BLUEBELLS: THE ICONIC BEAUTY OF GREAT BRITAIN:
Every May, for a few weeks, many of the woodlands in Great Britain are covered with English bluebells.
This magical carpet of bluebells makes for a dreamy landscape and may be the reason these flowers have earned the nickname "Fairy Flowers". England boasts the largest number of bluebell flowers in the world, and Micheldever Wood often has this amazing blue and purple display. The true beauty of our bluebells - the color, the scent, the view - makes them an essential and special element to our England's springtime experience.
Keeping this in mind I had enrolled myself for 'Ashridge 5- Dirt running', a sort of adventurous trek though Ashridge forest, but the authorities did not allow 'dirt running' this year. However, we did have a wonderful experience of bluebell-decked Ashridge Forest!
To tell you more about Ashridge, it is a country estate in Hertfordshire, part of the land stretches into Buckinghamshire and it is close to the Bedfordshire border. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, about two miles north of Berkhamsted and just twenty miles north west of London. The estate comprises 5,000 acres of woodlands (known as Ashridge Forest), commons and chalk downland which supports a rich variety of wildlife. It also offers a good choice of waymarked walks through outstanding country. The estate is currently owned by the National Trust.
The ancient woodlands on the Ashridge Estate, are home to one of the finest examples of massed flowering bluebells that are an icon of Spring in England. Here, the English landscape is transformed into a sea of blue – almost as far as the eye can see.
For only a few days, the sapphire of the bluebells is also contrasted with the emerald green colors from the newly emerging foliage of the beech trees in the spring landscape – a natural gem from Mother Nature. Soon the foliage is thick enough to obscure the light and the blue flowers will be gone for another year.
I give here some of the most wonderful photos of this magical treasure of bluebells ofAshridge Forest taken by some of my very talented friends who had come well equipped with their 'gear'(cameras etc) and were exclaiming "O,God! "by Golly!', "Oh, see, what have we got here!" etc. at almost every single step , while I was just dumbstruck for being amidst so much beauty . I just kept repeating to myself, "Bluebells, bluebells, all around!", but even after much prodding by some girls, that line did not lead to a poem...
Ashridge forest has several acres of bluebells creating a rich carpet on the forest floor.These are protected flowers by law, but even before it was instituted in the law, there were stories of dark fates awaiting those who pick these 'fairy flowers'. Stories tell of a pixie that would lead the picker away, never to be seen again. Perhaps such folklores were instrumental in protecting these flowers.
Bluebells in the woods just after a light drizzle
The wonderful carpet of Bluebells at noon.
Sunlight bursting through the trees to caress the bluebells!
Gorgeous bluebells drinking the last rays of sun at dusk.
Bluebells- a close-up
Like Lennon, I too associate bluebells with love, and that reminds me a tragic tale by Paul McCartney of the Beatles, is that he whispered these last words to his wife Linda, before she died: "You’re up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It’s a fine spring day, we’re riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out, and the sky is clear blue."
But I had another most outwardly experience during this trek , about that, later......
_Portia
Every May, for a few weeks, many of the woodlands in Great Britain are covered with English bluebells.
This magical carpet of bluebells makes for a dreamy landscape and may be the reason these flowers have earned the nickname "Fairy Flowers". England boasts the largest number of bluebell flowers in the world, and Micheldever Wood often has this amazing blue and purple display. The true beauty of our bluebells - the color, the scent, the view - makes them an essential and special element to our England's springtime experience.
Keeping this in mind I had enrolled myself for 'Ashridge 5- Dirt running', a sort of adventurous trek though Ashridge forest, but the authorities did not allow 'dirt running' this year. However, we did have a wonderful experience of bluebell-decked Ashridge Forest!
To tell you more about Ashridge, it is a country estate in Hertfordshire, part of the land stretches into Buckinghamshire and it is close to the Bedfordshire border. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, about two miles north of Berkhamsted and just twenty miles north west of London. The estate comprises 5,000 acres of woodlands (known as Ashridge Forest), commons and chalk downland which supports a rich variety of wildlife. It also offers a good choice of waymarked walks through outstanding country. The estate is currently owned by the National Trust.
The ancient woodlands on the Ashridge Estate, are home to one of the finest examples of massed flowering bluebells that are an icon of Spring in England. Here, the English landscape is transformed into a sea of blue – almost as far as the eye can see.
For only a few days, the sapphire of the bluebells is also contrasted with the emerald green colors from the newly emerging foliage of the beech trees in the spring landscape – a natural gem from Mother Nature. Soon the foliage is thick enough to obscure the light and the blue flowers will be gone for another year.
I give here some of the most wonderful photos of this magical treasure of bluebells ofAshridge Forest taken by some of my very talented friends who had come well equipped with their 'gear'(cameras etc) and were exclaiming "O,God! "by Golly!', "Oh, see, what have we got here!" etc. at almost every single step , while I was just dumbstruck for being amidst so much beauty . I just kept repeating to myself, "Bluebells, bluebells, all around!", but even after much prodding by some girls, that line did not lead to a poem...
A misty dawn is one of the best times to come and see the bluebells, the atmosphere is dream-like, the forest quiet and beautiful.
The wonderful carpet of Bluebells at noon.
A pathway among Bluebells.
Sunlight bursting through the trees and lighting the bluebells in stripes of dark blue and bright purple. Bluebells are often associated with gratitude and everlasting love.
Gorgeous bluebells drinking the last rays of sun at dusk.
"Love is the answer, and you know that for sure; Love is a flower, you've got to let it grow."-John Lennon
Like Lennon, I too associate bluebells with love, and that reminds me a tragic tale by Paul McCartney of the Beatles, is that he whispered these last words to his wife Linda, before she died: "You’re up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It’s a fine spring day, we’re riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out, and the sky is clear blue."
McCartney later said that he had hardly got to the end of the sentence before his beloved closed her eyes and gently slipped away...
I love bluebells perhaps due to such pathos is associated with them.But I had another most outwardly experience during this trek , about that, later......
_Portia
No comments :
Post a Comment