Bluebells in the Charnwood Forest

Monday 1st May and Saturday 13th May 2017

I love to see bluebells in the spring when these lovely blue flowers carpet the floor of ancient woodland in Britain. Although not nationally known for its bluebells, the Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire has many splendid displays so I don’t have to go far to see these fabulous flowers and one of the best walks for seeing them is one that I do many times during the year. My Charnwood Forest Round has many ups and downs designed to keep me hill-fit, but it also passes through many woods that around May Day always put on a great display. That was why on the May Day Bank Holiday this year I made my way to Swithland Woods for my regular walk. Starting from the north car park I headed through the wood and was immediately greeted by some clumps of bluebells, but not carpets of them, although there were also quite a few wood anemones. The main reason for a lack of bluebells in this wood, and many others, is a build-up of scrub, predominantly bramble. These rob the bluebells of sunlight and prevent them achieving the carpet coverage that I love. Managed woods where the scrub has been kept under control produce better displays of bluebells.

After this taster of things to come I passed over Old John hill in Bradgate Park, which is not known for its bluebells however there were a few isolated examples peeking through the old bracken. After Bradgate Park, my walk passes through areas of new woodland created for the National Forest where bluebells are rare, however there are some small, private areas of ancient woodland where fantastic displays of bluebells can be seen. I could only look from the fence into these woods, but I think this is to its advantage as then no one is able to trample over the bluebells and ruin them, thereby ensuring a great coverage. I passed many examples of these private woods as I made my way along my round until eventually I reached the Ulverscroft nature reserve, which has restricted access although I am able to enter as a member of the local Wildlife Trust. Once again bluebells were not as abundant as I would have liked due to the scrub, but if you looked in the right places then there were large clumps of them in many places.

The weather was not great on this walk and at this point it was raining, however as I passed through the Ulverscroft marshes the sun finally came out lighting the wood anemones and bluebells that littered the woodland floor. After making my way up to Beacon Hill I joined a permissive path that passes some tremendous displays of bluebells as it makes its way down to the Wood Brook valley. I could now see some quite expensive carpets of bluebells and more was to come when I finally reached the Outwoods. I was beginning to suspect that this was not a great year for bluebells as I had not been seeing as extensive a display of bluebells as in past years. Many bluebells were still in bud, but some were already going to seed so maybe the weather conditions had not suited them. Nevertheless the best bluebells on this walk were, as always, in the Outwoods and with the sun coming out at just the right moment the bluebells were being displayed at their best.

There are many more bluebell woods in the Charnwood Forest and almost two weeks later I started another walk to take in some of them. This time, I parked at Burroughs Wood and set off out of the wood along the National Forest Way through new woodland devoid of wild flowers, however soon I entered the more established Martinshaw Wood where immediately I saw bluebells growing in isolated clumps. After crossing the M1 motorway that cuts straight through the wood I took a winding route around the edge of the wood seeking out every little sign of the flowers, but I did not find huge amounts until I came across a large group of bluebells near the north-eastern corner. Returning to the National Forest Way I crossed over the A50 dual-carriageway into Lady Hay Wood where I found a revelation. Unexpectedly this small wood was full of bluebells and although the map doesn’t indicate public access through the wood, except on the footpath around the edge, there were narrow paths through the bluebells that I took advantage of to ensure a thorough exploration of the bluebells.

The rain that was falling briefly at this point did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm and it was with reluctance that I eventually returned to the National Forest Way and continued heading to Newton Linford and up Old John. I have been to Bradgate Park many times in my life, most recently on May Day, and now although I had entered the park in a different place I retraced my steps of then into Swithland Woods and along the road into the village of Woodhouse Eaves. At that point I branched off my Charnwood Forest Round route and headed straight towards Beacon Hill via Broombriggs Farm Country Park. It was great to renew my acquaintance with old routes up Beacon Hill and when I reached the summit I was rewarded with a bit of sunshine for the first time on this walk. At this point I decided I would try to walk the Three Peaks of Leicestershire and I had already bagged two of those peaks in Old John and Beacon Hill, so now I headed west passing underneath the M1 motorway and into the Charley Woods.

There was quite a satisfying selection of bluebells in Charley Woods and I enjoined taking a circuit through Burrow Wood where there were extensive displays either side of the path. Eventually I left the Charley Woods behind and made my way towards Bardon Hill where there has been a lot of encroachment recently onto the paths from the nearby quarry. Many diversions were necessary before and after Bardon Hill due to these extensions, particularly after, but before then when I reached the established woodland that lies immediately east of the quarry I took a slender path through this woodland not really knowing where it was going to take me until eventually I emerged on the heathland within sight of the summit of Bardon Hill, my third and final peak of the day. Previously when I have done the Three Peaks I have headed back to Bradgate Park through Markfield, but this walk was quite a bit longer having started in Burroughs Wood, so instead of heading east I now followed the Ivanhoe Way south past Stanton under Bardon until eventually I reached Thornton Reservoir.

It was interesting retracing my steps along the Ivanhoe Way that I had previously walked just a year earlier and as I walked beside Thornton Reservoir the weather cleared once more revealing gorgeous evening sunshine that accompanied me as I joined the National Forest Way once again following the trail all the way into Burroughs Wood. There were fabulous displays of bluebells in this wood, but many of them were going to seed possibly as a result of the unseasonably hot weather that we had enjoyed in early May. This stressed the bluebells forcing many to bolt, going over to seed, however the bluebells in Burroughs Wood still looked great in the sunshine. I saw many bluebells on these two walks, at times seemingly everywhere and more than satisfied my love of bluebells for another year. This second walk took me over eight hours whereas my familiar round doesn’t take me more than six. I loved the chance to stretch my legs on this walk and it did wonders to lift my spirit. I love to see the bluebells in the Charnwood Forest.