The bluebell meadow

I discovered the bluebell meadow last spring, having strayed off the footpath to photograph the contorted forms of old hawthorns, and its extent was a revelation. This year I waited for a bright day to seek it out. I had walked along the hilltop many times in our ten years here, as it's part of our nearest and nicest circular walk, and had enjoyed the views down the steep side of the Exted valley, but most of the bluebells are not visible from the path so are easily missed by walkers. Although I had never seen a meadow carpeted with bluebells before, I was not entire surprised to find them:  the area is bordered on two sides by bluebell woods, and the many, scattered mature trees suggested that it may once have been more densely wooded. Research with old maps confirmed that until a century ago the hilltop was indeed woodland, connecting the two areas of bluebell wood in which I walk. It was beautiful in the sunlight with moving clouds casting shifting shadows, and the warm tones of the emerging leaf buds were rich and warm under the blue sky: another landscape in which to just stand and breathe.