Bluebells Beautiful Bluebells

The first Spring Paul and I were together we took a day off from studying (final year exams at university), packed up a picnic and drove until we found somewhere pretty to walk. It was a mild day full of warmth and beauty and just when I thought it couldn’t get any better we found a wood filled with hundreds of delicate bluebells! Since then we have made it a tradition to go on a bluebell walk together every year.

Unfortunately over the last three years, we haven’t managed. The first year baby girl was only a few weeks old and I was still recovering from giving birth, the next year I was over eight months pregnant with our baby boy, and then last year we were in lockdown and not allowed to travel. So this year I have been eagerly waiting for perfect blue carpets to spread across the woodlands so we can share our tradition with our children.

Bluebells are a sign of ancient woodlands and of all the bluebells in the whole world, the UK is incredibly lucky to be home to over half of them! 

We headed out last week to East Blean woods but unfortunately, we were too early; the shoots were there but not flowering. We finally saw them this weekend (appropriate for May Day don’t you think?) at the University of Kent. Our good friend told us about an area aptly named Bluebell Wood and as the name suggests it’s full of beautiful bluebell flowers. It was a magical way to spend an hour together as a family, enjoying the sunshine, spring breeze, and nodding purple flowers. 

Originally we were going to head to one of the “best places in Kent to see bluebells” (I used this list) but they are all further towards West Kent and we just haven’t been up to a big hour-long car ride; I want our tradition to continue and with young children and that means making it as simple and fun as possible for everyone. In the end, it was perfect just the way we did it, and as an added bonus we have discovered two new places that have bluebells closer to home. 

A thing worth noting about bluebells is that they are actually poisonous, so you should only look and not touch.

Have you been on a bluebell walk this Spring? If so we’d love you to tag us on Instagram (@foxandlockes) so we can see.

Livvy and Summer