The bluebells at Hatchlands Park

There are a number of places that are great for bluebells at this time of year. Although we’re a little bit spoilt in Surrey, our favourite has to be Hatchlands Park. Managed by the National Trust and located a stones throw away from Guildford, it’s somewhere we head to regularly. While we mostly visit as a family, on this occasion it was brilliant to meet up with a couple of my favourite people, Mummy Barrow and HPMcQ.

It’s not always possible to escape outdoors on a ‘school day’ although that’s probably what makes it a little bit special isn’t it? The sky was as blue as can be so we were incredibly lucky to have such an glorious day. If you’re not been to Hatchlands before, do check it out – their bluebells are among the best in Surrey. Aside from that, it’s a superb place for a walk any time of year – there are a whopping 400 acres of parkland to explore. Plus of course the Hatchlands Park mansion itself which, although a family home, contains a collection of paintings and fine furniture by Alec Cobbe. There’s also Europe’s largest collection of keyboard instruments associated with the likes of Bach, Chopin and Elgar.

Today was certainly an outdoors kind of day and well needed too having spent the previous few inside. I must admit I start to get cabin fever if I do more than that without being able to breathe in some fresh country air! With the weather on our side, we took one of the waymarked trails towards the Great Wix Wood stopping to admire the cows and their super shiny coats along the way. If you’re visiting soon you might even spot a few calves too – they also have super shiny coats! We didn’t get too close for obvious reasons but we did spot a cow catching 40 winks in the sunshine!

There’s a natural playground at Hatchlands Park which POD loves. Wizard Wix’s Willow Warren is now sporting the most amazing treehouse which I had to explore as we passed by. The house is on stilts, has steps leading up to it and it’s built around a tree trunk. There’s circular seating around the tree trunk inside (I had to have a look) and tree shaped detailing in the windows. It’s a brilliant addition to Wizard Wix’s Willow Warren and POD will love it.

While I always enjoy seeing the daffodils and the cowslips, the purple carpet that adorns the Great Wix Wood is something else. You can spot the bluebells in Little Wix Wood the moment you arrive and there are plenty of opportunities to capture the them in all their glory from the waymarked trails. There are literally bluebells wherever you look and as you can imagine the smell is just divine.

We all could have stayed at Hatchlands Park for the rest of the day it was so lovely but had to head back. Not before grabbing coffee and cake in the cafe though. Hatchlands Park do fabulous coffee and their cake is always delicious so it was necessary really. It was awesome to have a proper natter with T and Vanessa. Little did we know we’d find some space hoppers on the house lawn outside when we left which provided us with a highly entertaining finish to a great meet-up. POD has since checked out the treehouse at Hatchlands, you can see what she thinks here.