Bluebells amongst the trees at Appleton's Fords Rough in Warrington, Cheshire, England


The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading charity dedicated solely to the conservation of our native woodland heritage. The Trust owns and maintains over a thousand woods throughout the UK, these woodlands are freely open for everyone to enjoy. The Trust owns and manages parts of the woodland within the Lumb Brook Valley including Fords Rough, Pewterspear Woods and parts of the Dingle. Appleton Fords Rough is one of our few remaining areas of ancient semi-natural woodland. It is a fantastic place to see bluebells, woodpeckers, nuthatches, warblers and other types of birds. Other water and woodland wildlife can be seen in the area, including moths, butterflies, foxes and four types of bat. It contains a mix of tree and plant species dominated by English Oak. A pleasant streamside footpath leaves the road here to follow the valley of the Lumb Brook. Hyacinthoides non-scripta (formerly Endymion non-scriptus or Scilla non-scripta) is a bulbous perennial plant, found in Atlantic areas from north-western Spain to the British Isles, and also frequently used as a garden plant. It is known in English as the common bluebell or simply bluebell, a name which is used in Scotland to refer to the harebell, Campanula rotundifolia. In spring, H. non-scripta produces a nodding, one-sided inflorescence of 5–12 tubular, sweet-scented violet–blue flowers, with strongly recurved tepals, and 3–6 long, linear, basal leaves. H. non-scripta is particularly associated with ancient woodland where it may dominate the understorey to produce carpets of violet–blue flowers in "bluebell woods", but also occurs in more open habitats in western regions. It is protected under UK law, and in some other parts of its range. A related species, H. hispanica has also been introduced to the British Isles and hybridises with H. non-scripta to produce intermediates known as H. × massartiana.


Size: 5459px × 3639px
Location: Fords Rough, Appleton, Warrington, Cheshire, England
Photo credit: © John Hopkins / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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