Pushing up bluebells (perhaps)

By Sid Langley on Apr 27, 08 04:20 PM in Going Out

For over 30 years now the last Sunday in April has been bluebell day for the Langley clan. We think of a wood we know where acres of bluebells grow as more or less our own.

It's reached by an unmarked footpath besides fields and then through Forestry Commission tracks, and I've no intention of telling you where it is. It's only been such a well-kept secret because it is inaccessible by car.

It's close to where we used to live when we first decamped to the Midlands from Suffolk, and we've moved a couple of times since, so the annual pilgrimage now involves a bit of travel.

www.woodland-trust.org.uk/whatsnew/furtherinfo/bluebellmain.htm is the first place to look to find bluebells near you. The Clent Hills is a great spot and Saltwells Local Nature Reserve at Dudley is famous for the flowers. But go next weekend at the latest to catch the full colour.

We missed the year of the big foot and mouth epidemic - the paths were all closed - and there have been years when we've been too early or too late to catch the blooms at their best. Last year for the first time quite a lot of work had been going on in the wood - clearing trees and scrub etc, so the display was a bit disappointing.

Today the wood was nowhere near its best, but it looks all set to recover. Within five years it should be back to its former glory, a fitting place to have my ashes scattered if I decide that's what I want (still not quite sure).

This year's pilgrimage culminated with a terrific lunch on the way back in a pub called the Vane Arms in the Northants village of Sudborough, once home to author and naturalist BB, aka Dennys Watkins-Pitchford, who lived in The Round House (so-called because it's circular) on the outskirts of the village. That's why we chose to drive through there in the first place, to check it out.

BB is best known for The Little Grey Men, subtitled A Story for the Young at Heart, an excellent children's book and far better on nature than many better-regarded works for youngsters.

With the Vane Arms as his local, BB was probably a very happy man. We had excellent food and a great Everards pint. Mine host, a lovely man, told me the village population is under 200 nowadays, so he can count on a regular clientele of only 25. No wonder the trade is struggling away from big centres of population.

The bluebells, meanwhile, seem set to go on for ever - unless some farmer or forestry type steps in. I'd just like to think my grandchildren's children's children will be able to make the trip to see them when I am just providing a bit of an ash mulch for the flowers (perhaps).