The Bluebell Woods!!!

We were told by a friend here in Colchester about the bluebell woods in the spring. We didn't even know there was woods near us. The woods have an impressive bloom of bluebells in spring. So we decided to go see them. It wasn't far at all, only about 5 miles. So we took a bus there, and then it was a short walk from the bus stop.

Near the bus stop we arrived at, there was a small duck pond, with some territorial ducks there, that wanted to start a fight with Sophie for some reason.

There was even a road sign there, warning people about the ducks there!

On the way to the woods, we walked by some small roads, with farms on either side. One farm even had some donkeys, that we stopped to see. After walking through some footpaths, past a few farms, and asking a few locals where the woods where, we found them.

Once we got to the woods, they reminded me of the hiking trail in Milwaukee at first, but only briefly, because as we got deeper in the woods, it was becoming something that we had never seen before: woods covered in bluebell flowers! There was some other types of flowers, but by far, the dominant plant was the bluebell flowers!

There was an occasional pink flower amongst the sea of blubells...

It felt like something out of a fairy tale, unreal. The woods, covered in blue, as far we could see in any direction! We had never seen anything like it, it was quite a sight!

Towards the edge of the woods, there was a small stream. It was peaceful, calm, relaxing.

After the stream we started to smell garlic, and sure enough, there was wild garlic there! There was an area where the bluebells receded and the garlic took over! Small fields of white flowers, and the scent was recognizably garlic. Not a pungent, strong, unpleasant smell, but rather a mild hint of garlic in the air. I had no idea what the garlic plant even looked like, so this was a welcome surprise!

We kept walking, taking it all in, enjoying the stunning views. I know it sounds exaggerated, but I didn't even know places like this existed.

Amongst the seemingly endless fields of bluebells, we saw a white one. We were nearing the end of the path. It went around in a circle apparently, since we ended up where we began. I mean, there was other paths, but apparently the ones we took took us around to the entrance. There was a map at the beginning, and we were looking for the pond, but we didn't find it.

On the way out, we saw some goats at one of the farms. I don't think Sophie had ever seen a goat. She liked it, and wanted to feed them. There was some dandelion greens nearby, so we took some of those and the goats liked them. We then headed through the farms and paths back to the bus stop to get back home. It was very enjoyable. These are somewhat common throughout England apparently, so if you are ever in England in the spring, look for the closest bluebell woods, you will not regret it.