A Bluebell wood (and a pub). The 1140 bus from Hitchin to St. Albans stops right outside the Strathmore Arms in St. Paul's Warden at midday- opening time. So a pint then a short walk across fields on the Chiltern Way to Hitch Wood, a great place to see Bluebells.

 These are the native Hyacinthoides non-scripta in one of their natural habitats. Hitch Wood like many woods in the UK can be characterised as ancient, semi-natural. Oak, Beech and Hornbeam are found here as well as some more recent conifer planting. 

 I say habitats in the plural because I have seen H. non-scripta growing in many different locales. The geology round here is calcareous and free draining, then again they carpet areas of Dartmoor which are acidic and boggy. We associate Bluebells with woodland but they grow in open ground too. Often as not these will be populations that remain long after the woods they grew in were chopped down.

 I ambled through Hitch Wood then briskly through the lanes back to Hitchin. There are two other notable sites nearby -Wain Wood and West Wood- which I will aim to visit in the next few days. I have a route in mind that will include both of them and the Red Lion in Preston. Three Bluebell woods, two pubs- what's not to like?