30/04
We headed south to Buckinghamshire to help celebrate our
daughter’s birthday and it was her idea to visit Dockey Wood.
This is bluebell season, and there are colonies in most
woodlands, but in Dockey Wood they are spectacular.
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| Bluebells, Dockey Wood |
The wood is part of the National Trust’s Ashridge Estate
which straddles the Hertfordshire/Buckinghamshire border on the dip slope of the Ivinghoe Hills, covering 20km² of woodland, common land and chalk downs
Normally the public has free access to the whole estate and controversy
has surrounded the NT’s decision to make a small (£3) charge for entry to
Dockey Wood for this and next weekend, after which the bluebells will be
gone. I can appreciate their reasoning; the woods are understandably popular at
this time of year and the numbers need managing.
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| Bluebells, Dockey Wood |
The charge applies form 10am to 4pm. We turned up at 4.30 as
the car park was emptying and paid nothing – and the woods were far less crowded.
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| Bluebells, Dockey Wood |
This blog is about places rather than people and welcomes
visitors from all over the world, most of whom do not know me personally. Perhaps,
then, it is an inappropriate place for a family photograph, but I like this one and so may the substantial minority of visitors who are 'family & friends'.
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| Family photo, Dockey Wood |
01/05
The conjoined villages of Ivinghoe and Pitstone lie to the north of the hills and Pitstone Windmill sits in a field nearby.
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| You are now entering Pitstone |
We
strolled there in watery Spring sunshine that was pleasantly warm - at least in sheltered spots.
Windmills are, unsurprisingly, built where there is wind and on the open ground we felt a steady
breeze with a keen cutting edge.
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| Pitstone Windmill and Ivinghoe Beacon |
Built in 1627, though parts of it might be older (and the
restored parts younger!) the mill was originally also owned by the Ashridge
Estate. Seriously damaged in a storm in 1902, the ruin was sold to a local farmer
in 1922 who donated it to the National Trust in 1937. Renovation began in 1963
and was carried out by a group of volunteers.
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| Pitstone Windmill |
It is a post mill, the upper wooden section designed to
rotate on a central post to catch the best wind. Although the milling machinery inside
is kept in working order, the wooden section can no longer turn.
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| Pitstone Windmill and the wheel that once helped it turn |
Ivinghoe is a short distance away across the fields, the 13th
century church of St Mary being the most obvious landmark.
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