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Friday 15 May 2015

Blue sky and blue underfoot




 I was paying more attention to the bluebells underfoot on this morning's dog walk, till I looked up and realised the sky matched their colour!



















Wandering off the normal paths and through the middle of the wood I discovered this stump that refuses to give up and die .....










and a dead tree, now home to woodpeckers. We often hear their 'drilling' noise but rarely see them.



 ...and more bluebells, because you can never have too many.




Wednesday 13 May 2015

Bluebells, apple blossom and stitchwort

It's bluebell time again, and, although they flower freely in our every-day dog-walking wood, I like to go and see the hillsides covered by them just outside Cromford, Derbyshire. We don't walk this route any other time of year - it's steep, at times as steep as a flight of stairs - but at bluebell time I wouldn't miss it!















The path starts a little unpromisingly from behind the John Smedley factory in Lea Bridge but quickly heads uphill through Bow Wood, now owned by the Woodland trust.













At first the bluebells are mixed in among the white flowers of the stitchwort but as the path climbs bluebells take over...











....with apple trees covered in blossom nodding above them ....












...till you reach the point with the first view of the open fields of flowers.
Onward and upward...and there are more bluebells...
...and more....



Fortunately the path doesn't head straight up this slope (my legs are getting tired by now!) but curves around the hillside through the flowers


















through another wooded area, carpeted with bluebells and garlic


eventually reaching the top of the climb with glorious views to the hills beyond Cromford
Following the ridge back towards the start, you can look down on the bluebell fields you walked through









Tuesday 5 May 2015

Greenwood - with a hint of blue

 The weather may have taken a downturn this last week but it hasn't stopped the wood gradually turning from brown to green, with a carpet of bluebells spreading beneath.