Beautiful bluebells

The bluebells in Alne Wood, the ancient woodland that cradles the burial ground, were particularly vivid and long-lasting this year. The Heart of England Forest, the charity that owns Alne Wood Park Ltd., held their annual bluebell walk on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th April. The weather was very nice on the Friday and changeable on the Saturday, but this did not dampen the experience which is genuinely breath-taking. 

Having seen bluebells in the woodland at the end of March, I had been wondering if they would still be in bloom a month later, but the colder weather in April may have helped to preserve them as they were still looking very good and getting rave reviews from everyone I spoke to. The walkers, who had pre-booked their timed entry, started on a path from the car park through some of the new tree planting and followed a route that took them around the burial ground meadow and through the huge carpet of bluebells within the ancient oaks before returning via the track down the hill back to the start point.

Burial at Alne Wood Park

As people returned to the car park it was nice to be able to chat to the walkers about the burial ground and what we offer. As is often the case a lot of those I spoke to were not overly familiar with natural burial or the burial ground itself and this gave us a good opportunity to explain the specifics. This generated some good discussions and I had feedback from a number of people that it prompted helpful discourse with family and friends about their funeral wishes.

As well as those unfamiliar with the site, it was also really nice to meet a number of you who have relatives and friends buried at Alne Wood Park who make an annual tradition of coming to walk through the bluebells while also paying a visit.  

Volunteer walk and talk

In addition to the public bluebell walk, in the week following, we also hosted a group of Heart of England Forest volunteers for an evening "walk & talk" to explain more about the specifics of natural burial and how Alne Wood Park fits into the Heart of England Forest charity. We had a really enthusiastic and interested group and there were lots of questions asked. Thankfully the rain held-off despite the forecast suggesting we'd be getting soaked.

After spending time on the burial ground meadow talking about natural burial and enjoying the view we ventured into the dusky woodland. Seeing the bluebells at this liminal time, with the light starting to dim, really enhanced their purple hues although despite my best efforts the colour and breadth of the bluebells can never really be captured by a photograph. 

If you are interested in the bluebell walks for 2025, then please keep an eye on the Heart of England Forest event page early next year. Additionally, if you would like to learn more about volunteering in the Forest, please visit the Volunteers Page.