It always thrills me to catch the first glimpse of Bluebells in flower. My starting point today was St. Paul's Walden in Hertfordshire. From there I walked a short stretch of the Chiltern Way to approach Hitch Wood from the south. I soon spotted a violet-blue haze in a clearing at the edge of the wood.

 In fact my first sighting of Bluebells was last week from the window of a train between Hitchin and London. The line passes a pocket of woodland near Brookman's Park which I noticed was carpeted with Bluebells. Ordinarily I would expect to see the peak flowering at the end of April/beginning of May so they are two or three weeks early this year.

 The sight of Bluebells cheered up my commute but needless to say I wanted to immerse myself in them (forest bathing?) and Hitch Wood didn't disappoint. Even on a cloudy day the drifts of our native Hycinthoides non-scripta glowed among the trunks and bracken.