Being alone doesn’t necessarily mean you are lonely. I for one simply enjoy my own company and now the UK government have allowed us to go out to local areas for exercise, I took myself off for a walk. Spending most of my time travelling abroad, I have forgotten to see what is on my doorstop, turns out its a beautiful place.
Into the woods, in search of a path that was rarely frequented by humans. This was easier than I realised (mainly because I got up super early). A sunny Saturday morning was perfect for a socially distanced walk. Wandering aimlessly with no particular destination in mind was bliss. Nowhere to be, nothing to do, no need to rush; sums up why I am enjoying the lockdown so much.
The farmer had kindly locked the gates open to reduce the spread of coronavirus through touch. I chose the path which followed the river. Trees line the path which follows the river for a while before parting ways. Various trees and shrubs are surrounded by a carpet of wild flowers.
Though there was one in particular I was there to visit. Bluebells, I had heard rumours the beautiful blue flowers turned the woods blue for a few weeks during April and May. I had been planning a trip to Yorkshire where there is a very famous bluebell wood, this was immediately cancelled once restrictions came into place. I’m glad I didn’t go because it meant I would never have found these flowers so close to home.
There are different types of bluebell which are different colours. English Bluebells (the ones I was looking for) are deep violet blue, whereas the Spanish bluebells are paler blue or sometimes pink. Almost half of the world’s bluebell population are found in English woods, they are relatively rare elsewhere in the world. I was surprised to find the bluebells happily living amidst various other wildflowers including the distinctive white flowers of the wild garlic.
After a while, I left the woods and reached the rivers edge. Though I couldn’t get close to throw stones in the water due to the sheer mass of rhubarb plants (my least favourite fruit).
Venturing further into the woods I found a set of stairs, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to go up them. In hindsight I should have avoided these because my legs are still aching nearly a week later! But, they say no pain, no gain. The dinosaur blue flowers carpeted the whole floor, with a sprinkling of white and blue wild flowers thrown in too.
Steep, scary but stunning. I love seeing wild flowers, especially when they dance happily in the sunshine. Flowers are the most beautiful when hidden in plain sight. I ambled through the hilly area being careful not to stand on any bluebells because they take around 5 years to recover. The sunlight always looks beautiful when falling through the gaps in the trees.
I enjoyed sitting there in the trunk of a fallen tree. Watching the bluebells dancing in the sunlight which was so relaxing I began to feel tired. After a short snooze, I decided to keep walking as I spotted a few humans out running.
It took me a while to find a more well trodden path but after several wrong turns and a couple of re-enactments of the famous Robert Frost poem. I was finally back in the main path it looked as though it was surrounded by snow due to all of the wild garlic flowers.
As it was getting busier I decided it was time to get home. It may not have been as exciting as my usual adventures but it was nice to be out of the house and back in nature. I’m excited to see where my next lockdown adventure takes me.
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