I've always enjoyed my bluebell walks during April/May time in UK, and ever since living away from UK in the past few years, I've missed them so much. This year is the second year I'm 'stuck' in UK due to Covid (it's not really as bad as it sounds) and I'm making the most of my time here to go on as many bluebell walks as I can.
Gatton Park
Gatton Park and Reigate Hill covers 600 acres in the south east England and offers sweeping views of the nearby towns on the foot of the hill. In addition, there's a massive woodland, that's where I OD'ed with bluebells, I'll show you in a minute.
Lunch first. How about this view for lunch? I bet not many three Michelin star restaurants can offer this view to their diners. My lunch may be a humble ham and cheese sandwich, but who needs gourmet food when you're eating in this environment. The ambience is just priceless. Great way to start my walk of the day.
Gatton Park walk
Today's walk is just over 3km and would take an hour. As usual, I took my time to stroll amongst the grounds. Time is what I have plenty of nowadays. A small section of this walk is part of the North Downs Way, a 246km long trail along the south of England and covers a lot of England's AONB (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty). Here are some examples.
In typical British low key fashion, our landscape doesn't wow you and take your breath away instantly. It sits there quietly. You may not notice her immediately, but it grows on you and you gradually realise what a beauty she is.
Millenium Stones
Apart from the North Downs Way, the Pilgrims Way is another ancient route that runs through this area. The route is believed to date back to as far as the Stone Age and was used by the Christian pilgrims travelling from Winchester to Canterbury, two ancient English cities.
The Millennium Stones were erected in... yes the Year 2000. There are 10 stones each representing a 200 year period. Each stone has a different design, typography and inscribed with quotes or poems from the different periods. The inscription on the first stone is from St John's Gospel,
And the Word was with God.
And the Word was God.
And on the tenth stone, the inscription is from TS Eliot's Four Quartet, Burnt Norton.
Neither flesh or fleshless.
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is
But neither arrest nor movement.
Bluebell Overdose
I heard from the locals that Gatton Park is a great place to spot bluebells, but I wasn't expecting this. After the Millennium Stone, I followed the path alongside the woods. Suddenly, I vaguely saw a patch of blue peeping through the trees. I scrambled a little uphill to get into the woods and couldn't believe what I saw. It was paradise!!!
Have you ever taken a kid to Disney World and he/she runs around aimlessly like a goof? Shall I go to find Mickey Mouse? No, let's see Donald Duck first. I wanna to go to Magic Kingdom.
It's not the first time I've seen bluebells, yet this area was massive!!! Everywhere I looked, I could see an ocean of blue ahead of me. I couldn't decided whether I should go left, right or center. This was my Disney World. If one could OD on bluebell, this would be it.
As you've gathered by now, it doesn't take much to excite me nowadays. Perhaps being away from UK for a few years meant I've missed my bluebell dose in the past few years, hence this was extra special. Or perhaps I've learnt to appreciate nature more as I've aged. Or perhaps, I've never OD'ed before and there's always a first for everything.
