A sunny and warm Bank Holiday (three day break with Monday off) is unusual in England, particularly with the unseasonably cold weather we had been having all year so far. Over the other breaks this year, I have not done anything except for work and recover from work. So, I really wanted to make the most of Saturday and planned to visit the Ashridge Estate in Hertfordshire, England (just north-west of London) to see the bluebells. The bluebells are only in season for a short time, and I have been monitoring the National Trust website's Ashridge Estate page to monitor the bluebell update. It turned out that Saturday was the perfect day to see them as they are just at their best and only expected to be at their best for a few more days. On top of that, we have had wonderful weather.
Ashridge Estate is one of the best places in England to see the bluebells. I've actually never seen many of them before except the odd plant or two but nothing like this carpet of bluebells in the forest that you can see in my photographs on this post, so this was spectacular.
One of the attractions on Ashridge Estate is the Bridgewater Monument, which was 172 steps up to the top to a viewing platform. This tall column is dedicated to the Duke of Bridgewater who was responsible for building canals during the Industrial Revolution.
There are three short bluebells trails to follow, and the two main trails took about an hour to complete. The first trail went through the older part of the forest which was primarily older oak and beech trees. In England, bluebells are protected as they are a native species, and there is another species of Spanish bluebell which is invasive and should be avoided. The flowers themselves are fragile, and people should keep to the paths and not walk on the bluebells because it will kill the bulbs and hinder their ability to spread. Dockey Wood is one of the forests we walked through to see the bluebells, and this forest is very old.
You can see the paths where animals and people walked (and should not have) through the bluebells. In this woods, we also saw many deer. I did not realise they were deer at first as there were quite a lot of people around, and unfortunately some people approached them and they ran before I could get a decent photograph.
The second trail is located on the other side of Bridgewater Monument and is a younger forest but has an abundance of beautiful bluebells. The photographs do not do it justice because the bluebells carpet the ground on both sides of the trail and go on as far as can be seen. They also let off a fragrance and flowery perfume throughout the forest. They smell like hyacinth.
Aren't they just beautiful?
This photograph was taken with the phone, which added a little more red into the photograph to make them appear purple, but they are really more blue.
Toward the end of the second trail, I came across this wonderful beech tree that appeared to be multiple trees growing form one base which merged at some point.
Moneybarrow Hill Burrow is also toward the end (or beginning) of this trail, and it is an old burial burrow. The area here was also known as "the Commons", which was land that the common people let their animals graze on, and this created a sloped ditch over time.
Overall, this was a lovely day out and a fantastic area not too far from where I live in west London. Seeing the bluebells on such a beautiful day and smelling their perfume was a highlight of the weekend. I have been tired of London and the city, so getting out into the country and away from buildings was a much-needed break for me.
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