Finding Bluebells

Wednesday 26th April 2017

It was in May last year that I discovered a pristine path of bluebells only a thirty-minute walk (uphill) from my front door.

Shared with the opinion of a friend, I’m convinced that bluebells have arrived early this year. More concerningly, they’ve already ‘peaked’ (at least, in my opinion).

I took the opportunity to spend some time there in an evening last week. There’s even a video I produced for YouTube and I’ll include a link to that at the bottom of this post.

This patch of woodland lies close to the border of Wrington and its neighbouring village, Cleeve, in North Somerset. Bristol Airport isn’t far away and you can find it near the top of Cleeve Hill Road (above and beyond Goblin Combe), where the it meets with the tarmac of Wrington Hill.

Officially, there is no public right of way through these conserved woods. But, a small network of footpaths have been created an are maintained each year.

Small signs welcome you to explore the area, provided that you do not tread on or remove any of the bluebells, which is perfectly understandable. Dog walkers and families often park on the edge of the road, although there is no official car park this far up the road.

I drive past past these woods on my way home from work each day and I watched them flourish earlier than expected, this year… Usually, I wouldn’t expect to see them in bloom until the middle of May… I’m open to being corrected on this.

Since the visit of Wednesday evening, I’ve noticed their numbers beginning to decline, this week. Again, I may be wrong. But I’d like to share this post in the hope that anyone wishing to see bluebells this year doesn’t get caught out.

I’m hopefully doing two more bluebell walks before the summer comes. A weekend earlier, I found a surprise discovery of them high above Ebbor Gorge, near Wookey Hole in Somerset.

Bluebells in the woods above Ebbor Gorge.

Thanks for reading and get outside.

Author: Olly Parry-Jones

I live in Weston-super-Mare, close to the Mendip Hills in Somerset and I enjoy time spent outdoors, whether that's walking, camping or backpacking. My day job involved making furniture from recycled wood (I'm a furniture maker and carpenter by trade). I have two blogs: Olly Writes (woodworking, DIY, baking) Walks With Olly (walking, camping and kit) You can also find me on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. My second YouTube channel is titled 'Walks with Olly'.

9 thoughts on “Finding Bluebells”

  3. This is so beautiful! We also have a bluebells field near our house too. We went there nearer the end of the seasons so it was a little droppy, but beautiful nevertheless. #Outdoorbloggers

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  4. Aren’t they just divine to look at. They have such a magical quality about them. I agree that they appear to be a little earlier this year, but maybe not by a lot. We visited our local woodland a fortnight ago and they seemed a little droopy.
    Thanks for the article
    Saira

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    1. Hi Saira – thanks for your comment and for following me across social media.

      Yes, I do feel like they’re there to be appreciated. Before we know it, they’ll be gone and not seen again for another twelve months. Blue and purple are colours we don’t often see so consistently in nature. I’m glad you enjoyed my post. 🙂

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