Spring Arrives Under the Canopy

There is a fortnight or so each spring when the woods of Somerset turn a colour that does not quite look real. The canopy is still thin, the light comes down in long slants, and the ground beneath the oaks and beeches is carpeted in bluebells. For families with small children, it is the friendliest wildflower season of the year. Paths have dried out from the winter mud, the air smells of damp earth and wild garlic, and the whole outing can be over inside an hour if somebody's legs give up halfway round.

The added bonus for parents is that bluebell woods tend to sit on gentle slopes and old estate tracks rather than steep moorland. That means wide, shaded paths, plenty of stopping points, and a good chance of pushing a buggy the whole way without lifting it over a single stile.

Timing Your Visit Right

In Somerset, bluebells usually begin opening in mid-April on warm, south-facing slopes and reach their peak somewhere between the last week of April and the middle of May. Woods at higher altitude, or on north-facing sides of the Quantocks, the Blackdown Hills and the Mendip edge, can run a full two weeks behind the sheltered valleys. If you miss one wood, drive fifteen minutes and you will often find another still in full flower.

Go early in the day if you can. Before ten in the morning the woods are quiet, the light is soft, and you are far more likely to hear a woodpecker or spot a deer than you are at midday on a bank holiday. Wild garlic, meanwhile, arrives slightly ahead of the bluebells, so an early May walk usually gives you both at once.

Choosing a Route That Works With Wheels

The single most useful trick for buggy pushers is to look at the map before you leave and follow the bridleways rather than the footpaths. On Ordnance Survey maps, bridleways are marked with green dashes; footpaths are dotted. Bridleways are legally open to horses and cyclists, so they are almost always wider, gentler and free of kissing gates and narrow squeezes.

Look for routes with these features:

• Compacted stone or forestry tracks rather than bare earth, which turns to slick clay after rain.
• Bridle gates and cattle grids instead of stiles or kissing gates, which no pushchair will ever fit through.
• A circular loop of 1.5 to 2 miles — roughly 45 to 60 minutes at toddler pace, with a snack stop built in.
• One clear turnaround point, such as a stream crossing or a fallen log, so you can cut the walk short without anyone feeling cheated.
• Free parking on a verge or a small village car park rather than a narrow lane with no passing places.

If your pushchair has small hard wheels, stick to estate tracks and former railway lines. If it has pneumatic tyres and a fixed front wheel, you will manage most bridleways comfortably. For anything narrower, a carrier or sling is far less stressful than wrestling a buggy through brambles.

Reading the Wood: Bluebells, Ramsons and One Safety Note

Native bluebells are easy to tell apart from the garden escapees once you know what to look for. The native flower has a deep, one-sided droop, narrow leaves, and pollen that is creamy white rather than blue. Crush a leaf and it smells faintly sweet. The scent drifting over a whole wood on a still evening is one of the great free pleasures of a Somerset spring.

Wild garlic, also called ramsons, grows in the damper patches beside streams and in hollows where water collects. You will usually smell it before you see it — a clean, green garlic tang that hangs over the path. Its leaves are broad and soft, and its white star flowers appear in loose clusters from April onwards.

One thing worth teaching children early: wild garlic leaves look similar to lily of the valley, which is poisonous. Unless you are confident, admire and sniff rather than pick. It is also worth knowing that picking wild plants is not permitted on protected sites, and bluebells are legally protected from being dug up in the wild.

What to Take for a Family Half-Day

• Wellies or sturdy trainers, even in a dry spell — woodland hollows hold water for days.
• A small towel and a spare pair of socks per child, because streams are irresistible.
• Waterproofs rolled into the bottom of the bag, plus a fleece, as woods stay cool under leaf cover.
• Snacks that survive being sat on, and a flask for the grown-ups.
• A printed map or downloaded offline map, since signal in wooded valleys is often patchy.
• Dog leads if you are walking anywhere with livestock nearby, and a tick check for everyone once you are home.

Little Habits That Keep the Woods Worth Returning To

Bluebells take years to establish and are easily damaged by a single careless boot, so keep everyone on the path, however tempting the photo opportunity looks. Let children look with their eyes and their noses rather than their hands, and gently lift a buggy over any patch of flowers rather than rolling through it.

Take litter home, close every gate behind you, and greet other walkers quietly — these are working woodlands as well as beautiful ones. Do all that, and the same paths will be waiting for your family next April, just as blue as they were this year.