The Blues: British or Spanish

Lynches wood, British blues

Orchid, Littleworth wood

While Mike is enjoying the Irish sun I took the opportunity to seek out this seasons bluebells. Usually the best time for seeing the bluebells is much earlier in April plus this year, having seen the invasion of Spanish Bluebells which includes my garden, I was curious to see how the British Bluebell was faring in the NT woodlands. I chose Dovers Hill,  Lynches wood,  followed by Littleworth wood as I was confident my best chance of a good showing would be at these locations. I may get some stick from Mike but I wasn't sure of the best spots at Sherborne.

Amazingly I was greeted by sunny skies at Dovers Hill and was certainly not disappointed by the display of British bluebells in Lynches wood. It was also good to see the Sweet Chestnut trees which feature strongly in this woodland and alongside one of the paths, form an impressive avenue. So a good start to the day and I was in good heart as I headed for Stanton village where I would use the footpath from the Mount at Stanton {good pub} to head up the hill towards Littleworth wood. Again the British bluebells were on display but not quite the numbers at Lynches wood. To make up for this there were a good number of orchids on show and it was also good to see that another 'compartment' for conservation had been erected since I last worked here. So enjoyed another woodland walk and couldn't resist having  quick look at Snowshill even though I will be working there this Sunday. I grudgingly returned to Stanton where I forced myself to take some refreshment at the Mount which was a pretty good way of ending a satisfying day.

Snowshill, from Littleworth

Liked this guest blog concerning the NT and I can certainly relate to the countryside conservation observations. So has the NT got the balance wrong between recreation over conservation,  its current strategy has meant less resources for conservation. This doesn't mean there is an absence of conservation. I personally have enjoyed and observed the past work of the NT Rangers in: woodland management , hedge building, planting, water meadow restoration tasks {sometimes in partnership with the Wildlife Trust}. There's just not enough done and doubts about sustaining the good work carried out mount.