Looking for bluebells in the Churnet Valley

Saturday 7th May 2022

After my delight at seeing many wild flowers in April last year in the Churnet Valley, I had to go back the following month to see what I could now see and especially to look for bluebells which can often be seen at this time of the year in England blanketing the floors of ancient woodland. Rather than copying my walk of the month before, this time I took a different route that would take in the best parts of the previous walk and also introduce new areas. To start, this time I parked in Oakamoor and set off south down the road through gorgeous woodland resplendent in their fresh, green foliage on trees that just a month earlier had been bare. At a footpath sign I climbed steeply up a heavily eroded path soon emerging above the trees to stunning views across the valley, basking in the morning sunshine. The path split many times and guessing which way I ought to go, I passed young foxglove flowers before reaching a wall and a path that began to descend again. I had clearly taken the wrong path so I turned around and followed the wall through a carpet of colourful flowers that included red campion, but not the bluebells that I was looking, until eventually I found the correct path and took that across the top of the hill and down to the road through Stoney Dale. I was now on the route of the Staffordshire Way and I followed this for the next couple of hours passing through Sutton’s Wood and Hawksmoor Wood before dropping down to the bottom of the valley beside the River Churnet.

There, beside the river bank, I found beautiful displays of the white flowers of stitchwort and not long after I came across a small collection of bluebells, just off the path. These were a great foretaste of what was to come, but first I needed to climb out of the valley and pass through the villages of Kingsley Holt and Kingsley. I had previously taken this path in January, but it was now a much more enjoyable walk in the warm spring weather and the miles soon passed by and eventually I reached the edge of Consall Nature Park. Soon I was at a great vantage point that looks out across the wood where previously, including the month before, the weather was overcast and the trees brown, bare of leaves, but now the view across a sea of lush, green trees shone in the sunlight. At the bottom of the valley I found swathes of stitchwort and finally, after a bit of hunting, I came across the bluebells that I had been looking for. After admiring the fabulous displays in Consall Wood, I made my out of the park, eager to see what was now in the highly-recommended Crowgutter Wood. Initially the dominant plant was ramsons, wild garlic and forget-me-nots, which were producing a fabulous display, but they were not bluebells. I was quite happy with the sweet smelling ramsons and took many photos of them, though I was mystified by the large leaves growing in amongst them.

The gorgeous, woodland scenery continued, though with only small banks of bluebells visible, I also saw red campion and cow parsley, until finally bluebells began to appear, near the top of the wood. After the early tease, the blue flowers were now in great swathes across the woodland floor and were more than enough to satisfy me as I took many pictures while slowly climbing the path and waiting for the sun to come back out from behind a cloud. When I could finally tear myself away from the bluebells, I came onto a road and turned right to walk along the quiet lane for a while before taking a path on the right that crossed several fields before passing Booth’s Hall and descending into Booth’s Wood. A month before, this small valley had been filled with wildflowers and I was eager to see what it was like now and it didn’t disappoint as it was filled with bluebells, basking the sunshine that had been hiding from me earlier. Stitchwort also added to the wondrous sight in this magical dell so it was again with reluctance that I eventually climbed through fallen branches out onto grassy fields that were in stark contrast to the abundant wilderness in Booth’s Wood. A dull walk took me through these fields, now reversing my steps of a month ago, to re-enter Moseymoor Wood and around the closed path near the mouth of a pond in the valley.

More bluebells accompanied me as I made my way through Whieldon's Wood, but they couldn’t compare with what had come earlier in the walk. On climbing out of the valley and into the village of Foxt, I headed down to cross the Shirley Brook and up to a dismantled tramway. By careful examination of my map I made my way towards Cotton Dell, though frustratingly not at the bottom of the valley, but on a track crossed the western slopes that I had previously walked along on my first visit to the Churnet Valley just six months before. When I could finally descend into the valley I discovered bluebells covering a grass bank, which compensated for not finding any at the bottom of the valley. Instead, the valley floor was decorated by a large, green leaved plant that I couldn’t identify, but this failed to detract from a delightful end to a wonderful walk through gorgeous woodland past many different wildflowers, and especially bluebells. I love to seek out this wonderful woodland flower every spring, wherever I can find it and the Churnet Valley had not failed to satisfy me.

