Shot! Ancient bluebell woods in West Sussex
Enchanting and iconic, bluebells are a favourite with the fairies and a sure sign that spring is in full swing.
Interesting fact: Almost half the world’s bluebells are found in the UK. And there are few better places to find them than in the ancient woods of West Sussex. Most years I pay a visit the Duke of Norfolk’s Angmering Park Estate to photograph them. Like tulips, they look best en masse, when they’re at their best is very weather dependent and they don’t last long. That means timing is everything.
Usually it’s around the end of April or beginning of May, though some will flower earlier or later depending on their location and local climate. The challenge this year was that the bluebells were likely to be at their peak at a time when the British weather simply couldn’t make its mind up.
A sunny day makes all the difference when shooting bluebells. In a dense woodland, a dull day makes for dull shots. What you need is sunshine coming through the trees, casting shadows and dappling the ground. More than anything, what’s essential is a thick carpet of bluebells. And if you want something even more special, some wildlife in the composition will elevate yours from being just another bluebell shot.
On the day of my visit, the small public car park in the 6,750 acre Angmering Park Estate was full and for the first time I noticed there were signs for overflow parking. Having parked up, finding exactly where the bluebells are would be hit and miss if you didn’t know where to look. Once found, this year’s display was disappointing compared to previous years. There was just not enough too create the blue carpet one always hopes for. Yes, if you found the right spot there were a few small areas of dense flowers, but most of the woodland floor was more brown than blue.
Of course one must remember these are wild flowers and that colonies of bluebells take a long time to establish — around 5–7 years from seed to flower. Even more important, is the damage that occurs when people walk on them. When the bluebell’s leaves are crushed underfoot, they die back as they cannot photosynthesise. And within this bluebell woodland, there are no clear paths to guide walkers. Tread carefully, as it’s easy to damage the delicate plants.
Some still believe if you pick a bluebell, you’ll be led astray by fairies, wandering lost forevermore.
In fact, it’s against the law to intentionally pick, uproot or destroy bluebells. Specifically, since 1998, native bluebells have been protected by Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act making it illegal for anyone to collect native bluebells in the wild for the purpose of selling them. Pick them and you could face up to six months imprisonment and a £5,000 fine!
Recently voted Britain’s favourite wildflower, native bluebells, Hyacinthoides non-scripta, are different from the more vigorous Spanish version, Hyacinthoides hispanica. The easiest way to tell them apart is that the flowers on native bluebells grow from only one side of the stem causing it to curve, while Spanish bluebells grow on both sides so it remains upright.
Despite their name, bluebells also vary in colour. As well as different shades of blue, their flowers can be both white and pink, with the pink ones most likely Spanish bluebells. In fact, like all blue flowers, bluebells are actually not really blue, but shades of lilac, violet and mauve. The darker they are, the more a wildflower spectacle a bluebell wood becomes.
During my time in the woods, the sun was stubbornly hiding behind the clouds, meaning the long shadows, dappled flowers and backlit leaves that I was hoping for were largely absent. Finding interesting compositions was the biggest challenge.
With so many people photographing bluebell woods, it’s no surprise that most images look much the same. In Angmering Park you can get lucky if you come across wildlife in the woods: a deer or a partridge will certainly enhance your compositions, but with the number of visitors around, all I saw on this visit was a horse and rider.
What I did find were a few fallen trunks and some stumps. These at least gave me a little variety, but overall it was just a case of seeking out patches of blue and looking for interesting tree compositions among the estate’s semi-mature beech and conifers.
In the end, I came away with a few good shots, but left disappointed that I didn’t get anything really special. There again, the romantic poets of the 19th century, such as Keats and Tennyson, always believed the bluebell symbolised solitude and regret!
Checking my archive, my best year for photographing the bluebells was 2012, when there was a carpet of violet-blue flowers.
Also in 2012, I chanced upon a male pheasant walking among the bluebells.
My all-time favourite bluebell image however was taken in 2014. I love the composition, the square format and the abundance of bluebells.
In the past, I’ve also experimented with some blurred shots, some of which are very striking.
And I’ve taken a few close up images of the flowers themselves.
But in the end, nothing really beats a carpet of blue!
About the author: Based in Sussex-by-the-Sea, on England’s south coast, Gary is a creative writer and image-maker. He specialises in out of the ordinary portraits of musicians and people with interesting faces, as well as photographing some of the world’s finest flowers and gardens. With no concerts or major events taking place during lockdown, Gary has turned his attention to creatively capturing the landscapes of West Sussex. On the writing side, he has also penned deep dives into some of his favourite songs beginning with Bryan Ferry’s ‘These Foolish Things’ ‘Ghost Town’ by The Specials and ‘All The Young Dudes’ by Mott the Hoople. Most recently he has written a biography of Robert Palmer.
