Bluebells at Gamsey

These images were taken at Gamsey Wood, a couple of weeks ago, when the bluebells were just hitting their best.

 

Dockey Wood

On the last Sunday in April, I visited Dockey Wood on the Ashridge Estate. This is still the best bluebell wood that I know. Despite this I hadn't visited in many years. Not since before the fences went up.

At the height of the bluebell season this small wood can attract large numbers of visitors. This popularity was starting to impact on the bluebells. So a few years ago the National Trust enclosed the wood with a perimeter fence, accessed by a single gate. At peak times visitor numbers are controlled and an entrance charge is made for non-members. Within the wood, low rough wood fences delineate the paths. I fully understand the need for all of this. But the changes have removed what I considered the best viewpoint in the wood. An old cart track, which gave a lovely double lead-line, can no longer be seen.

Waresley Wood

I recently made my first trip to Waresley Wood in a couple of years. Last spring, Waresley, like many other local woods, had been closed due to heavy flooding. This year, thanks to the last couple of months being very dry, it's open. Waresley is usually a very good local wood to visit for bluebells. But not this year. I didn't see as many as I expected. A thick cover of Dog's Mercury was swamping the bluebells in many places. Luckily Waresley has a good offering of other spring flowers. Including Wood Violets, Wood Anemones, Primroses and Celandines. I also found, what I am pretty sure is, a False Oxlip (a Primrose Cowslip hybrid). The flowers on a true Oxlip should droop more.

Bluebells at Gamsey Wood

The bluebells have been at their best, several weeks earlier than typical.  This has followed a very wet winter (and not much drier early spring), that caused widespread flooding.  Many local woods are still waterlogged.  Beds, Cambs and Northants Wildlife Trust, which controls most of these woods, has closed them to visitors to prevent damage.  Gamlingay, Hardwick, Hayley, Waresley, Wistow and Lady's Woods are all closed.  Brampton wood is technically open, but the advice is not to visit.  Luckily, the little known and little visited Gamsey wood is dry, open and, when I visited last weekend, the bluebells were at their best.  

Gamsey is a small wood and has a fair amount of undergrowth.  When I went last year, cleavers and nettles were drowning the bluebells.  This year, the bluebells had a head start on the greenery and were giving a much stronger showing.  

Bluebells - Multiple Exposures

I visited Waresly Wood toward the end of the bluebell season.  Rather than take straight images, I decided to try some in-camera multiple exposures.  Each image consists of 8 shots, moving very slightly between captures.

Wistman's Wood

Wistman's Wood is one of three high-altitude oak woods on Dartmoor.  The dwarf oaks are twisted and contorted, their branches covered with epiphytic mosses and lichens.  The trees grow amongst granite boulders, that are covered in more moss.  It is the kind of place you would seek out a small green Muppet to teach you the ways of the force.

The wood is a popular spot with photographers and I have wanted to shoot their for years.  Many of the best photos I have seen are taken in mist, which softens the branching chaos and adds to the Dagobah-like feel.  But that was not the conditions I had.  The day was brightly overcast.  I chose to shoot in infra-red, to covert all that green to black and white.  But I struggled to bring narrative to the arboreal madness.  There was just too much going on.  There is clearly a reason why the best images come from local 'togs.  It is one of those venues that require multiple trips to tease out its charms.

 

Butterflies At Waresley Wood

I recently took a trip to Waresley wood in search of butterflies.  I found good numbers, but not a great variety of species. My best find was a group of Peacock butterfly caterpillars munching on a patch of nettles.  They were tricky to photograph, but I love the back-lighting on this first shot.

The Little Wood On The Walk

During any normal spring, I would be spening many hours in the local (or not so local) woods, photographing the spring flowers.  It is probably the thing I miss most during lockdown.  Luckily, my explorations of the fields behind my house led me to find a small patch of woods with a good covering of bluebells and greater stitchwort.  Unlike the woods I normally visit, it is completely unmanaged, meaning lots of undergrowth and no paths.  But I was able access parts of it and take a few handheld images.