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.  


Latest products

Walking the Regent’s Canal – Poster

Walking the Regent’s Canal – Poster

Chilled vibes by the water in Shoreditch There’s more to Shoreditch than meets the eye! Take a walk along Regent’s…

Bluebell walk at Great Alne Wood

Bluebells stretching out in a forest glen are always a wonderful sight to behold.  This year there has been an abundance of bluebells and they are slightly earlier than previous times.  For the photographer, bluebells are so appealing and to see the blue flowers either close up or at a distance is always very appealing.  This year I first noticed the bluebells when I visited the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham and then again during a bike ride to Hay Wood that is close to home.  I have visited several bluebell woods before, including Austy Woods, and I am always on the lookout for one that may offer a different take on this renowned British walk.  The Heart of England Forest‘s Bluebell Wood which is in Great Alne, Warwickshire, held a charity woodland walk to help to conserve these irreplaceable ancient woodland habitats.  I found it by chance on browsing through Facebook and signed up for the event.

Bluebell walk at Great Alne Wood
The start of the walk on a glorious spring day.
Bluebell walk at Great Alne Wood
The path into the bluebell wood.
Bluebell walk at Great Alne Wood
A beautiful ancient woodland with a lovely carpet of bluebells.

The wood is near to one of my favourite breweries, Purity Beer, but sadly we passed the entrance and arrived at the Great Alne wood.  Another time maybe! There were a few parked cars and there was a warm welcome from the organisers.  My daughter, Natasha and Noah, my grandson, came with me and we set off to explore.  This is an ancient wood and there were strategic signs placed along the way that gave us interesting nuggets of information about the wood.  There was also a tree log strategically placed midway during the walk, where we could get some lovely selfie pictures with a bluebell backdrop.  The place was quiet, and we felt at one with the place.  The wood has a rolling terrain with gentle hills which show off the bluebells.  Having had our fill of the bluebells we made our way back to the start.  There was a short detour to a hill that provided a view of the surrounding area.  The sun was out throughout the visit and this helped with the photography and views of both bluebells and scenery. 

Bluebell walk at Great Alne Wood
Bluebell backgrounds always makes for a lovely photograph.
Bluebell walk at Great Alne Wood
A view of bluebells in the ancient woodland.
Bluebell walk at Great Alne Wood
The perfect opportunity for a lensball picture

Photographic tips – I took my tripod with me, and I used my Canon 5D mkIV.  I brought my general-purpose lens EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM and a zoom lens EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM.  I added a polariser on the 24-70mm lens.  All pictures were taken in manual setting with the ISO 100 and I had my tripod to allow for a low shutter speed.  My trusty iPhone13 also delivered some excellent pictures.

Bluebell walk at Great Alne Wood
The final view of the Warwickshire countryside.

I have added links to previous bluebell walks.  Please also visit the Heart of England Forest websites to learn more about what they do protecting and developing our forests.
Bluebells in Austy Woods
Heart of England Forest