Dale Abbey - Bluebell Season
w/e 11 May 2025
All of this week's pictures were taken with a Nikon D3300

Spring, summer, autumn and winter are the four recognised seasons in the UK but this time of year is also bluebell season and we could hardly let it pass without at least one visit to a bluebell wood. We decided on that old favourite, Ockbrook Wood at Dale Abbey and made our approach through the village to walk past the well known semi-detached church/farmhouse.

A deeply rutted path leads up on the left behind the buildings and into Hermit's Wood, another well known bluebell wood, but we continued through the gate on the right.

The path rises gently and continues for about a hundred yards and leads directly to Ockbrook Wood.

One of the first sights in the wood is a casualty of a storm - an uprooted tree.

The steep slope in the wood is covered in parts with the seasonal flowers.

The path that runs along the edge of the wood is part of the long distance footpath called the Midshires Way and another winds up the slope through the wood and eventually leads to Ockbrook Village.

We were not alone in the wood and this bovine gaze brought memories of a childhood incident flooding back.

That incident, being chased by stampeding cattle, occurred on this hillside between Ockbrook Wood and Hermit's Wood and has scarred me all my life - see Part 04 of the Dale Abbey Village Trail for more.

We returned to the village through the gate spotting the ruined Abbey Arch in the distance.

Before we left the village there were more bluebells to be seen at the side of the road.

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