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Bluebell Woods

Coastaljames

Coastaljames

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Apr 26, 2015
Messages
4,044
Location
East Norfolk coast
There is next to nothing spooky or interesting about this thread.

Thought I would share.

On Saturday night I begin to have an urge to, in the morning, take myself out to visit an RSPB nature reserve. I sometimes think about this place as it is meant to be very beautiful. I am always suprised I've never been there because it is within a half hour drive from me and I am very familiar and enjoy the countryside around me. Anyway - an urge to go. I set off, alone.

Hot day, hot in the car, sticky. I hate being hot and sticky in the car. Followed the sat nav route to the nature reserve. Going deep into a very rural area I have not explored much at all. Enjoying the views and the sights. Come across a turning I have to take...road closed. Bugger. Ok...so...make a plan to reroute...carry on. Getting very close to the reserve, when - another road is closed. I figure out if I can just park there and walk on but whole roads looks closed to pedestrians as well as cars.

Oh well. I'm kinda hot, sticky and annoyed now. Figure, sod it, I'll go home. Don't want to waste any more time. So, begin driving back in the direction of home. Lots of big recently ploughed fields, quite beautiful. Except I'm hot and annoyed and feel I've failed. As I drive along side on large field in the sunshine I spot two hares in the fields and they are boxing! I love hares with a passion, and I am very aware of their magical connotations. So I pull over to watch them, I've never seen hares box before. Fantastic!! I watch for about 5 minutes before they both scarper. Great stuff.

So, I turn to get in my car and across the road I see what appears to be an entrance to some woods. I go to look. I see there is a sign indicating it's a wood you can enter and walk in. So I do. I have never been in these woods, never knew of them and, at that time - I didn't even know where there were or what they were called.

I enter and the whole woods are literally carpeted with bluebells. Absolutely stunning. I have visited many bluebell woods before but this was by far the most stunning! Everywhere you look, carpets of blue. All the way through the woods not just in patches. The whole area is beautiful. Verdant green leaves on the trees, like a canopy, bright green from the sun coming through them, area below bathed in green light with this beautiful blue carpeting. I felt very far away from anywhere else. Otherworldy. I went deeper into the forest.

And deeper. Walking for about half an hour. I don't know where I'm going or paying any attention to which route I took in (which might be useful in regards getting out). I'm just pushing in deeper, loving what I'm seeing. Taking pictures, as I like to do. I may well be able to post some here later.

Anyway. I don't want to make more of it than it was. It was a beautiful walk in a beautiful place. All apparently random. But maybe not.

After about an hour I'm thinking about how to get back to the car. Not too sure but not too concerned. I try a few routes and they don't work out, I try a few more and one does. Makes sense. I have a good sense of direction. So I'm on the right track, pretty sure, forest thins. I can actually see my car parked now, through the trees. So I walk parallel to it. Walking to it. As I walk I look across a clearing. On a tree stump is a small cardboard box. About the size of a box of tea. I go over to it and look at it. It's been there a while, some rain damage, bit tattered. It has an address on it. I decide instinctively that I don't want to read the address. I open the box and look in. A small handwitten note. I read it. What I read does not matter. It was not for me and it was not for you. It was very personal. A snapshot of someone's need for something. A prayer. A spell.

I put the note back in the box. I thought about taking a photo of it and/or the box and immediately felt instinctively repulsed by it. I walked to the car and left.
 
Last edited:
Coastaljames said:
There is next to nothing spooky or interesting about this thread.

Thought I would share.

On Saturday night I begin to have an urge to, in the morning, take myself out to visit an RSPB nature reserve. I sometimes think about this place as it is meant to be very beautiful. I am always suprised I've never been there because it is within a half hour drive from me and I am very familiar and enjoy the countryside around me. Anyway - an urge to go. I set off, alone.

