A walk in the sunshine.

Today John and I needed to complete a recognisance walk prior to the bluebell walk John has arranged to lead in a couple of weeks time. As a child, my family would try to visit a bluebell wood each year to enjoy these beautiful blue flowers. As a young adult I didn't always have time due to work commitments but once John and I had children we decided this would be a good family tradition. We didn't start it until our oldest was about 11 and all three of them enjoyed it.  We would try to find new places to visit and walk each year but we did have some family favourite woods. Once they were all grown up John and I carried on our tradition and for many years now John has led walks for friends to the various bluebell woods around London.

According to the Woodland Trust, bluebells symbolise constancy, gratitude and everlasting love, and are often seen as representing fairy enchantment. They are linked to ancient woodlands, representing a delicate, magical, and enchanting, but treacherous, natural world. We have some bluebells in our garden but they don't always flower every year.

For years I have had a picture of a bluebell wood as my screen saver but I recently changed it. The same wood also has a perfusion of wild garlic which smells delicious provided you like garlic.

So today we were going to walk through three areas where bluebells usually grow. It is a little early for them but we knew there would be some already flowering. We started at Lesnes Abbey Wood and followed the Green Chain Way. We saw wood anemones along the way, they are such delicate flowers. We walked across Bostall Health and then entered Bostall Woods. From here we entered Oxleas Wood. We only saw a few bluebells in flower but with the promise of a lot more by the end of April.

There were posts identifying the lore of the wild.

and several ponds. This one had some marsh marigolds but the water didn't look very nice

A little further on I took this photo of the fallen tree and the reflection in the water.

The gorse was in flower.

and there was lesser celandine in flower

We kept seeing lots of bluebell leaves but there were only one or two flowers open. 

This common dog violet, above,  was beautiful and delicate and the white flower below is three cornered garlic (the stem has three sides)

There was quite a lot of ground ivy along the way.

This stand of Hawthorne or May as it is often known looked amazing.

As we emerged from Oxleas Wood we came to the cafe. By now we were ready for lunch and a drink. We sat outside enjoying the sun and watching the world go by. The last bit of the walk was down hill to the station. 

When leading walks it is important to know where the toilets and cafes are but also access to stations and buses in case anyone wants to cut their walk short. We had seen the areas of bluebells and these should be in full flower later this month. The route was easy to follow and there wasn't too much up and down hill. The walk was about 6 miles but there was a short walk to the start from the station and the same at the end. I enjoyed the walk but including walking to and from the station we covered just short of 9 miles. By the time I got home I was quite tired. I had planned to do some sewing but that will have to wait until tomorrow. 

Take care 

Lyndsey