Bluebells are a welcome sight in spring, as blue carpets of flowers can transform our woodlands and for a few days and weeks turn them into something magical. Wiltshire has some of the finest bluebell woods in the land, and as these flowers are coming into bloom right now and will be visible for the rest of April, I thought it would be good to highlight some good locations to visit. First of all, let's start with some places already visited by Hidden Wiltshire and listed on t

Erlestoke is a place I've often driven through but never really stopped to take a look. It is a nice little village on the road between West Lavington and Westbury and as you approach it from the Westbury side, the road descends through some dark tree tunnels and you really feel like you are deep in the countryside. Curiously, the Government has placed a prison on the outskirts of the village, which is built around the old Erlestoke manor house. The manor house was bought by

Biss Wood is a standalone site, separated from Green Lane Wood by a field which will eventually become Green Lane Wood nature park. Wiltshire Wildlife Trust refer to the two woods and the nature park as a single connected site, but I wanted to have a separate section for Biss Wood as it is quite different and special in its own right. Parts of it are established woodland, which was replanted in the 1940s and 50s. But as you walk around you come across a good sized pond, grass

If you look at Green Lane Wood from the air it looks like a place under pressure from urbanisation. The North East corner is dissected by the busy A350, separating a chunk of this wood from its parent. There is a wide channel which cuts right through the heart of it with trees felled and wildlife constantly cut back to house the electricity pylons that run through it. Then there are the sprawling housing estates of Paxcroft and Castle Mead where developers want to push the ho