Yesterday Mr N, out cycling in the sunshine, encountered a bluebell wood,
"We must go for a walk there tomorrow!" he said - so we did.
Setting out from Ripley, a quaintly feudal model village near Harrogate, we wandered down Hollybank Lane which is bordered on both sides by woods. The Ripley estate has been owned by the Ingleby family since the early 14th century. They have, on the whole, been benign overlords, thankfully not quite as eccentric as their close neighbours the Mountgarrets, of nearby Nidd. In 1982 the 17th Viscount Mountgarret became famous for taking pot shots at a hot air balloon that drifted over his grouse moor. He hit the pilot in the neck and ripped a 6 foot gash in the balloon - and got off with a £1000 fine.
Flowers of all kinds showed their colours
not just blue
even the greens put on a good show
and here in one garden my favourites - sadly, not at their best.
We weren't actually allowed into the bluebell wood, but it was still good fun.
Well, until you turned up the volume...
His Lordship has to earn a crust.
Is this the way forward?
***
Is there a finer natural sight than an English bluebell wood?
ReplyDeleteGlad that you weren't in the line of fire!
Bluebells are one of my favourites - I picture the Cicely M. Barker flower fairy whenever I see them!
DeleteHoooo Nilly, fabulous places that we always show.
ReplyDeleteI wish I was there to take a walk in the beautiful countryside
or near that castle ....
E 'was great to meet you at the fair, too bad I do not speak English .....
That anger !!!!
Love Susy x
Lovely to meet you too, Susie and I hope you can come to England again soon, to see more cottages and castles!
DeleteThe bluebell wood is probably a lot safer with a fence around it; I was in one recently that was badly trampled by "nature lovers". A £1,000 fine for attempted murder sounds a tad lenient. Had it been poacher taking pot-shots at his lordship we might have expected a different outcome.
ReplyDeleteYes - you have a good point there. If only such vandals would use up their energy in a paint-balling wood. We have several in these parts.
DeleteLovely! Axxx
ReplyDeleteLovely! Axxx
ReplyDeleteMy favourite time of the year but it's very nippy this year!
DeleteEven after reading the comments on your post, the image that remains upmost in my mind is of the barbed wire around a Bluebell wood. It really troubles me. We don't have that here, unless there is foot and mouth disease.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The Ripley estate is very efficiently run with a lot of fences and barbed wire though I found a way into the woods further along our walk.
DeleteNot only the bluebells are beautiful, but also the vibrant spring greens in the last photos. Very lovely all round.
ReplyDeleteOne good thing about a cool Spring is that the lovely seasonal flowers last longer - they are my favourites.
DeleteIn answer to the comment you left on my blog about Topcliffe Mill: one of the snippets of information that I did not include "The name of the mill and manor comes from John de Topcliffe, the youngest son of Thomas de Topcliffe of Yorkshire, who held the manor from 1363 to 1379". How he came to be down here I do not know.
ReplyDeleteHow very interesting. I shall look into their family history - thank you!
DeleteWe too, have just had our annual walk in the nearby Bluebell woods. Lovely!
ReplyDelete