King's Wood

It was a glorious spring day which began with a heavy frost but warmed into a perfect afternoon. After an early lunch we drove to Challock, in the downs not far from Ashford, via a scenic route along single-track lanes through beautiful little valleys and hamlets. The banks were studded with primroses, verges golden with celandines, and hedgerows starting to green. Much of the route was new to me, and I enjoyed it immensely.

King's Wood is a Forestry England area of managed woodland, with many types of trees grouped in areas with quite different characters. It's known for its bluebells, but we were a little too early - they will probably be glorious (and bring crowds) in a couple of weeks. It was our first outing there, as I recently read that at least some of it is reasonably wheelchair accessible; there was no specific accessible trail, but after negotiating a bumpy path from the car park with lots of tree roots, we reached a metalled track with a firm, gritted surface which was much easier for J's wheels and on which we walked for a mile or two. One stretch was bordered by the beautiful and very tall conifers in the main photo, which looked stunning against the cloudless sky; behind them was a densely wooded area of silver birches mixed with other deciduous trees. 

The extra is my Mono Monday photo, in which I tried to capture the dappled shade in one of the coppiced areas, with many slim trunks emerging from mossy mounds and stumps. I quite liked a warm mono version of the main photo too, but after so many gloomy, overcast days I couldn't sacrifice that perfect blue sky.