Tag: Nottinghamshire

Blue Monday with bells

Published on by Laura Bloomsbury13 Comments

Equivalent to the Japanese Hanami, many of us go in search of the wonder of the Spring woodland – Hyacinthoides non-scripta or British bluebells

Well worth the climb up from Felley Priory to the bluebell woods

When I went this week, the bluebells were already turning, having been summoned by a somewhat early start to Spring. Also the light was overcast most of the time so not ideal conditions for photographing this spectacle but …

  • more purple in a haze of hyacinths
  • the bells are bluer in close-up
  • Spring leaf green gives bluebells wood the ambient light

As children we would pick the flowers without a second thought and I remember the exuberance of running through bluebell woods but now these are protected species and only animals veer from the woodland paths

Bluebells take time to establish so the swathes we see are indicative of ancient woodland and all need to be preserved. But of course the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) does not apply to developments nor the HS2 rail which will tear its way through some of the Chilterns’ bluebells woods*

Here in this Nottinghamshire woodland, the way through is filled, not only with sights but also scents which of-course we would expect from a hyacinth, no matter how non scriptad!

Notes:
HS2 & The Chilterns – “Despite winning some concessions – bored tunnels were extended and 3 areas of ancient woodland saved – at the end of the judicial process, HS2 received Royal Assent in 2017 to proceed. “