Hot day, hot in the car, sticky. I hate being hot and sticky in the car. Followed the sat nav route to the nature reserve. Going deep into a very rural area I have not explored much at all. Enjoying the views and the sights. Come across a turning I have to take...road closed. Bugger. Ok...so...make a plan to reroute...carry on. Getting very close to the reserve, when - another road is closed. I figure out if I can just park there and walk on but whole roads looks closed to pedestrians as well as cars.

Oh well. I'm kinda hot, sticky and annoyed now. Figure, sod it, I'll go home. Don't want to waste any more time. So, begin driving back in the direction of home. Lots of big recently ploughed fields, quite beautiful. Except I'm hot and annoyed and feel I've failed. As I drive along side on large field in the sunshine I spot two hares in the fields and they are boxing! I love hares with a passion, and I am very aware of their magical connotations. So I pull over to watch them, I've never seen hares box before. Fantastic!! I watch for about 5 minutes before they both scarper. Great stuff.

So, I turn to get in my car and across the road I see what appears to be an entrance to some woods. I go to look. I see there is a sign indicating it's a wood you can enter and walk in. So I do. I have never been in these woods, never knew of them and, at that time - I didn't even know where there were or what they were called.

I enter and the whole woods are literally carpetted with bluebells. Absolutely stunning. I have visited many bluebell woods before but this was by far the most stunning! Everywhere you look, carpets of blue. All the way through the woods not just in patches. The whole area is beautiful. Verdant green leaves on the trees, like a canopy, bright green from the sun coming through them, area below bathed in green light with this beautiful blue carpeting. I felt very far away from anywhere else. Otherworldy. I went deeper into the forest.

And deeper. Walking for about half an hour. I don't know where I'm going or paying any attention to which route I took in (which might be useful in regards getting out). I'm just pushing in deeper, loving what I'm seeing. Taking pictures, as I like to do. I may well be able to post some here later.

Anyway. I don't want to make more of it than it was. It was a beautiful walk in a beautiful place. All apparently random. But maybe not.

After about an hour I'm thinking about how to get back to the car. Not too sure but not too concerned. I try a few routes and they don't work out, I try a few more and one does. Makes sense. I have a good sense of direction. So I'm on the right track, pretty sure, forest thins. I can actually see my car parked now, through the trees. So I walk parallel to it. Walking to it. As I walk I look across a clearing. On a tree stump is a small cardboard box. About the size of a box of tea. I go over to it and look at it. It's been there a while, some rain damage, bit tattered. It has an address on it. I decide instinctively that I don't want to read the address. I open the box and look in. A small handwitten note. I read it. What I read does not matter. It was not for me and it was not for you. It was very personal. A snapshot of someone's need for something. A prayer. A spell.

I put the note back in the box. I thought about taking a photo of it and/or the box and immediately felt instinctively repulsed by it. I walked to the car and left.
Click to expand...
Coincidence James. I was out walking in bluebell woods yesterday morning. Stunning it was, and should have took some pics with my phone but didn’t unfortunately.

The walk was ruined however, as once I was clear of the woods the path took me down a lonely country lane, and past an ancient watermill which has now been converted into a private house (which was mentioned in the doomsday book btw)

Suddenly I heard growling nearby and a sodding great Alsatian came running up barking its head off at me. I had no alternative but to very slowly turn around and go back the way I had come, which was a bloody shame.

The Alsatian’s owner is the owner of the converted watermill, and he has no fricking right to let his aggressive dog run free in a public highway.

I know it’s not an isolated incident, as this morning I mentioned the dog to my neighbour, who said she’d came across the same problem on the few occasions she’s been walking past the mill

I’ve decided to pen a strongly worded letter to the guy -but will for obvious reasons let the postman deliver it. :)
 
Dick Turpin said:
Coincidence James. I was out walking in bluebell woods yesterday morning. Stunning it was, and should have took some pics with my phone but didn’t unfortunately.

