Lodge Hill Bluebells

I've long maintained that the bluebells at  BowWood near Cromford are the best anywhere but they may now have a rival - Lodge Hill Bluebells, near Yoxall, Staffordshire.

It's always hard to capture the spread and extent of bluebells in a picture, so these are best imagined as one photo leading to the next, but, also, don't just look at the foreground, see how the flowers continue into the distance.

Before you walk through the gateway into the woodland, you can see bluebells covering the hillside - but take a few more steps and the view of them becomes clearer, and the area they cover, more apparent.
The hillside here is gentler than at Bow Wood, and, although I don't think the bluebells cover as large an area, they are more tightly packed, giving that flowing carpet-like feel.

Lodge Hill, like Felley Priory, is a commercial enterprise, but the entrance fee is small, the paths well marked, and dogs are welcome, which is always nice, so Dylan had a day out too.

There are three shortish walks, adding up to just under 3km, so after the first we took time out for tea and cake (to keep our energy up, obviously!)

The brook-side walk has less bluebells but lots of other flowers to spot - celandines, primroses, dog violets, wood sorrel, and (possibly) soapwort.

The last part of the walk brought us back through those wonderful bluebells. Although I'd known in a vague sort of way about some bluebells 'down near Yoxall', I hadn't visited before. I think now they'll go on to my 'must visit' list for every bluebell-season.