. These days, Britain’s largest forest park covers 300 square miles of this upland territory, and along with the inevitable conifer plantations, you’ll find plenty of broadleaf woodland.
At this time of year, that means bluebells, although they are running later than most of the UK. “They’re just beginning to spread up the valley,” says Linda Moorhouse, manager of the Cree Valley Community Woodlands Trust. To get the best of them, she advises waiting a couple of weeks, then heading up to High Camer, on the old woodland road that runs parallel to the A714. The area was cleared of mature oak in the 1950s, and since then there has been vigorous regeneration by birch trees and bluebells, as well as honeysuckle and wood sorrel.
There’s a car park and picnic site down by the road, but to get the full effect, you need to walk up to a separate patch of oak woodland that lies higher on the eastern side of the valley. Drive on to the Glentrool Visitor Centre for lunch.
Free; www.creevalley.com/ camer_wood.htm
CARMARTHENSHIRE
Greencastle Woods
There may have been woodland at Greencastle since the last ice age, spreading up the hillside on the western shore of the Towy estuary. The site covers 100 acres, and there is a mix of oak, alder and birch; it’s beneath the oaks that the bluebells prosper, but they’re mixed with wild garlic and wood anemone, so the colour is a vivid mix of blues and whites. There’s a car park here, and benches are scattered along the footpaths at the best viewpoints of the estuary — good for picnics. For those who need to stretch their legs a little more, the Carmarthen Bay Coast and Estuaries Trail passes through the site, and can be followed down to Llansteffan.
Free; www.wt-woods.org.uk/ greencastlewoods
CO DOWN
Mount Stewart
These gardens on the eastern shore of Strangford Lough aren’t only famous for their bluebells. The parterres and herbaceous borders shine, and there’s a very un-northern sense of fecundity — a result of the mild microclimate on the Ards peninsula.
The bluebells are concentrated around the lake and beech woods — both part of a 1½-mile walk around the grounds — and they are just emerging. Go soon and you’ll also see the rhododendrons, which are already out and looking superb.
Entry to gardens £5.60; nationaltrust.org.uk/mountstewart
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