The walk was ruined however, as once I was clear of the woods the path took me down a lonely country lane, and past an ancient watermill which has now been converted into a private house (which was mentioned in the doomsday book btw)

Suddenly I heard growling nearby and a sodding great Alsatian came running up barking its head off at me. I had no alternative but to very slowly turn around and go back the way I had come, which was a bloody shame.

The Alsatian’s owner is the owner of the converted watermill, and he has no fricking right to let his aggressive dog run free in a public highway.

I know it’s not an isolated incident, as this morning I mentioned the dog to my neighbour, who said she’d came across the same problem on the few occasions she’s been walking past the mill

I’ve decided to pen a strongly worded letter to the guy -but will for obvious reasons let the postman deliver it. :)
Click to expand...
You should have just reported a large agressive dog running loose to the police/animal control, im sure the owner would think twce about letting it out if there was a chance of it being seized with the threat of it being euthanized
 
Dick Turpin said:
Coincidence James. I was out walking in bluebell woods yesterday morning. Stunning it was, and should have took some pics with my phone but didn’t unfortunately.

The walk was ruined however, as once I was clear of the woods the path took me down a lonely country lane, and past an ancient watermill which has now been converted into a private house (which was mentioned in the doomsday book btw)

Suddenly I heard growling nearby and a sodding great Alsatian came running up barking its head off at me. I had no alternative but to very slowly turn around and go back the way I had come, which was a bloody shame.

The Alsatian’s owner is the owner of the converted watermill, and he has no fricking right to let his aggressive dog run free in a public highway.

I know it’s not an isolated incident, as this morning I mentioned the dog to my neighbour, who said she’d came across the same problem on the few occasions she’s been walking past the mill

I’ve decided to pen a strongly worded letter to the guy -but will for obvious reasons let the postman deliver it. :)
Click to expand...

Keeping dogs under proper control.

(1) If a dog is dangerously out of control in [F1any place [F2in England or Wales] (whether or not a public place)])—

(a) the owner; and

(b) if different, the person for the time being in charge of the dog,

is guilty of an offence, or, if the dog while so out of control injures any person [F3or assistance dog], an aggravated offence, under this subsection.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/65/section/3

It’s against the law to let a dog be dangerously out of control anywhere, such as:

  • in a public place
  • in a private place, for example a neighbour’s house or garden
  • in the owner’s home
The law applies to all dogs.

Out of control​

Your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it:

  • injures someone
  • makes someone worried that it might injure them
https://www.gov.uk/control-dog-public

maximus otter
 
Souleater said:
You should have just reported a large agressive dog running loose to the police/animal control, im sure the owner would think twce about letting it out if there was a chance of it being seized with the threat of it being euthanized
Click to expand...
maximus otter said:
Keeping dogs under proper control.

(1) If a dog is dangerously out of control in [F1any place [F2in England or Wales] (whether or not a public place)])—

(a) the owner; and

(b) if different, the person for the time being in charge of the dog,

is guilty of an offence, or, if the dog while so out of control injures any person [F3or assistance dog], an aggravated offence, under this subsection.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/65/section/3

It’s against the law to let a dog be dangerously out of control anywhere, such as:

  • in a public place
  • in a private place, for example a neighbour’s house or garden
  • in the owner’s home
The law applies to all dogs.

Out of control​

Your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it:

  • injures someone
  • makes someone worried that it might injure them
https://www.gov.uk/control-dog-public

maximus otter
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Max.

On the curt letter I plan to write the guy, I’ll jot down the link above.

Let him read it for himself online that allowing a large aggressive dog to roam amongst the general public, is highly illegal. Although I’m thinking he already knows this but doesn’t care.

Cheers Max
 
Cycling along the delightfully flat Cheshire lanes yesterday, we noticed mases of bluebells growing on the verges.

Many Cheshire lanes have ancient 'drovers' verges' to help farmers taking live animals to market. These days they are full of lovely flowers.
 
