Over the long weekend we had at the start of May, I paid a visit to Hatchlands in Surrey, a National Trust property with a house and many acres of park land that I had not yet visited. Due to the pandemic, the house is currently shut, but with spring here, the woodlands are full of bluebells. Hatchlands was mentioned in the Domesday Book, and the house dates from the 1750s and contains a collection of paintings and musical instruments. I hope to tour it at some point, but the treat for this visit was an impressive bluebell woods.
The walk to the house and gardens is a short walk through a field from the parking. I had a quick look at the gardens before following the signs to the bluebell woods.
There are 400 acres of park land to explore at Hatchlands. I got to see probably about half of what there is to offer on my way to the bluebell woods. After walking through a field, we came to a little forest up a hill. The children's play area and picnic tables are located in this wood, which is named Wizard Wix's Willow Woodland.
It's a pleasant walk through a grove of mature trees once you climb the small hill. On the other side of the trees is another small field with signs directing to the bluebell woodland, Little Wix Wood, and various facts about bluebells. On this short walk, I could see the bright blue carpet through the trees as a glimpse of what was to come.
This is a mature bluebell woodland, and it takes many years for the bluebells to carpet the forest floor. In order for them to carpet the woodlands, the bluebells must not be trampled because they will die and the bulb that they grow from in the soil will be killed. For this reason, a trail has been set up and visitors cannot stray from the trail.
I was absolutely blown away with awe at these beautiful bluebells. I took so many photographs.
For those wanting a selfie or group photo with the bluebells, there is actually a "photo area" along the trail.
The trail walks up the hill and then loops back around. I saw the little fairy door on a tree.
The bluebells were in full bloom during my visit at the start of May. The weather has been cooler, so I was not able to appreciate the bluebell scent in the forest on my visit as I believe it needs some hot weather to lift the fragrance, and unfortunately this year has been far from warm so far (except for a couple of days in late May).
I hope to visit Hatchlands again soon to explore more and to see the house and museum.
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