Friday, May 8, 2009

Bluebell Woods

Every May I get this desperate longing to see a Bluebell Wood- and I mean, a Bluebell Wood, with a dense carpet of bluebells- not just a pretty sprinkle here and there. This all stems back to my childhood memories, in particular to a wonderful, archetypal one on Midsummer Hill, part of the Malvern Hills. When I think of bluebells, I see this amazing blue spread beneath a hazel coppice, sloping down the hill...

Well, this May I again had this urge. I pestered everyone I knew- and didn't know- and visited some ravishing woods, with the ground a snow of Wild Garlic (more about that later), BUT they only had "drifts" of bluebells...

Finally I decided to satisfy this-itch-that-would-not-go-away by going to a wood that was not easily accessible without a car (which I do not have at present) but which I was assured would deliver. And so yesterday I embarked on my epic pilgrimage.

My destination was West Woods, near Marlborough in the County of Wilshire- only about 30 miles from Bath- but this was hard to believe as I had to take a total of 7 buses and my travelling time- there and back- was approximately 9 hours! This was largely due to buses either not existing or being late so that I missed connections. However, when I eventually arrived (still daylight, luckily...) there was my blue carpet.

Although I was thrilled to find them and spent an ecstatic time photographing them, afterwards I realized I had really been chasing a dream- chasing a memory that only exists in my mind. I'll never, ever, find those bluebells of my chilhood again.










2 comments:

Heather S Thompson said...

Breathtaking! I have never seen such a thing of beauty. I love the color palette. yellow greens and brown grays with the softest blue. I didn't even know what a bluebell was. Im from Texas (originally) and we have bluebonnets. But they do not look anything like the bluebell. Sounds like quite and adventure!

GILLIAN WARE said...

Thanks Heather! have just had to write another bluebell post as I forgot to mention their wonderful smell!

By the way, I love your "underwater" images- and I, too, am an Anthropologie fan- in fact I'm wearing one of their cardigans here in England as I write!