Next month the bluebells bloom again to herald the height of spring. They bloom from mid-April to Mid-May. As a family photographer I spend a lot of time looking for the best photoshoot locations and I’m confident I know the best bluebell woods near Peterborough.

So what makes a bluebell wood the ‘best’?

Obviously it’s only my opinion and as a family photographer my opinion is biased towards how photogenic the bluebell wood is.

The two bluebell woods I like most have some similarities:

There are large swathes of bluebells that go on as far as you can see.
There are very few ‘scrappy’ trees like brambles and hazel and Hawthorne etc that would obscure the view.
Most of the trees have thick trunks with branches that start many metres above head height
The woods never get too busy
There are circular walks that take 45-60 minutes to walk around

Old Sulehay wood

The first of my two winners is called Old Sulehay wood, near Wansford.

Old Sulehay wood is a Wildlife Trust reserve and I found several great photoshoot locations through their website.

The two best entrances are either down Old Sulehay road or via a lay-by on Wansford road as you head out towards Yarwell.

Baby in wild garlic — Old sulehay wood has areas where wild garlic carpets the floor instead of bluebells

Southwick wood

The second of my two winners is actually two for the price of one… Southwick wood and Short wood which are two parts of the same wood. You park in the same place for both as they’re either side of the road. They’re near the little village of Southwick near Oundle. Both woods have bluebells but Southwick wood is better for photographs as it has some nice open areas as you can see in the romantic photograph below.

Southwick wood and Short wood are both Wildlife Trust reserves.

Couple in bluebells and wood anemone — Southwick wood has wood anemone mixed in with the bluebells

The runners up

Most people who live near Peterborough know about the bluebell woods in Nene Park but they’re all up a steep slope so aren’t as good for photography and there are a lot of scrappy bushes and trees. On the plus side, as you walk alongside the bluebells you have the river Nene right next to you, too.

My other runner up is Thorpe Wood (Behind Thorpe Wood Police Station) which is yet another Wildlife Trust reserve. It’s a much smaller version of my two winners, but it also has a lot of scrappy trees and bushes that obscure the carpet of bluebells. It’s still well worth a look but it only takes 10-20 minutes to walk around the whole wood.

Outside of Peterborough my other favourite place for bluebells is the Ashridge Estate in Hertfordshire.

So, those are my nominees, do you have any other favourites, either near Peterborough or further afield?