Looking for woodland flowers in the Churnet Valley

Saturday 2nd April 2022

Spring is my favourite time of the year for walking as woodlands then are decorated with a most wondrous display of flowers that always delights me and drives me to get out for as many walks as possible to see the fabulous displays. During the winter of 2021 to 2022 I visited the Churnet Valley in Staffordshire many times, but I was yet to see the woodland at its best, so at the beginning of April, four weeks since I was last in the area, I headed back to the Churnet Valley and parked at Froghall Wharf. Immediately, while still in the car park, I could see many woodland flowers, particularly the white flowers of wood anemones and as I explored up the valley of the Shirley Brook, I came upon many more. I was ecstatic at the wild scenery all around me with the strong smelling green leaves of wild garlic mixing with the wood anemones under the bare trees. All too soon, I came across a public footpath which I took out of the valley to stunning views of the Churnet Valley across the trees with the open fields beyond. On reaching a road I turned right and at a footpath sign I turned left to cross grassy fields and steadily descend until on reaching the edge of Whieldon's Wood I dropped steeply down to the bottom of the valley. The woodland floor was covered in plants and even though few were actually in flower it was still a delight to walk through a wild, green wonderland with the sun shining overhead and the sound of the water in the stream at my feet.

Before long I came across a sign that proclaimed that this path was closed due to a landslide, which I did know about and wondered why I had not seen a notice earlier. Undeterred I ignored the sign and continued along the path through the valley until I reached a lake where immediately downstream the landslide could clearly be seen. The path passes close to the top of the landslide, which is why it has been closed, so I turned away from there and followed the marks of others who had avoided the landslide, climbing steeply through the trees beside the lake up to the main path through the valley in Moseymoor Wood. I first encountered these closed signs the previous autumn so it was frustrating to discover that in the six months since nothing had been done to make the path safe. Heading south through the wood I passed a spread of the exotic-looking stalks of butterbur before reaching the end of the path not far from Froghall Wharf, where I had started. Despite maps suggesting that it is possible to return to the car park from where I was, I could not see any way, so instead I took a narrow, easily missed, path that climbs up through the woodland to a road. After a spell of walking beside the road and through many grassy fields I came to the edge of Booth’s Wood in a side valley of the River Churnet.

This is an amazing place, totally given over to nature, where even the path is secondary as fallen branches made descending quite an obstacle course. Carefully, I made my way down trying not to damage any of the plants on my way until finally I reached the bottom and could behold the wondrous display of celandines and wood anemones that filled the area while infant bluebells promised more colour later in the season. After a long time spent absorbing the sight, I slowly made my way up the opposite bank where a clear path led me through swathes of the yellow flowers of celandine until eventually I tore myself away and crossed a stile into more dull, grassy fields. After passing Booth’s Hall and Glenwood House I descended through woodland into the Churnet Valley where I followed the canal for a short spell until just after passing the Black Lion Inn I took a path that climbs out of the valley and up the Devil’s Staircase. Sadly this is simply a set of concrete steps and even the surrounding vegetation lacked interest as it was mostly the unattractive dog’s mercury. My interest was revived at the top of the path when it crossed the Collyhole Brook and wood anemones decorated the far bank.

After lunch I took a path that descends back into the Churnet Valley on the eastern bank through Crowgutter Wood and after hearing many reports about this nature reserve I had been looking forward to walking through it, but I was disappointed. I was too early for bluebells and there seemed little else besides dog’s mercury, while an old dam was difficult to get close to and the path was very muddy. Eventually I reached the bottom of the path, back beside the canal and after retracing my steps I entered Consall Nature Park passing gorgeous scenes of marsh marigolds and butterbur before climbing Far Kingsley Banks to a fantastic viewpoint that I had discovered back in January when I first visited the park. After admiring the view again I descended to the stream where wood anemones were again the dominant flower. From the bottom of the valley I walked along the wide track deeper into the park, though with little idea of what route I was going to take. Eventually I left the main path and climbed through tremendous displays of wild flowers that included the young plants of bluebell and promised much in the coming weeks. The path took me up out of Consall Wood and onto dull, grassy fields that seemed like a flat, monoculture after the wonders that I had just experienced on this walk. Monotonously I made my way across these fields past the village of Kingsley and down into the Churnet Valley where I followed the Caldon Canal back to Froghall Wharf. This was a fabulous, wondrous walk, but I knew I would have to return soon as the spring displays evolved and bluebells came into flower.