Hitchwood - Hertfordshire (Bluebells)

M.A.Gibson

M.A.Gibson

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Mike
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Anyone planning on visiting this year?
 
Looking at the map its not too far from me. Which area would you recommend please?
 
Its worth just walking around once you get there as it differs from year to year.... i find however that the carpets of flowers are more dense the further into the woods you go.
tl:dr go explore :)
 
Never heard of this one before. I was informed of Dockey Wood last year which turned out to be quite a nice visit :)
 
mikeyt said:
are they out yet? seems quite early, but I guess we haven't really had a winter!

There are some woods near saffron walden that look stunning (if you don't mind some light trespassing to get into them) - https://goo.gl/maps/rmc2e6wqHFMHapv88 for anyone local!
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April 15th is when my area seems to peak in a normal spring, off out later to have a scout around but from what I have seen I recon it might be a week later. May take a wonder up to this place and loop back round to Ashridge Estate as not been there before either
 
If you do go up to Ashridge, definitely try and stop off at Dockey Wood or the little patch a bit further up the road towards Ivinghoe Beacon. There was a sea of Bluebells last year at each.
 
Didnt get to Ashridge, Hitchwood had some possabilities. Lots of green at the moment with a few isolated flowers but there was signs of colour. Recon it might be good next weekend.
Thanks for the tips on Ashridge
 
This is a reply for next year now :) , i have recently moved from hertfordshire and apart from the usual bluebells at ashridge the best place i have found is Prryor`s Wood in Stevenage well worth a visit.
 
mikeyt said:
are they out yet? seems quite early, but I guess we haven't really had a winter!

There are some woods near saffron walden that look stunning (if you don't mind some light trespassing to get into them) - https://goo.gl/maps/rmc2e6wqHFMHapv88 for anyone local!
Click to expand...
Bit of a revival given its that time of year

I stumbled across that very wood last year and have it marked on my phone. Took the scenic route back from saffron Walden and just happened to pick that road. It looked good but yes need to fail to see the private no access sign on the gates.

As anyone seen Hitchwood yet?

Was disappointed with Dockey wood, there is a lot of bramble growing amongst the bluebells so clean carpets are limited, probably worse this year and there is a lot of branches used to edge the paths
 
Dokey wood unfortunately has been a victim of its own success. the decision a couple of years ago to charge people during the peak season weekends was a disaster in my mind it added nothing to the experience and adding loads of signs saying do no walk here with more and more pathways blocked its a real mess which is so unfortunate. If the car park is full and you choose to park safely off the road further up the national trust will also put a piece of paper on your car warning you not to park there.
 
todders said:
Dokey wood unfortunately has been a victim of its own success. the decision a couple of years ago to charge people during the peak season weekends was a disaster in my mind it added nothing to the experience and adding loads of signs saying do no walk here with more and more pathways blocked its a real mess which is so unfortunate. If the car park is full and you choose to park safely off the road further up the national trust will also put a piece of paper on your car warning you not to park there.
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So is there timings now when people can visit?
I can't seem to find any timing online...
 
nandbytes said:
So is there timings now when people can visit?
I can't seem to find any timing online...
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No there hasn't ever been timings for the wood you can visit anytime avoiding any charges if necessary. They will normally have a representative there during peak times of the day to apply the charge during a few weeks of the bluebell season.
 
todders said:
No there hasn't ever been timings for the wood you can visit anytime avoiding any charges if necessary. They will normally have a representative there during peak times of the day to apply the charge during a few weeks of the bluebell season.
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Ah right so they are charging for 10 days or wherever that's detailed on the website.

So I could go this weekend and walk around no problems at any time.
Looks like there's already flowers around so might be worth a visit since I'll be near Luton anyway.
 
nandbytes said:
Ah right so they are charging for 10 days or wherever that's detailed on the website.

So I could go this weekend and walk around no problems at any time.
Looks like there's already flowers around so might be worth a visit since I'll be near Luton anyway.
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Yes that's right any time you like, enjoy hopefully you will see so early bloom from them.
 
Visited Dokeywood today.
There is a lot of potential there for photography but flowers are still blooming.
I think the best thing to do would be to go off-peak times on peak days. Light tresspassing required for better composition but the flowers and fields can be easily avoided, so no harm done per say.

Pro tip: don't get lost in the woods especially just before sunset and that too if there's cloud above your head :facepalm:
 
nandbytes said:
Visited Dokeywood today.

Pro tip: don't get lost in the woods especially just before sunset and that too if there's cloud above your head :facepalm:
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I assume thats the woods on the car park side? The main honeypot spot is the other side the road and is a small square plot, be quite hard to get lost there!

Took a wander over to Hitchwood yesterday and recon next weekend will be good, theres quite a bit of colour but the flowers have yet to open into the bells, they are just blue spikes at the moment.

Havent had chance to look but may have some nice mist shots, annoyingly it was drifting so was getting 30 seconds of nice light then 15 minutes of dullness. We walked a 7mile loop around the area and was like being in the clouds at times right up till 12pm when the sun came out
 
AgentOrange76 said:
I assume thats the woods on the car park side? The main honeypot spot is the other side the road and is a small square plot, be quite hard to get lost there!
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Yeah on the car park side. The sign board read something like "During springtime... Follow the map for bluebells" and the place where the map was suppose to be was empty.

Did notice the field+woods on the otherside of the road when I walked back. I was too tired by then and it was drizzling so I just went back to my car. :(

But I have realised I have a lot to learn and improve upon in woodland photography....

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AgentOrange76 said:
Took a wander over to Hitchwood yesterday and recon next weekend will be good, theres quite a bit of colour but the flowers have yet to open into the bells, they are just blue spikes at the moment.

Havent had chance to look but may have some nice mist shots, annoyingly it was drifting so was getting 30 seconds of nice light then 15 minutes of dullness. We walked a 7mile loop around the area and was like being in the clouds at times right up till 12pm when the sun came out
Click to expand...

please do share :)

Hitchwood/Dokeywood in general is a wee bit further than I'd like them to be especially for an early morning run.
 
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