The Bluebell Fairies of Blackberry Camp

There is a plant in my garden which has beautiful, bell-like flowers and is a striking shade of blue.  I didn't plant it, it just showed up one spring. Every year the plant grows larger and produces more and more flowers.  I've done a bit of research and I think it is a Spanish Bluebell. 

I am always pleased to see these lovely flowers, they  brighten up my garden.  More importantly, it tells me that it is time to take a little drive to visit the Bluebell Wood  at

 Blackberry Camp

Blackberry Camp is thought to be an Iron Age fortification or castle.  It's history is fascinating but in the spring a stunning transformation occurs. For a few weeks every spring,  this ancient ruin becomes a sea of bluebells!

It is a grand display of the power of Nature to reclaim what is hers.  This is not a man-made garden, not one bluebell was planted here by any gardener. Bluebell woods generally occur in ancient woodlands, some may even be part of the original wild wood which covered Britain after the last Ice Age.  The Blackberry Camp was probably abandoned in medieval times leaving the bluebells to colonised the area without any human interference . 

Humans may no longer reside in the bluebell wood at Blackberry Camp but there are rumours that lots of other wild creatures have moved in, rabbits, foxes, squirrels and hedgehogs.  Some people even belief that  Fairies live in the woods and make their caps from the blossoms of the bluebells.  They say when the bumble bees come to pollinate the flowers they harness them to ride like ponies!  I think these are just fairy tales but I like to imagine it and try to think what a cap made of bluebell flowers would look like!