Coastaljames said:
There is next to nothing spooky or interesting about this thread.

Thought I would share.

On Saturday night I begin to have an urge to, in the morning, take myself out to visit an RSPB nature reserve. I sometimes think about this place as it is meant to be very beautiful. I am always suprised I've never been there because it is within a half hour drive from me and I am very familiar and enjoy the countryside around me. Anyway - an urge to go. I set off, alone.

Hot day, hot in the car, sticky. I hate being hot and sticky in the car. Followed the sat nav route to the nature reserve. Going deep into a very rural area I have not explored much at all. Enjoying the views and the sights. Come across a turning I have to take...road closed. Bugger. Ok...so...make a plan to reroute...carry on. Getting very close to the reserve, when - another road is closed. I figure out if I can just park there and walk on but whole roads looks closed to pedestrians as well as cars.

Oh well. I'm kinda hot, sticky and annoyed now. Figure, sod it, I'll go home. Don't want to waste any more time. So, begin driving back in the direction of home. Lots of big recently ploughed fields, quite beautiful. Except I'm hot and annoyed and feel I've failed. As I drive along side on large field in the sunshine I spot two hares in the fields and they are boxing! I love hares with a passion, and I am very aware of their magical connotations. So I pull over to watch them, I've never seen hares box before. Fantastic!! I watch for about 5 minutes before they both scarper. Great stuff.

So, I turn to get in my car and across the road I see what appears to be an entrance to some woods. I go to look. I see there is a sign indicating it's a wood you can enter and walk in. So I do. I have never been in these woods, never knew of them and, at that time - I didn't even know where there were or what they were called.

I enter and the whole woods are literally carpeted with bluebells. Absolutely stunning. I have visited many bluebell woods before but this was by far the most stunning! Everywhere you look, carpets of blue. All the way through the woods not just in patches. The whole area is beautiful. Verdant green leaves on the trees, like a canopy, bright green from the sun coming through them, area below bathed in green light with this beautiful blue carpeting. I felt very far away from anywhere else. Otherworldy. I went deeper into the forest.

And deeper. Walking for about half an hour. I don't know where I'm going or paying any attention to which route I took in (which might be useful in regards getting out). I'm just pushing in deeper, loving what I'm seeing. Taking pictures, as I like to do. I may well be able to post some here later.

Anyway. I don't want to make more of it than it was. It was a beautiful walk in a beautiful place. All apparently random. But maybe not.

After about an hour I'm thinking about how to get back to the car. Not too sure but not too concerned. I try a few routes and they don't work out, I try a few more and one does. Makes sense. I have a good sense of direction. So I'm on the right track, pretty sure, forest thins. I can actually see my car parked now, through the trees. So I walk parallel to it. Walking to it. As I walk I look across a clearing. On a tree stump is a small cardboard box. About the size of a box of tea. I go over to it and look at it. It's been there a while, some rain damage, bit tattered. It has an address on it. I decide instinctively that I don't want to read the address. I open the box and look in. A small handwitten note. I read it. What I read does not matter. It was not for me and it was not for you. It was very personal. A snapshot of someone's need for something. A prayer. A spell.

I put the note back in the box. I thought about taking a photo of it and/or the box and immediately felt instinctively repulsed by it. I walked to the car and left.
Click to expand...
What a delightful little passage CJ. I could almost imagine being in the scene you described.
 
GNC said:
What was that mysterious song, In and Out the Dusty Bluebells? Never did work that one out.
Click to expand...
At my infant/junior school the girls would play a dancing game while singing that.
 
I enjoyed reading your account @Coastaljames. A really special outing you had there. I I so miss being able to get to bluebelll woods since moving here. Where I used to live I had 2 excellent ones within walking distance.

Sollywos x
 
I'd never heard of that before. In primary school we used to play lots of traditional games, the same as did our grandparents in that same playground when the school was newly built as did our parents. But that wasn't one of them!

