Enjoying the sun

The weather has been a bit topsy-turvy of late - boiling hot one moment, cold the next. The spring flowers are cracking on despite the temperature differences, so there's no time to delay in getting out there and enjoying the spectacle!

On the Bank Holiday weekend, we made the most of the amazing weather, starting with a shortish walk in Bentley Wood. This mixed plantation woodland east  of Salisbury was once ancient woodland, and so the ground flora still spring into life at this time of year. I've never seen the bluebells looking so good here - stretching as far as the eye could see. There was a bit of debate about whether they were native or hybrids with the non-native and invasive Spanish bluebell. Although there were some dubious patches (less deep in colour, more upright and not drooping on one side, not fragrant, pollen more of a blue/green colour rather than creamy white), we soon found ourselves surrounded by the scent and sight of native bluebells, to the extent we got slightly lost admiring it all!

The next day we headed off to the beautiful Dorset coast - it was bank Holiday Monday, so we thought we'd head to the less touristy spot of Kingston. Here you can walk from the lovely Scott Arms pub - with its amazing view of Corfe castle - to the coast path, and along to Chapman's Pool. Our way to the coast was marked with snow-like ramsons cloaking the vegetation either side of the path, with glimpses of bluebells further down the valley. Then we emerged from the woods, to a high ridge running alongside a dramatic valley, towards the coast. The sea was a deep azure blue, but the horizon difficult to locate due to the haze in the strong sun. We walked along the coast path for stunning views of Chapman's Pool - a small circular bay - before looping back up to the pub!

After a delicious lunch, we decided to have a potter around Kimmeridge Bay - another lovely coastal spot, but much more touristy. We parked in the small quarry carpark (avoiding the toll parking!) and walked down through the village and fields to the beautiful bay. Very different geology here (part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site), with hard bands of rock projecting out into the bay, beneath softer shales where ammonite fossils are easily found. The rock pools are also worth a look - the water is so clear you can easily spot several types of seaweed and anemones. In fact, the Dorset wildlife Trust has an undersea snorkel trail on the other side of the bay.

We'd had such a great day, we didn't much mind the awful traffic on the way back. To be expected really - everyone wants to visit this beautiful part of the world, which I'm lucky to have not too far from me.