Bluebell Walk, Heart of England Forest, Great Alne. April 2023

Who doesn’t love the sight of bluebells gently swaying in the breeze.  Many of our ancient woodlands are at risk by the creeping threat of development and that is why I support the annual Bluebell Wood Fundraising Open Day in the Heart of England Forest.  Conserving our woodlands for future generations is very much a priority.  Great Alne Woodland is just off Spurnal Lane, and is a part of a Natural Burial Ground.  The ancient wood has a stunning display of bluebells at the end of April and is open to visitors for two days.  

Bluebell Walk, Heart of England Forest, Great Alne. April 2023
A typical woodland scene with bluebells.
Bluebell Walk, Heart of England Forest, Great Alne. April 2023
Bluebell carpet running up the hill.
Bluebell Walk, Heart of England Forest, Great Alne. April 2023
Bluebells gather around a fallen tree.
Bluebell Walk, Heart of England Forest, Great Alne. April 2023
Bluebells with a scattering of white bluebell flowers.

My daughter loves visiting this quiet and picturesque woodland and there are so many good photographic opportunities.  I brought along my camera equipment and found that the early morning light was perfect.  The contrast of blue and green is a joy to see and photograph.  My lensball was also put to good use for a few pictures.  A useful photographic tip for maximising the benefit of your lensball is to use your macro lens for the pictures. This technique works a treat.  

Bluebell Walk, Heart of England Forest, Great Alne. April 2023
Using my lensball in the bluebell forest.

My 52 week project challenge was bokeh and the bluebells provided several opportunities to focus on the flowers with a wide open lens (f/2.8). This throws the background out of focus producing lovely Bokeh.  

Bluebell Walk, Heart of England Forest, Great Alne. April 2023
A bluebell with a blue background.

During my visit to the woodland, I met Toby, who is the organiser of this charity event.  He kindly agreed to have his picture taken and be part of my 100 strangers project which is slowly moving forward on my Flickr pages.

Bluebell Walk, Heart of England Forest, Great Alne. April 2023
This is Toby who organises the Bluebell charity walk.

The organisation of the day is excellent.  The walk starts in the car park and takes you through the woodland with some well positioned spots for those important selfies.  I noticed that the event is becoming more popular but via the use of ticketing, our family took part in the walk and did not meet many other people.  For a short time, the woodland was ours to enjoy and we were able to take in the sights of those beautiful bluebells.  My grandson loves the place as you can see from the following pictures.

Bluebell Walk, Heart of England Forest, Great Alne. April 2023
A boy and his dog.
Bluebell Walk, Heart of England Forest, Great Alne. April 2023
A portrait in the bluebell forest.

Please consider donating to the Heart of England Forest charity and look out for future events that they organise.

If you want to see my other blogs on Bluebells, including last year’s walk in the wood, then I have provided links below.  


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Walking the Regent’s Canal – Poster

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Tractors lined up for a meeting

Tractors. Lots of tractors! Whilst we were visiting Burton Dassett Hills, over a dozen tractors appeared and parked on the side of Magpie Hill. It appeared to be a tractor rally and although I do not know my tractors, they looked a formidable set of beasts. The owners got out and stood around chatting. I am not a brave soul on asking what was happening but I did have my camera and started snapping. I could have done so much more photography but time was not on my side as the family were ready to leave and the hills were getting very busy as it approached midday. The results of a few quick pictures are for viewing. All taken with my Fujifilm x100v except one iPhone camera picture.

Tractor with door open
Tractor with door open
Discussing the Machinery
Discussing the Machinery
Anatomy of a tractor
Anatomy of a tractor
One man and his tractors
One man and his tractors
A dog rounding up the tractors
A dog rounding up the tractors

Photographic tips – Quickly seize the opportunity that presents itself. I was shy and did not engage the people and concentrated on the tractors which don’t need talking to. There were some good pictures of wheels, machinary and landscape pictures of the vehicle group I wish I had more time to spend looking around but i was under pressure as the family were leaving to go home!

More Burton Dassett pictures from previous visits are on my blog.
Burton Dasset Hills Country Park – Escape to the Countryside
A Glorious Day

If you want more information then follow the Warwickshire County Council site which is packed full of information.
Burton Dassett Hills Country Park

I was down in London for several meetings and my final one was at the Springer Nature offices near to Kings Cross. It was a warm afternoon and following the meeting, I walked over to Granary Square along the Regent’s Canal towpath. It was here that I came across the second hand book shop named “Word on the Water”.  What a hidden gem.  The shop is based in a barge and the books were on display on the towpath side of the boat. After taking pictures of the outside, I ventured onto the boat. The interior was jam packed with books and other interesting pictures and artefacts.  A great place for taking photographs

Word on the Water
Book browsing

I got talking to the owner John and his friends learning more about the shop. John allowed me to take his picture as part of the stranger project that I needed to do for my 52 week photographic project.  I did some research afterwards and found out that there is often live music on the open deck of the boat. Also the shop is a popular destination for book lovers everywhere.  Taking pictures in the interior was a challenge when using my Sony compact as even in late afternoon the light was very bright.  I could have taken many more pictures and I will return another day to do some more photographing.  Thanks to John for allowing me to take his picture and also to his friendly dog who did some posing for me as well.  If you want to learn more about this interesting barge on the canal then look up their Facebook page for more information.

Interesting books from famous authors
A cushion with. a view
Inviting place to visit
Lots to see and look through
A friendly dog welcome