Sollywos x
 
They are a bugger in a garden as they are very vigorous and will swamp any neighbours. But in a wood they are magical. I live near the Ashridge estate and the bluebells are magnificent. Because of the cool weather they are flowering for weeks. I think it’s the colour that makes them such a spectacle. The colour is not just blue, it has a slightly purple tone to it. En masse the flowers look like a haze suspended above the ground, the individual flowers merging together. I took loads of photos but the camera does not show what the eye sees. They are a piece of sky on the ground.
 
Unfortunately, beautiful though they are to us, to a muntjac bluebells are just a dinner gong. That’s why the heart of so many old woodlands contains a fenced-off section labelled “Special reserve”, or something similar.

Yes, l am trying to do something about that. You’re welcome.

;)

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:
Unfortunately, beautiful though they are to us, to a muntjac bluebells are just a dinner gong. That’s why the heart of so many old woodlands contains a fenced-off section labelled “Special reserve”, or something similar.

Yes, l am trying to do something about that. You’re welcome.

;)

maximus otter
Click to expand...
I had no idea that they ate bluebells.
 
maximus otter said:
Unfortunately, beautiful though they are to us, to a muntjac bluebells are just a dinner gong. That’s why the heart of so many old woodlands contains a fenced-off section labelled “Special reserve”, or something similar.

Yes, l am trying to do something about that. You’re welcome.

;)

maximus otter
Click to expand...
I think the Reserve bit is to keep the humans off as they are sods for paddling about damaging things.
 
PeteS said:
What a delightful little passage CJ
Click to expand...

Thank you!

Sollywos said:
I enjoyed reading your account @Coastaljames.
Click to expand...

Thank you!

Cloudbusting said:
Sounds like a lovely day, in the end! Would love to see some photos if you're happy to share @Coastaljames. :)
Click to expand...

And thank you!

More than happy to share some photos. Bit I'm a tad of a luddite. They are currently on my phone. Do I have to upload them on to a photo sharing site before putting them on here?
 
Coastaljames said:
Thank you!



Thank you!



And thank you!

More than happy to share some photos. Bit I'm a tad of a luddite. They are currently on my phone. Do I have to upload them on to a photo sharing site before putting them on here?
Click to expand...
If you have this site on your phone you can upload them straight from your photo gallery, go to the 'attach files' select location and click on the image, i have found that sometimes the file is too big to upload so in those cases i screen shot the image, trim the unneeded bits and save, thwn upliad the screenshot image
 
Cloudbusting said:
You should be able to upload the photos directly from your phone, I'm able to.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I will have a play tonight.

And then maybe try to upload the pics ;)


Souleater said:
i have found that sometimes the file is too big to upload so in those cases i screen shot the image, trim the unneeded bits and save, thwn upliad the screenshot image
Click to expand...

Yeah, see, lost me now homeboy.
 
Up with me the bluebells have been rather disappointing this year. I blame the late frosts, which carried on well into May. But, reading your description, James, I quite felt that I'd seen carpets of them, Thank you.
 
Coastaljames said:
Thank you! I will have a play tonight.

And then maybe try to upload the pics ;)




Yeah, see, lost me now homeboy.
Click to expand...
If you have an android phone, if you press the power off button and the volume down button at the same time, it should take a shot of what is on the screen, you can then view this in you gallery and crop the edges, which will be things like the header, footer and edges so you only have the photo

This is a screenshot example
Screenshot_20210518-095922 (3).png

Trim the shaded bits with the 'crop tool'

Screenshot_20210518-095922 (2).png

Then save the image, this file will be much smaller and be able to easily be uploaded.
You should have basic tools like 'crop' available on your gallery.

The 'crop' tool will look like this

Screenshot_20210518-100700.png
 
^ You are a very nice person but please, I'm a lost cause :D


Maybe go explain the Higgs-Bosun to ants mate, you might have more luck ;)
 
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